Variety: Natalie Portman has responded to Rose McGowan’s social media critique of her red carpet protest at the Oscars. The “Black Swan” star created a stir with her decision to wear a black and gold Dior dress that included a cape embroidered with the names of snubbed female directors.
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I really do not know how to feel about this. I agree that there are plenty of people who claim to be activists, and yet do nothing to actually serve the cause other than get free publicity. I am not sure if Natalie Portman is one of those people. I have no way of knowing whether she has had much choice in who she works with or if she would be able to get her way if she demanded to work with more female directors. Maybe McGowan knows more and believes that Portman’s male centric career is her own doing, but Portman does not see things that way. I feel that it is not all that productive to be criticizing people who do not seem sincere. It may be frustrating for them to benefit in this way, but we don’t know their lives and all it does is bring more attention to a person you think doesn’t deserve it in the first place. Maybe focusing energy into uplifting the most active members of the movement would be more productive than trying to sink those who don’t seem sincere.
I just read the other article posted that presented Rose McGowan’s perspective on this dress issue and by reading Portman’s response I feel even more confused. I resonated with Portman’s statement about her not being brave just by wearing a dress - I feel like McGowan was making an assumption about Portman’s intentions and her interpretation made her angry. The way that McGowan talks about the difference between her and Portman’s activism is similar to people who say that people who aren’t on the front lines fighting for their country aren’t actually doing anything. Everyone has a different method of protest and support. Whether or not Portman was genuine with her statements or was just saying what her publicist said she should say is another question that again, I have no authority to determine. However, I think that arguments like this are just creating problems so that neither side can actually work towards solving actual problems.
Portman didn’t ask to be called brave. She just wore a dress, which I think was more for show than for protest. I don’t think that adding the names was offensive, she didn’t do anything to diminish the work of the directors and I’m guessing that she had gotten approval from those women before adding the names to the garment. I didn’t know that McGowan was apart of the Weinstein investigation. I read the last article on McGowan’s initial comment and was very confused about her beef with Portman but now I can see a little more of the background. I don’t really want to interject my opinion of what the industry should and shouldn’t do regarding the hiring of females, but I don’t know if feuds like this are helping or hurting. In the end, you now have two women feuding (congrats) Try and tackle the problem without attaching other people (maybe she has and that hasn’t worked but from my perspective, it just seems unnecessary)
I thought Natalie Portman's cape was really cool until the inconsistencies with her production company were pointed out to me. I just think it's pretty hypocritical of Portman to point out the lack of nominations for female directors when she has the opportunity to give more exposure for those same directors.She literally has her own production company and can hire whomever she wants, but she choses not to hire female directors who can achieve what she says she wants to. I agree that early in Portman's career, she probably didn't have much control over who she worked with, but her production company is her very own and the only female director she's ever featured is herself. I just feel like if she truly cared about the issue she's talking about through her clothing, she would hire them. I obviously am not inside of Natalie Portman's mind, but it just comes off a little fake to me.
I feel like after reading the original article I was confused about why Rose McGowan was starting beef. Now, after reading this article, I feel as though I don't know who's side to be on. Or rather, does what side I take matter? Either way, I think that in the end having beef between two women when women already don't matter in the entertainment industry is just making the entire problem of women directing not being rewarded even worse. I think that it is important that women stick together on the subject of feminism in film. If we donate, it feels like the problem will only get worse. I don't think that Portman was necessarily in the wrong for wearing the cape, but she certainly could be doing more to make women directors more active in the field. However, it is still not her fault that the academy ignored female directors.
This is a really interesting article. When I first watched the Oscars Red Carpet, I was blown away by this gown and this subtle, yet powerful, nod to the snubbed female directors and the overwhelmingly white and male nominees. I thought it was a really important reminder to have during the event. I had very little background on the demographics of Natalie Portman’s career. I would still argue that it was an important reminder, even if McGowan argued with the validity of her form of activism. I will always agree that more could be done, but who else took any sort of stand at the awards? Natalie Portman has a huge name and her actions are widely noticed by the tabloids and the news, so though she may not be as feminist as she presents, at least she did something. And her action created a lot of news that reminded the public of the lack of nominated female directors and the lack of diversity at the show in general.
Like most of the people here, I had just read the original article detailing McGowan's statement against Portman's Oscars cape. Here is the thing though: I don't really know what Portman's stance is. It could just be a publicity stunt, in which case, I understand where McGowan was coming from. However, I think McGowan may have jumped the gun on this one in interpreting Portman's intent, and I don't believe directly attacking someone without having had a talk with them prior is the way to go. I acknowledge Portman's work history demographics, but I do not know how many of them were her own choice and which were those of her company, or agent, or who-have-you. In the end, attention was drawn to the snubbed female directors. Lastly, lastly, I do agree that Portman can do more to give exposure and credit to deserving women, and should.
Everyone else is saying it in their response, but I too feel mixed about both sides of this situation. The dress is making a statement that needs to be made and it looked stunning when doing so, but it is ridiculous to call her “brave” for doing it. What I admire the most about Rose McGowan is that she is able to directly call out the hypocrisy of Hollywood when they used injustice as a way to boost their reputation. That being said, I’ve never really liked McGowan’s mean-spirited approach of addressing these issues. And Portman does call out the fact that many female directors don’t get hired in the first place which is something McGowan missed to point out in her argument. Natalie Portman gave the best response she could’ve for the scenario. Her dress really shouldn’t be celebrated as a feminist symbol, but it’s clear Portman is becoming somewhat aware about her place in the industry.
I am very conflicted, like some other postings under this article, on how to feel about Natalie Portman’s true reason to wear this coat at the Oscars. I have a large problem when it comes to taking the “stand” of activism when your career doesn’t reflect your opinions. McGowan’s claims against Natalie Portman are very valid, I don’t think she was wrong for it. To testify and be in the media constantly because of a large sexual assault case with Weinstein and see a woman who never has advocated before, wear this coat, can cause anger. I liked Portman’s coat, but if she wants people to listen to her take this stand, take it when you’re also not on a red carpet. She has such a large platform and such a long career, plus she’s a white woman, so if you’re going to be an “advocate”, then be it at all times.
Boy, this is a lot to take in. I remember being a little skeptical when I first read about Natalie Portman's Oscar cape. "What is that doing to help support the cause?" was all I could think. I think standing in solidarity with these women and using her fame to bring attention to them is great. I agree with both McGowan and Portman, however, that what she did was not "brave." I also don't think she's the enemy either, and perhaps McGowan has her anger pointed in the wrong place. Sure, words are not as useful as actions, but let's be honest, words are better than nothing at all. I understand her frustration for sure. It's annoying to hear people preach about something but take no action to stop it, but I think Portman was able to get the word out there to the shallow people who will only listen to successful A-listers like her. All in all, like everyone here, I think I agree a little bit with both of them. There is no side to take here. We just need to listen to and accept the feelings of the women involved.
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