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Thursday, February 13, 2020
Rose McGowan Calls Natalie Portman’s Oscars Cape ‘Deeply Offensive’
Variety: Rose McGowan called Natalie Portman a “fraud” for her Oscars ensemble that featured the names of snubbed female directors, including Greta Gerwig, Marielle Heller and Lorene Scafaria.
5 comments:
Elizabeth Purnell
said...
I was very confused by the contents of this article. I saw Natalie Portman’s Oscar outfit and I remember thinking from a non-fashion standpoint that this was a cool idea but I wasn’t entirely sure what it was trying to achieve. I read Rose McGowan’s argument and I want to validate what she said but from a very personal perspective I couldn’t figure out any reason why she would get to preach about women in film activism in this way. Both Natalie Portman and Rose McGowan are women in film, and women that have been in film for a long time and I was quite shocked to read that McGowan was so deeply offended by this. I feel that if she was going to criticize Portman you would have to criticize the maker of the dress, and her stylist. I don’t think I have a great amount of authority to make an independent opinion, but I am just very confused as to why this is such a big issue.
I really am having trouble understanding why Rose McGowan is offended. Annoyed? Understandable. But like, this isn't offensive. Even if Natalie Portman has ulterior motives in wearing the cape, and is simplyy putting on a feminist front as McGowan claims, it's still more of a step in the right direction than a step in the wrong. I could be horribly wrong in my opinion on this, but it feels like a conflict that simply didn't need to happen or be addressed. I think that a large part of feminism is standing together in a united front, and having conflict with women against women in the entertainment industry is nothing but counterproductive. McGowan argues that Portman has only worked with 2 female directors in her career, and while that may be true, that doesn't mean she isn't supporting them. There are less female directors, and I feel like in the acting industry you kinda have to take what you're given. Maybe she wasn't getting offers from female directors, or they didn't have roles that fit here character type. Either way, this article and entire conversation seems very unnecessary, although I could be offensive in thinking so.
I don't know why Rose McGowan has beef with Natalie Portman but it just seems like another twitter fight to get a little publicity going (shocker! Everyone, everywhere, always has something to say about everything!!) Everyone has there own way of protesting injustices they find important to address. In this case, Portman addressed what she found important with a dress (haha bad joke I get it) and McGowan thought that it wasn’t enough and that her attempt was insulting. Dang, where does McGowan’s beef come from? Just because people have different ways of supporting doesn’t mean you need to attach someone else for having a different approach. Portman doesn’t need to be the sole supporter of this cause, she is doing her part (whether small, large, helpful or unhelpful) by bringing attention to the problem. Instead of creating a conflict with Portman maybe McGowan needs to continue to do the work that she thinks is helpful. I don’t know what calling out Natalie Portman is doing for the cause? I guess getting more publicity but wasn’t that her problem with Portman in the first place??
I am going to have to disagree with McGowan on this one. I actually thought Portman's outfit was kind of interesting. It seems a little performative, but it makes a bold statement. It would be one thing if Portman wore this cape and then turned around to be an awful, sexist person in actuality, but as far as I am concerned, she is not, and she has every right to make the statement that she did. Maybe this is Portman's way of taking a stand, and I do not think she deserved the backlash she received from McGowan. I feel like part of an activist's role as an activist is to inspire and incite others to action, not to shame others for the form of action that they take (given the action is not completely antithetical to the mission of the movement). I don't agree with McGowan's tearing down of Portman's stance, I just don't.
I honestly do not understand Rose McGowan’s anger here. It definitely sounds like it is about more than a cape; there are fewer pounds of fabric in that cape than seems to be weighing on McGowan’s shoulders. I remember seeing Natalie Portman’s outfit on the Oscars red carpet and thinking that it was one of the more attractive pieces of the night and then, perhaps a day or two later, seeing an article about its homage to “snubbed” women directors. While I do agree that the homogeneity of the Best Director category (and all categories) of the Oscars (and most other awards shows) is unfortunate, McGowan seems to be straight up angry at Portman’s tribute. I understand wanting so-called activists and other people with power and a means of using it to “walk the walk” as McGowan says, but this response seems a bit much for what seems like Portman wanting to bring attention to the issue of gender inequality.
5 comments:
I was very confused by the contents of this article. I saw Natalie Portman’s Oscar outfit and I remember thinking from a non-fashion standpoint that this was a cool idea but I wasn’t entirely sure what it was trying to achieve. I read Rose McGowan’s argument and I want to validate what she said but from a very personal perspective I couldn’t figure out any reason why she would get to preach about women in film activism in this way. Both Natalie Portman and Rose McGowan are women in film, and women that have been in film for a long time and I was quite shocked to read that McGowan was so deeply offended by this. I feel that if she was going to criticize Portman you would have to criticize the maker of the dress, and her stylist. I don’t think I have a great amount of authority to make an independent opinion, but I am just very confused as to why this is such a big issue.
I really am having trouble understanding why Rose McGowan is offended. Annoyed? Understandable. But like, this isn't offensive. Even if Natalie Portman has ulterior motives in wearing the cape, and is simplyy putting on a feminist front as McGowan claims, it's still more of a step in the right direction than a step in the wrong. I could be horribly wrong in my opinion on this, but it feels like a conflict that simply didn't need to happen or be addressed. I think that a large part of feminism is standing together in a united front, and having conflict with women against women in the entertainment industry is nothing but counterproductive. McGowan argues that Portman has only worked with 2 female directors in her career, and while that may be true, that doesn't mean she isn't supporting them. There are less female directors, and I feel like in the acting industry you kinda have to take what you're given. Maybe she wasn't getting offers from female directors, or they didn't have roles that fit here character type. Either way, this article and entire conversation seems very unnecessary, although I could be offensive in thinking so.
I don't know why Rose McGowan has beef with Natalie Portman but it just seems like another twitter fight to get a little publicity going (shocker! Everyone, everywhere, always has something to say about everything!!) Everyone has there own way of protesting injustices they find important to address. In this case, Portman addressed what she found important with a dress (haha bad joke I get it) and McGowan thought that it wasn’t enough and that her attempt was insulting. Dang, where does McGowan’s beef come from? Just because people have different ways of supporting doesn’t mean you need to attach someone else for having a different approach. Portman doesn’t need to be the sole supporter of this cause, she is doing her part (whether small, large, helpful or unhelpful) by bringing attention to the problem. Instead of creating a conflict with Portman maybe McGowan needs to continue to do the work that she thinks is helpful. I don’t know what calling out Natalie Portman is doing for the cause? I guess getting more publicity but wasn’t that her problem with Portman in the first place??
I am going to have to disagree with McGowan on this one. I actually thought Portman's outfit was kind of interesting. It seems a little performative, but it makes a bold statement. It would be one thing if Portman wore this cape and then turned around to be an awful, sexist person in actuality, but as far as I am concerned, she is not, and she has every right to make the statement that she did. Maybe this is Portman's way of taking a stand, and I do not think she deserved the backlash she received from McGowan. I feel like part of an activist's role as an activist is to inspire and incite others to action, not to shame others for the form of action that they take (given the action is not completely antithetical to the mission of the movement). I don't agree with McGowan's tearing down of Portman's stance, I just don't.
I honestly do not understand Rose McGowan’s anger here. It definitely sounds like it is about more than a cape; there are fewer pounds of fabric in that cape than seems to be weighing on McGowan’s shoulders. I remember seeing Natalie Portman’s outfit on the Oscars red carpet and thinking that it was one of the more attractive pieces of the night and then, perhaps a day or two later, seeing an article about its homage to “snubbed” women directors. While I do agree that the homogeneity of the Best Director category (and all categories) of the Oscars (and most other awards shows) is unfortunate, McGowan seems to be straight up angry at Portman’s tribute. I understand wanting so-called activists and other people with power and a means of using it to “walk the walk” as McGowan says, but this response seems a bit much for what seems like Portman wanting to bring attention to the issue of gender inequality.
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