Not everyone was inspired by Natalie Portmanâs decision to sport the names of this yearâs snubbed female directors down the lapel of her Academy Awards cloak.
In fact, Rose McGowan found the tribute âdeeply offensive.â
The actress and #MeToo activist took to Facebook Tuesday evening to explain her stance on the situation, saying she was ânot writing this out of bitterness,â but rather âout of disgust.â
âSome thoughts on Natalie Portman and her Oscar âprotest.â The kind of protest that gets rave reviews from the mainstream media for its bravery. Brave? No, not by a long shot. More like an actress acting the part of someone who cares. As so many of them do,â McGowan argued. âI find Portmanâs type of activism deeply offensive to those of us who actually do the work⊠I just want her and other actresses to walk the walk.â
She claimed Portman has âworked with two female directors in your very long career â one of them was you.â The Harvey Weinstein accuser went on to also claim that Natalieâs production company, Handsomecharlie Films, âhas hired exactly one female director â you.â
However, Portman has actually worked with three female directors on feature films, while two were omnibus films with multiple directors: Mira Nair for âNew York, I Love You,â Rebecca Zlotowski for âPlanetariumâ and Vanita Shastry for âThe Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards.â Portman has also worked on two short films â âDevelopingâ and âIllusions & Mirrorsâ â with female directors Marya Cohn and Shirin Neshat, respectively, a music video with Anna Rose Holmer for James Blakeâs âMy Willing Heartâ and two Dior commercials with Sofia Coppola.
âWhat is it with actresses of your ilk? You âA-listersâ (đ€ź) could change the world if youâd take a stand instead of being the problem,â she went on. âYes, you, Natalie. You are the problem. Lip service is the problem. Fake support of other women is the problem. As I wrote in my book Brave, what goes on behind the screen, goes onscreen, goes into the world. And itâs a pervasive sickness that needs its own medicine. What you do affects the world, Natalie. As does what you do not do.â
Rose explained the reason sheâs âsingling outâ Natalie is because sheâs âthe latest in a long line of actresses who are acting the part of a woman who cares about other women. Actresses who supposedly stand for women, but in reality do not do much at all. Of course women in the world will keep buying the perfumes you promote, the movies you make, and think theyâre buying into who you are. But who are you?â
McGowan went on, âI was at a Women in Film event that you spoke at once, Natalie. You reeled off depressing statistics and then we all went back to our salads. I quickly realized you and the other women speakers (and that joke of an organization) are just⊠frauds. You say nothing, you do nothing.â
âThere is no law that says you need to hire women, work with women, or support women. By all means, you do you,â she said. âBut I am saying stop pretending youâre some kind of champion for anything other than yourself.â
Rose promised to keep âraising my voice and fighting for change without any compensation,â because to her, âthat is activism.â
âUntil you and your fellow actresses get real,â she concluded, âdo us all a favor and hang up your embroidered activist cloak, it doesnât hang right.â
For her part, Portman said on Sundayâs red carpet that she âwanted to recognize the women who were not recognized for their incredible work this year in a subtle way.â
Among the ladies whose names in script ran down the hem of the actressâs structured black cape â which hung effortlessly over her shoulders and atop her black-and-gold Dior gown â were Lorena Scafaria (âHustlersâ), Lulu Wang (âThe Farewellâ), Greta Gerwig (âLittle Womenâ), Marielle Heller (âA Beautiful Day in the Neighborhoodâ), Alma Harâel (âHoney Boyâ) and CĂ©line Sciamma (âPortrait of a Lady on Fireâ).
TooFab has reached out to reps for Natalie Portman regarding McGowanâs post.
Got a story or a tip for us? Email TooFab editors at tips@toofab.com.
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