Happy Girl
February 28, 2013 8:15 PM Subscribe
"Oh, Anne! With your small head and pert nose and oversized, ready smile and glossy pixie cut and squeakily tuneful speaking voice, uttering lines like “It came true!” as you gaze at your newly won Oscar with moistened doe-eyes, wearing a powder-pink Prada gown adorned with diamonds and bows: Why are you so annoying?"
Anne Hathaway makes most women feel like Carol Burnett, basically . That's why they hate her.
Speak for yourself - this woman thinks she's freakin' adorable and would totally want to hang out with her. (I'm serious, I'm talking full-on giggling-over-Cosmos-at-bars hanging out here.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:32 PM on February 28, 2013 [24 favorites]
Speak for yourself - this woman thinks she's freakin' adorable and would totally want to hang out with her. (I'm serious, I'm talking full-on giggling-over-Cosmos-at-bars hanging out here.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:32 PM on February 28, 2013 [24 favorites]
God, what a depressing, hateful world we live in. People dislike her because they have been given permission to hate her. Those of us who are not interested in the conversation can turn the page, but she has to live in a loathesome world. I feel sorry for her, and I wonder why woman aspires to be a Hollywood actress, given how shitty the whole thing is from start to finish.
posted by KokuRyu at 8:33 PM on February 28, 2013 [105 favorites]
posted by KokuRyu at 8:33 PM on February 28, 2013 [105 favorites]
It's her face. End of story.
posted by spicynuts at 8:34 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by spicynuts at 8:34 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
She seems perfectly likeable to me, so I don't get this alleged widespread hate. Her sad-off with Samuel L. Jackson was hilarious and made her seem like it would be cool to hang out with her.
posted by rtha at 8:34 PM on February 28, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by rtha at 8:34 PM on February 28, 2013 [7 favorites]
I'm not an Anne Hathaway fan- or an Oscars fan, or a Hollywood fan- but she was the only person on that stage who I was genuinely happy for because boy did she look like she deserved to be there. I mean, that smile.
posted by BungaDunga at 8:35 PM on February 28, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by BungaDunga at 8:35 PM on February 28, 2013 [5 favorites]
I totally don't get the Hathaway hate. She's a lovely lady who nailed a difficult song. And she's had a great career before that. She's aces with me.
posted by pearlybob at 8:35 PM on February 28, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by pearlybob at 8:35 PM on February 28, 2013 [6 favorites]
Everybody dislikes her. That's why she's in tons of movies and just won an Oscar and why every article is "defending" her against the great nameless hoard of haters. I wish I was as disliked as Anne Hathaway.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 8:35 PM on February 28, 2013 [23 favorites]
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 8:35 PM on February 28, 2013 [23 favorites]
I can't make myself dislike her, I always thought she was so very pretty in the most unusual way, the oversized smile the dark brown hair, the big eyes. A bit Snow White. Turns out she can sing too, why should I dislike that. I dislike people with no talent getting somewhere. She's not untalented.
posted by dabitch at 8:36 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by dabitch at 8:36 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
I don't think I've seen her in any films, but I like her.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 8:37 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 8:37 PM on February 28, 2013
Really, the pull quote here doesn't do justice to the article, which is not a hate letter to Hathaway, but a consideration of why some people choose to single her out for their petty nastiness.
posted by Tsuga at 8:39 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Tsuga at 8:39 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
; plump faces are the vogue and her face is too thin;
what
posted by louche mustachio at 8:40 PM on February 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
what
posted by louche mustachio at 8:40 PM on February 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
I know the article is actually praising Hathaway, but I just don't understand why anyone would "hate" her in the first place. It's kind of weird, actually.
Would anyone say "Oh Dustin Hoffman, you're so annoying." (Just to pick a name at random.) Guys don't get that kind of judgement, so why should women?
posted by Kevin Street at 8:40 PM on February 28, 2013 [7 favorites]
Would anyone say "Oh Dustin Hoffman, you're so annoying." (Just to pick a name at random.) Guys don't get that kind of judgement, so why should women?
posted by Kevin Street at 8:40 PM on February 28, 2013 [7 favorites]
Anne Hathaway makes most women feel like Carol Burnett, basically . That's why they hate her.
I would totally hang out with Carol Burnett.
posted by SPrintF at 8:41 PM on February 28, 2013 [25 favorites]
I would totally hang out with Carol Burnett.
posted by SPrintF at 8:41 PM on February 28, 2013 [25 favorites]
Is it because people who are concerned about celebrities need to project crap like this, because otherwise they might've just got on with their lives?
posted by pompomtom at 8:41 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by pompomtom at 8:41 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
God, what a depressing, hateful world we live in.
Plus-ity plus-plus-plus! And also some more pluses.
...but unfortunately (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates is equally correct.
So, right now, I'm thinking the two of you need to fight a deathmatch. Or possibly a drinking match. Or possibly just drink a lot whilst I hover in the middle distance.
It's hard to say, really.
posted by aramaic at 8:41 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
Plus-ity plus-plus-plus! And also some more pluses.
...but unfortunately (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates is equally correct.
So, right now, I'm thinking the two of you need to fight a deathmatch. Or possibly a drinking match. Or possibly just drink a lot whilst I hover in the middle distance.
It's hard to say, really.
posted by aramaic at 8:41 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
Would anyone say "Oh Dustin Hoffman, you're so annoying." (Just to pick a name at random.) Guys don't get that kind of judgement, so I don't see why women should.
Are you kidding? People won't see Scott Pilgrim because of Micheal Cera. People hate on Woody Allen or Schwarzenegger or pretty much everyone.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 8:41 PM on February 28, 2013 [11 favorites]
Are you kidding? People won't see Scott Pilgrim because of Micheal Cera. People hate on Woody Allen or Schwarzenegger or pretty much everyone.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 8:41 PM on February 28, 2013 [11 favorites]
She's soppy in the same way that Sally Field was soppy when she uttered the whole "You like me! You really like me!" bit a while back. It's always irritating when somebody who is talented, successful, and widely recognized suddenly exclaims to the world, "Oh! You value me! How delightful!" like their whole lives have suddenly been validated in that one single moment. She gives off the vibe that she has taken the past year or so very seriously, whereas other actors (Jennifer Lawrence, for example, and hell, even Meryl Streep) seem decidedly aware that the whole Hollywood thing is a means to an end and a damn fun thing to be doing, but it's not life and soul defining. Believing that it is is what makes people like Gwyneth Paltrow and Halle Berry and other people so profoundly irritating when they start talking about themselves.
I still like her though. I just wish she wasn't taking this all so seriously.
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 8:43 PM on February 28, 2013 [6 favorites]
I still like her though. I just wish she wasn't taking this all so seriously.
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 8:43 PM on February 28, 2013 [6 favorites]
She gives off the vibe that she has taken the past year or so very seriously, whereas other actors (Jennifer Lawrence, for example, and hell, even Meryl Streep) seem decidedly aware that this is a means to an end and a damn fun thing to be doing, but it's not life and soul defining.
Again this idea that you shouldn't take your life's work seriously rears its ugly, Tall Poppy head. I'm sure her co-star Hugh Jackman taught her how to act like you're 'down to earth'.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 8:45 PM on February 28, 2013 [9 favorites]
Again this idea that you shouldn't take your life's work seriously rears its ugly, Tall Poppy head. I'm sure her co-star Hugh Jackman taught her how to act like you're 'down to earth'.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 8:45 PM on February 28, 2013 [9 favorites]
Would anyone say "Oh Dustin Hoffman, you're so annoying." (Just to pick a name at random.)
Sure. There are plenty of actors and actresses whose work I don't enjoy. I don't watch their movies now that I've learned I don't like their work. But jeez, I don't go rip 'em down the way do Anne Hathaway.
Also, to (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates 's point: She's also loved, sure. The odd thing is just how vocal her haters are about her.
posted by tyllwin at 8:46 PM on February 28, 2013
Sure. There are plenty of actors and actresses whose work I don't enjoy. I don't watch their movies now that I've learned I don't like their work. But jeez, I don't go rip 'em down the way do Anne Hathaway.
Also, to (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates 's point: She's also loved, sure. The odd thing is just how vocal her haters are about her.
posted by tyllwin at 8:46 PM on February 28, 2013
But Woody Allen and Schwarzenegger have both done things that can at least explain why random people might dislike them. Dunno about Micheal Cera.
posted by Kevin Street at 8:47 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by Kevin Street at 8:47 PM on February 28, 2013
The thing I've seen of hers is that time she rapped on Conan, which was pretty awesome.
posted by onya at 8:47 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by onya at 8:47 PM on February 28, 2013
You should take it seriously, but it shouldn't be so all consuming that you have to put your utter worship of the process on display. Extremism is unattractive on anybody. Anne was not giving off a balanced vibe during some of her speeches as of late.
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 8:47 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 8:47 PM on February 28, 2013
... is this like, an actual thing?
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 8:49 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 8:49 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Well I think she's cuter than that angry squeaky frog.
posted by a hat out of hell at 8:49 PM on February 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by a hat out of hell at 8:49 PM on February 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
I like her. I think that she's adorable, talented, and surprisingly feminist for someone in her position, and that considering the amount of public scrutiny she faces, she's remarkably friendly seeming.
That said--and I say this with guilt--I resent her. It's the same way that I resent slender, leggy seventeen year olds with long hair and perfect teeth, the same way that I resent impossibly gorgeous and pulled-together older women, the same way that I resent my little sister, who I adore.
It's not that I want to be them, or that I want their lives, or that I want to be an actress or a cheerleader or whatever it is that my sister's currently defining herself as. It's just the feeling that these are the people who are Doing It Right, and I--cranky, fat, brow furrowed, butch, frustrated, crying in the car, burning supper--am doing it wrong. It's the unvarnished projection of Having It All and Doing It All and, more importantly, doing it all right, and better than I would ever be able to.
Logically, I'm aware that no one's life is perfect, and that Hathaway presents the way she does in part because of stylists and publicists, and my sister presents the way she does because she's (comparatively) affluent, gender conforming, conventionally attractive, and very invested in presenting herself as someone who is, superficially, as close to perfect as she can make herself. I'm aware that I am not seventeen, that I am comparing myself to children and being bitter that they look more youthful and stylish than I do.
Less logically, though, I feel like these are the people that Society expects women to emulate, and that when compared to Hathaway, we all come out lacking. Jennifer Lawrence is, as mentioned above, more of a tomboy in her presentation, and moderately socially awkward to boot. I don't think it's coincidence that Jennifer Lawrence is, compared to Hathaway, pretty damn near universally beloved. Look on Tumblr, or on Twitter, where thousands of women have proclaimed Lawrence to be "one of us"--because Lawrence presents herself as someone who's kinda goofy and flawed, and that feels more attainable than Hathaway's polished togetherness.
posted by MeghanC at 8:53 PM on February 28, 2013 [65 favorites]
That said--and I say this with guilt--I resent her. It's the same way that I resent slender, leggy seventeen year olds with long hair and perfect teeth, the same way that I resent impossibly gorgeous and pulled-together older women, the same way that I resent my little sister, who I adore.
It's not that I want to be them, or that I want their lives, or that I want to be an actress or a cheerleader or whatever it is that my sister's currently defining herself as. It's just the feeling that these are the people who are Doing It Right, and I--cranky, fat, brow furrowed, butch, frustrated, crying in the car, burning supper--am doing it wrong. It's the unvarnished projection of Having It All and Doing It All and, more importantly, doing it all right, and better than I would ever be able to.
Logically, I'm aware that no one's life is perfect, and that Hathaway presents the way she does in part because of stylists and publicists, and my sister presents the way she does because she's (comparatively) affluent, gender conforming, conventionally attractive, and very invested in presenting herself as someone who is, superficially, as close to perfect as she can make herself. I'm aware that I am not seventeen, that I am comparing myself to children and being bitter that they look more youthful and stylish than I do.
Less logically, though, I feel like these are the people that Society expects women to emulate, and that when compared to Hathaway, we all come out lacking. Jennifer Lawrence is, as mentioned above, more of a tomboy in her presentation, and moderately socially awkward to boot. I don't think it's coincidence that Jennifer Lawrence is, compared to Hathaway, pretty damn near universally beloved. Look on Tumblr, or on Twitter, where thousands of women have proclaimed Lawrence to be "one of us"--because Lawrence presents herself as someone who's kinda goofy and flawed, and that feels more attainable than Hathaway's polished togetherness.
posted by MeghanC at 8:53 PM on February 28, 2013 [65 favorites]
I just hope my daughters enjoy their future careers, and are happy when people want to give them props for doing a good job, and are happy FOR THEMSELVES when they do something awesome because why shouldn't they be?
Anne Hathaway has been acting since she was a kid and working toward an acting career since she was an even littler kid. You don't have to personally find her attractive, even though that's part of her job, and you don't have to love any of her films. That's totally okay. But it's also okay for her to celebrate that she has worked really hard for years to make these things with people that have been successful and that have resulted in opportunities for her to be recognized for her efforts.
I hate that I live in a particular society that wants people to work their asses off and then be super humble and grovel-y when it comes time to accept kudos for that work. I would like due praise for what I accomplish and I think everyone should get that.
posted by padraigin at 8:53 PM on February 28, 2013 [7 favorites]
Anne Hathaway has been acting since she was a kid and working toward an acting career since she was an even littler kid. You don't have to personally find her attractive, even though that's part of her job, and you don't have to love any of her films. That's totally okay. But it's also okay for her to celebrate that she has worked really hard for years to make these things with people that have been successful and that have resulted in opportunities for her to be recognized for her efforts.
I hate that I live in a particular society that wants people to work their asses off and then be super humble and grovel-y when it comes time to accept kudos for that work. I would like due praise for what I accomplish and I think everyone should get that.
posted by padraigin at 8:53 PM on February 28, 2013 [7 favorites]
To me, she has that sort of giddy and likeable charm that Julia Roberts had, and I'm kind of drawn to that, personally.
posted by dean winchester at 8:54 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by dean winchester at 8:54 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
I would like to see a Venn diagram of Hathaway haters and kardashian fans
How many appreciate a no talent bimbo but despise someone who got somewhere by legitimate effort and talent. I expect a ton of overlap
posted by mulligan at 8:58 PM on February 28, 2013 [5 favorites]
How many appreciate a no talent bimbo but despise someone who got somewhere by legitimate effort and talent. I expect a ton of overlap
posted by mulligan at 8:58 PM on February 28, 2013 [5 favorites]
To me, she has that sort of giddy and likeable charm that Julia Roberts had, and I'm kind of drawn to that, personally.
How interesting that you mention Julia Roberts. I have no real opinion on Anne Hathaway, but I cannot stand Julia Roberts. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something about her that just irritates me.
posted by explosion at 8:59 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
How interesting that you mention Julia Roberts. I have no real opinion on Anne Hathaway, but I cannot stand Julia Roberts. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something about her that just irritates me.
posted by explosion at 8:59 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
I don't hate her, and I have an irrational hatred of so many celebrities, I mean, Channing Tatum, I don't even know who is and I hate him.
posted by betweenthebars at 9:00 PM on February 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by betweenthebars at 9:00 PM on February 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
I love mulligan. There- I said it. Un-hate the thread.
posted by dabitch at 9:00 PM on February 28, 2013
posted by dabitch at 9:00 PM on February 28, 2013
I like Anne Hathaway's work, and I've always liked what I've seen/read of her in interviews. She's serious about her work but willing to make fun of herself, which I think speaks well of her. But I think something commentators are overlooking in a lot of these articles is that she gave some REALLY TERRIBLE interviews this awards season. I was up late with sick kids a lot the last couple months and happened to catch her multiple times on late-night shows, and she came across as very insincere and forced in a talking-points sort of way, and the longer the season went on, as the backlash started to grow against her, she got sort-of jumpy and frenetic and the interviews lost flow and became awkward to watch, as she got conscious of how people were reacting to her. And I don't blame her a bit, man.
(Also I don't think her issue activism about sexual violence relates as organically to Les Miz for the viewer as it does for her, since Fantine is a small piece of the show, but looms very large in Hathaway's life since it was her mother's role as well as her own, so a lot of the time when she started talking about her issue activism it seemed sort-of out-of-left-field and disconnected and preachy-in-a-bad-way. It didn't come across well.)
She's also in the "Bobhatespeas" stage of being newly married where you're like, "Man, I like peas" and the newlywed is jumps in with, "You like peas? Bob HATES peas!" She mentions him all the time in a self-conscious "I have a husband!" way that's charming with your newlywed friends but tiresome from someone you don't really know. That sucked up a lot of interview air.
Anyway, she came out of that terrible scandal where she was engaged to Raffaello Follieri and he was defrauding everybody relatively unscathed, so I'm sure this overexposure-and-timing-related wave of Hathaway hate will die down and she can go back to being awesome in movies and giving amusing interviews without getting all up in her own head.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:02 PM on February 28, 2013 [16 favorites]
(Also I don't think her issue activism about sexual violence relates as organically to Les Miz for the viewer as it does for her, since Fantine is a small piece of the show, but looms very large in Hathaway's life since it was her mother's role as well as her own, so a lot of the time when she started talking about her issue activism it seemed sort-of out-of-left-field and disconnected and preachy-in-a-bad-way. It didn't come across well.)
She's also in the "Bobhatespeas" stage of being newly married where you're like, "Man, I like peas" and the newlywed is jumps in with, "You like peas? Bob HATES peas!" She mentions him all the time in a self-conscious "I have a husband!" way that's charming with your newlywed friends but tiresome from someone you don't really know. That sucked up a lot of interview air.
Anyway, she came out of that terrible scandal where she was engaged to Raffaello Follieri and he was defrauding everybody relatively unscathed, so I'm sure this overexposure-and-timing-related wave of Hathaway hate will die down and she can go back to being awesome in movies and giving amusing interviews without getting all up in her own head.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:02 PM on February 28, 2013 [16 favorites]
I have a vague theory that isn't totally formed, that has to do with my movie-buff father and how he never really liked Audrey Hepburn, because he found her features too exaggerated (he always called out her neck in particular, but she also had crazy big eyes and thick eyebrows and a big nose and lips). I wonder if some people are just put off by Anne Hathaway's kind of otherworldly looks.
posted by padraigin at 9:03 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by padraigin at 9:03 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm not going to presume to know what women feel, but I have a sneaking suspicion most guys are okay with handsome, muscular male movie stars because we secretly think that we could do that. Just got to put down the remote, stop eating the Cheetos, maybe run ten miles every morning. Yeah, I could be Gerard Butler. No problem, man. THIS IS SPARTA!
posted by Kevin Street at 9:03 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Kevin Street at 9:03 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
It seems like it would be a helluva lot easier to hate that Twilight actress.
posted by Brocktoon at 9:06 PM on February 28, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by Brocktoon at 9:06 PM on February 28, 2013 [5 favorites]
God, what a depressing, hateful world we live in. People dislike her because they have been given permission to hate her. Those of us who are not interested in the conversation can turn the page, but she has to live in a loathesome world. I feel sorry for her, and I wonder why woman aspires to be a Hollywood actress, given how shitty the whole thing is from start to finish.
It's interesting to me that you relate to her as a person. Which is a fucked-up thing to say, perhaps, but....while celebrities are indeed people, what's interesting about them isn't their personhood. It's their symbolic function: What qualities does this particular icon embody that draws people to them? Or in this case, repels them? Of what are they the avatar? I think talking about that shit is interesting because it can enable you to sift through and find little nuggets of insight about what society values.
I mean, Anne Hathaway, if you're reading this, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings by referring to you so callously. I hope you can understand that I intended you no personal harm. It seemed to me vanishingly unlikely that you would ever read these words, and so it seemed no more invasive to discuss what people like and don't like about you than to discuss what symbols are found surrounding the Virgin of Guadelope on a dollar store candle. You seem nice, and congrats on the Oscar.
posted by Diablevert at 9:12 PM on February 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
It's interesting to me that you relate to her as a person. Which is a fucked-up thing to say, perhaps, but....while celebrities are indeed people, what's interesting about them isn't their personhood. It's their symbolic function: What qualities does this particular icon embody that draws people to them? Or in this case, repels them? Of what are they the avatar? I think talking about that shit is interesting because it can enable you to sift through and find little nuggets of insight about what society values.
I mean, Anne Hathaway, if you're reading this, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings by referring to you so callously. I hope you can understand that I intended you no personal harm. It seemed to me vanishingly unlikely that you would ever read these words, and so it seemed no more invasive to discuss what people like and don't like about you than to discuss what symbols are found surrounding the Virgin of Guadelope on a dollar store candle. You seem nice, and congrats on the Oscar.
posted by Diablevert at 9:12 PM on February 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
I think this:
She gives off the vibe that she has taken the past year or so very seriously, whereas other actors (Jennifer Lawrence, for example, and hell, even Meryl Streep) seem decidedly aware that this is a means to an end and a damn fun thing to be doing, but it's not life and soul defining.
and this:
It seems like it would be a helluva lot easier to hate that Twilight actress
add up to point out the narrow margin that actresses* are expected to walk to attain maximum likeability. Trying too hard? Want it too much? Being too bright-eyed and polished and accomplished? Anne Hathaway, commonly hated. Not trying hard enough? Not wanting it enough? Being too disengaged and slouchy and unpolished? Kristen Stewart, legendarily hated.
*I imagine there's a similar margin that actors, particularly young ones, have to walk to attain likeability --- but I'm not totally sure that likeability is as highly demanded from young actors.
posted by Elsa at 9:15 PM on February 28, 2013 [7 favorites]
She gives off the vibe that she has taken the past year or so very seriously, whereas other actors (Jennifer Lawrence, for example, and hell, even Meryl Streep) seem decidedly aware that this is a means to an end and a damn fun thing to be doing, but it's not life and soul defining.
and this:
It seems like it would be a helluva lot easier to hate that Twilight actress
add up to point out the narrow margin that actresses* are expected to walk to attain maximum likeability. Trying too hard? Want it too much? Being too bright-eyed and polished and accomplished? Anne Hathaway, commonly hated. Not trying hard enough? Not wanting it enough? Being too disengaged and slouchy and unpolished? Kristen Stewart, legendarily hated.
*I imagine there's a similar margin that actors, particularly young ones, have to walk to attain likeability --- but I'm not totally sure that likeability is as highly demanded from young actors.
posted by Elsa at 9:15 PM on February 28, 2013 [7 favorites]
Every time I hear someone assert she "isn't hot enough" I get very depressed. By those standards, most of us should just end it all right now. Or is the short hair really that aggravating to people? (I will admit it's unflattering and makes her large features a bit muppet-like at the current regrowth stage.)
posted by availablelight at 9:18 PM on February 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by availablelight at 9:18 PM on February 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
Meryl Streep, if you're reading this, it's not you, it's me.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:23 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:23 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
It's interesting to me that you relate to her as a person. Which is a fucked-up thing to say, perhaps, but....while celebrities are indeed people, what's interesting about them isn't their personhood.
I don't normally - I just tune all this stuff out. However, it's important to remember that we all live and die and suffer and all that stuff.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:25 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
I don't normally - I just tune all this stuff out. However, it's important to remember that we all live and die and suffer and all that stuff.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:25 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Everyone knew that Hathaway was going to walk away with the Oscar. MacFarlane knew it and said as much in his opening sketch. I knew it as soon as I saw her scene in Les Mis. Let's face it, she killed it.
I don't know how Hathaway, who expected to win an award that she knew she deserved, for a role that was textbook Oscar bait, could have managed to come off any better than she did on Oscar night. At least, not without being completely disingenuous, which would have made her less likeable by far.
On the other hand, Jennifer Lawrence did something that turned out to be an ingenious PR move, which was trip on her dress while going up to collect her Oscar (which she probably didn't deserve, tbh, it was probably a "sorry we didn't give you Best Actress two years ago for Winter's Bone" Oscar), thereby cementing her reputation as young, talented...and hilariously awkward. And goodwill poured out of the hearts of Americans in floods, because she managed the impossible, which is to be admirable and relatable at the same time.
We ask a lot of our stars nowadays, I think. Not only do they have to be good at what they do, which requires taking their craft somewhat seriously, they have to act like they don't take it seriously, like they just sort of fell into it and have no idea what they're actually doing, even though they've slaved away for weeks-months-years to conjure up a believable human being out of words on a page, while they're on set, under studio lights and a thick veneer of makeup, under pressure from directors and agents and the tight shooting schedule, while managing to avoid paparazzi and not come off like a dick in interviews (even with David Lettermen) and go out in public in clothes that won't have the Internet excoriating them as hoboes and/or bagladies.
When I was a kid, I used to daydream about being famous. Not anymore.
posted by duvatney at 9:33 PM on February 28, 2013 [8 favorites]
I don't know how Hathaway, who expected to win an award that she knew she deserved, for a role that was textbook Oscar bait, could have managed to come off any better than she did on Oscar night. At least, not without being completely disingenuous, which would have made her less likeable by far.
On the other hand, Jennifer Lawrence did something that turned out to be an ingenious PR move, which was trip on her dress while going up to collect her Oscar (which she probably didn't deserve, tbh, it was probably a "sorry we didn't give you Best Actress two years ago for Winter's Bone" Oscar), thereby cementing her reputation as young, talented...and hilariously awkward. And goodwill poured out of the hearts of Americans in floods, because she managed the impossible, which is to be admirable and relatable at the same time.
We ask a lot of our stars nowadays, I think. Not only do they have to be good at what they do, which requires taking their craft somewhat seriously, they have to act like they don't take it seriously, like they just sort of fell into it and have no idea what they're actually doing, even though they've slaved away for weeks-months-years to conjure up a believable human being out of words on a page, while they're on set, under studio lights and a thick veneer of makeup, under pressure from directors and agents and the tight shooting schedule, while managing to avoid paparazzi and not come off like a dick in interviews (even with David Lettermen) and go out in public in clothes that won't have the Internet excoriating them as hoboes and/or bagladies.
When I was a kid, I used to daydream about being famous. Not anymore.
posted by duvatney at 9:33 PM on February 28, 2013 [8 favorites]
Man, ever since I read about her epic verbal judo on TV about that paparazzi snapping a picture of her crotch -
Maybe everyone's not 'liking' her because she seems to be a serious actress - an Oscar is just about the biggest shiny anyone's handing out nowadays, and she's made it clear that she's been gunning for one. Obviously she should want it but not want it TOO much, amirite? What bullshit.
derail but ANG LEE WON FOR LIFE OF PI YAY
posted by zennish at 9:41 PM on February 28, 2013 [23 favorites]
Lauer: Anne Hathaway, good morning, nice to see you. Seen a lot of you lately, ... What's the lesson learned from something like that, other than that you keep smiling, which you'll always do."- I've been a fan. 'Cause damn.
Hathaway: Well, it was obviously an unfortunate incident ... It kind of made me sad on two accounts. One was that I was very sad that we live in an age when someone takes a picture of another person in a vulnerable moment, and rather than delete it and do the decent thing, sells it. And I'm sorry that we live in a culture that commodifies sexuality of unwilling participants, which brings us back to Les Mis, because that's what the character [Fantine] is. She is someone who is forced to sell sex to benefit her child because she has nothing and there's no social safety net so yeah—let's get back to Les Mis.
Maybe everyone's not 'liking' her because she seems to be a serious actress - an Oscar is just about the biggest shiny anyone's handing out nowadays, and she's made it clear that she's been gunning for one. Obviously she should want it but not want it TOO much, amirite? What bullshit.
derail but ANG LEE WON FOR LIFE OF PI YAY
posted by zennish at 9:41 PM on February 28, 2013 [23 favorites]
I love her. I am glad she won. I like her shiny hair and her big teeth and her bony shoulders and her Katie Holmes impressions on SNL. She's articulate and talented. And yeah, I would eat a dog biscuit before I'd suffer through Rachel Getting Married again, but that's more the fault of the movie and that specific cultural niche it plays both in and to.
She manages to be Carol Burnett and Julie Andrews. AND she can hold her own when hanging out with undisputed badass Samuel L. Jackson.
She's smart, and she's tipped off to how some people react to her, but she's overcompensating in a way that feels simultaneously soppy and brittle and too-polite and... panicked. I mean, she issued a public apology about switching to Prada on Oscar night. Jennifer Lawrence would have turned that into a howler of a story on a late night talk show, but that just doesn't seem to be Anne's personality. People don't like people who overcompensate, who smile too much (in their opinion), who seem to have everything but yet still try really hard.
posted by mochapickle at 9:45 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
She manages to be Carol Burnett and Julie Andrews. AND she can hold her own when hanging out with undisputed badass Samuel L. Jackson.
She's smart, and she's tipped off to how some people react to her, but she's overcompensating in a way that feels simultaneously soppy and brittle and too-polite and... panicked. I mean, she issued a public apology about switching to Prada on Oscar night. Jennifer Lawrence would have turned that into a howler of a story on a late night talk show, but that just doesn't seem to be Anne's personality. People don't like people who overcompensate, who smile too much (in their opinion), who seem to have everything but yet still try really hard.
posted by mochapickle at 9:45 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
Extremism is unattractive on anybody.
Yes. Just like the world hates men who take their careers seriously. Your extremism is unattractive, firefighters and cops and troops!
Jennifer Lawrence seems nice and cute and funny, but it really is possible to compliment and like one person without pouring hatred onto someone else just to create a contrast.
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:05 PM on February 28, 2013 [7 favorites]
Yes. Just like the world hates men who take their careers seriously. Your extremism is unattractive, firefighters and cops and troops!
Jennifer Lawrence seems nice and cute and funny, but it really is possible to compliment and like one person without pouring hatred onto someone else just to create a contrast.
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:05 PM on February 28, 2013 [7 favorites]
And if you really want to have contempt for someone at the Oscars, why not propagandists, torture/CIA apologists, and utterly contemptible war profiteers Ben Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow?
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:06 PM on February 28, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:06 PM on February 28, 2013 [7 favorites]
The Onion tweeted its infamous tweet: “Everyone else seems afraid to say it, but that Quvenzhané Wallis is kind of a cunt, right?” The tweet was taken down and apologized for, but The Onion, as usual, had blurted out a terribly ugly version of a suppressed, itchy attitude that is probably more widely held than we’d like to think: the idea that young girls are ridiculous, annoying, and a little disgusting. They’re glittery, they squeal, they like attention, and—most disturbingly—they threaten to evoke illicit sexual feelings. The word “cunt” didn’t bubble up by accident.I have no particular take on Anne Hathaway or her haters and I know this particular subtopic has been done to death but great Carlin's ghost is this the thickest thing I think I've ever read under a New Yorker byline.
That Onion tweet was a poorly conceived and horribly miscalibrated joke. They were right to delete it and apologize for it. But the only thing they got right is that no sane rational human being with even a vestigial trace of empathy could assume it was actually about Quvenzhane Wallis. The entire outsized rusty poorly mounted hinge of the fucking joke is that you couldn't possibly actually agree with the sentiment it expressed, that the absolute last thing you could conclude from this adorable 9-year-old girl's presence at the Oscars was that it was irritating in this or any other way. It was a classic inverted-expectation joke. It depended for its brief, not-very-funny life on the notion that it had so wildly mismatched its viscious language and its completely innocent subject that you might find it funny how poorly proportioned it all was.
Honestly. Fuck.
posted by gompa at 10:12 PM on February 28, 2013 [30 favorites]
Anne Hathaway makes most women feel like Carol Burnett, basically .
If "like Carol Burnett" is a putdown in this writer's vocabulary, then this writer's opinion is completely without value. Carol Burnett was insanely talented, unfailingly kind and decent, pretty damn good looking and actually had a pretty smokin' bod. What in hell is the matter with this writer?
posted by George_Spiggott at 10:20 PM on February 28, 2013 [24 favorites]
If "like Carol Burnett" is a putdown in this writer's vocabulary, then this writer's opinion is completely without value. Carol Burnett was insanely talented, unfailingly kind and decent, pretty damn good looking and actually had a pretty smokin' bod. What in hell is the matter with this writer?
posted by George_Spiggott at 10:20 PM on February 28, 2013 [24 favorites]
Man, ever since I read about her epic verbal judo on TV about that paparazzi snapping a picture of her crotch -
Somebody asked me upthread why I identified with her as a human being, rather than as a manufactured entity or persona, and now I remember - her response to Matt Lauer is why. Fucking A. It was a genuine and thoughtful response, not something we see much on mainstream television these days.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:23 PM on February 28, 2013 [12 favorites]
Somebody asked me upthread why I identified with her as a human being, rather than as a manufactured entity or persona, and now I remember - her response to Matt Lauer is why. Fucking A. It was a genuine and thoughtful response, not something we see much on mainstream television these days.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:23 PM on February 28, 2013 [12 favorites]
Anybody who has hate for Anne Hathaway after watching this, I have no time for.
If "like Carol Burnett" is a putdown in this writer's vocabulary
Well, watch the clip. The point is within, not a general characterization of Burnett herself.
posted by dhartung at 10:25 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
If "like Carol Burnett" is a putdown in this writer's vocabulary
Well, watch the clip. The point is within, not a general characterization of Burnett herself.
posted by dhartung at 10:25 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
If "like Carol Burnett" is a putdown in this writer's vocabulary, then this writer's opinion is completely without value. Carol Burnett was insanely talented, unfailingly kind and decent, pretty damn good looking and actually had a pretty smokin' bod. What in hell is the matter with this writer?
That was my metaphor, not the New Yorker's. The link I put in was to a duet Burnett and Andrews did called "You're So London," as part of their two women show, where Burnett jokes about how awkward and gauche she feels next to Andrew. I was positing that Hathaway has a similar affect. Basically the same thing Meghan describes more clearly above.
"You're so champagne, so caviar and I'm so liverwurst...."
posted by Diablevert at 10:27 PM on February 28, 2013 [7 favorites]
That was my metaphor, not the New Yorker's. The link I put in was to a duet Burnett and Andrews did called "You're So London," as part of their two women show, where Burnett jokes about how awkward and gauche she feels next to Andrew. I was positing that Hathaway has a similar affect. Basically the same thing Meghan describes more clearly above.
"You're so champagne, so caviar and I'm so liverwurst...."
posted by Diablevert at 10:27 PM on February 28, 2013 [7 favorites]
The vulnerability she projects makes me very nervous.
If she were a relative or a friend, I'd worry about her every time she crossed my mind.
posted by jamjam at 10:28 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
If she were a relative or a friend, I'd worry about her every time she crossed my mind.
posted by jamjam at 10:28 PM on February 28, 2013 [3 favorites]
(Bad form to edit my comment but of course I shouldn't speak of the living Ms. Burnett in the past tense. Also, yes, I misattributed the quote to the article. And missed the point. I'm just made of win this evening.)
posted by George_Spiggott at 10:29 PM on February 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by George_Spiggott at 10:29 PM on February 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
And, at 40, I've crossed the threshold into thinking more and more like a parent - I see someone like Anne Hathaway who looks so very young, too young for the outpouring of virtual hate.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:37 PM on February 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by KokuRyu at 10:37 PM on February 28, 2013 [4 favorites]
Her ex went to prison for fraud or something around the time of the whole Madoff thing and a lot of people were of the "she had to know! She rode in his private jet!". Which is BS but that's where a lot of the dislike started imho.
Rachel Getting Married is what she should have won the Oscar for though!
posted by fshgrl at 10:39 PM on February 28, 2013
Rachel Getting Married is what she should have won the Oscar for though!
posted by fshgrl at 10:39 PM on February 28, 2013
Does anybody else automatically think of Ms Hathaway from Beverly Hillbillies whenever you hear her name? It's an odd predilection.
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:42 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:42 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
Everybody should watch the Carol Burnett and Julie Andrews clip from the first comment in this thread by Diablevert.
posted by oneironaut at 10:59 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by oneironaut at 10:59 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Amazing that even in a smart community like this there are people still willing to state they like or hate a celebrity they neither know or have met. I can understand having an opinion on someone's films or art but the person themselves? So weird.
posted by Callicvol at 11:06 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Callicvol at 11:06 PM on February 28, 2013 [2 favorites]
Amazing that even in a smart community like this there are people still willing to state they like or hate a celebrity they neither know or have met. I can understand having an opinion on someone's films or art but the person themselves? So weird.
How is that weird? It's not so unusual to have opinions about the personal lives and personalities of writers, artists, or actors. Even for, ahem, smart people.
posted by mochapickle at 11:14 PM on February 28, 2013
How is that weird? It's not so unusual to have opinions about the personal lives and personalities of writers, artists, or actors. Even for, ahem, smart people.
posted by mochapickle at 11:14 PM on February 28, 2013
I think it's her vulnerability that people pick up on. People who seem that vulnerable are often seen as "weak" and then our culture tears them apart like jackals. Especially when these people are successful because vulnerable, nervous people are not supposed to be alpha males or females. Obviously this says a lot more about our culture than it does about Anne Hathaway.
posted by hazyjane at 11:18 PM on February 28, 2013 [9 favorites]
posted by hazyjane at 11:18 PM on February 28, 2013 [9 favorites]
How is that weird? It's not so unusual to have opinions about the personal lives and personalities of writers, artists, or actors. Even for, ahem, smart people.
It just strikes me as weird that the personalities and personal lives of compete strangers instigate visceral emotions in some people, especially when based on absolutely nothing but demenour, cadence, attractiveness or other superficialities completely unconnected to how that person may actually be. In the case of Miss Hathaway, I just cant muster any semblance of like or dislike about her as a human being. Perhaps passing comment on her acting ability, which seems a fair area to criticise or laud, but otherwise theres nothing else to evoke. But then maybe I'm weird.
posted by Callicvol at 11:41 PM on February 28, 2013
It just strikes me as weird that the personalities and personal lives of compete strangers instigate visceral emotions in some people, especially when based on absolutely nothing but demenour, cadence, attractiveness or other superficialities completely unconnected to how that person may actually be. In the case of Miss Hathaway, I just cant muster any semblance of like or dislike about her as a human being. Perhaps passing comment on her acting ability, which seems a fair area to criticise or laud, but otherwise theres nothing else to evoke. But then maybe I'm weird.
posted by Callicvol at 11:41 PM on February 28, 2013
Huh. A lot of people annoy me, but it's never crossed my mind to be annoyed by her. I think she and I have similar drives: a desire to succeed on our own merit, with a lot of hard work put in.
posted by mantecol at 11:45 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by mantecol at 11:45 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Is this the thread where I whine about the Gawker/Defamer, ONTD spawns and worst of all the anon forums/memes making entertainment fandoms less pleasant (for me) across the board?
Because I can whine about this all night, and then all day tomorrow, possibly all weekend.
posted by fatehunter at 11:47 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
Because I can whine about this all night, and then all day tomorrow, possibly all weekend.
posted by fatehunter at 11:47 PM on February 28, 2013 [1 favorite]
gompa, my read is that eustacescrubb wasn't speaking to the thread, but to those "out there" who expend all that hate effort on a such an odd target (she's not "odd," but makes an odd locus for hate).
I don't understand it, but it just reinforces my personal feeling (for the millionth time), that I would never, ever want to be celebrity-famous. Entertainment journalism (gossip columns, papparazzi, and even film criticism) was always a snakepit, but now that it's anyone's game via BBs, blogs, and social media, the tsunami of cruelty and spew is mind boggling. I don't know how performers in the spotlight survive it.
posted by taz at 12:08 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I don't understand it, but it just reinforces my personal feeling (for the millionth time), that I would never, ever want to be celebrity-famous. Entertainment journalism (gossip columns, papparazzi, and even film criticism) was always a snakepit, but now that it's anyone's game via BBs, blogs, and social media, the tsunami of cruelty and spew is mind boggling. I don't know how performers in the spotlight survive it.
posted by taz at 12:08 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Since Gawker went all "anyone can comment," I have seen a shit ton of hate for the hapless Miss Hathaway. The main justification for it that I've read there is that they liken her to Tracy Flick in Election. To whit, they perceive her as being just a little too perfect and, thus, fake.
Another group of haters dislike her because she seems like one of those actresses you know in high school who really, really loves theatre and always wants to talk about it.
Essentially, I read it as people who haven't gotten past high school reacting to her as if she goes to the same school as them and makes them feel stupid or look ugly. To whit, she makes them feel bad about themselves and they hate her for it.
In my own opinion, she's a talented actor and I hope she has a long and continually successful career.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:27 AM on March 1, 2013 [5 favorites]
Another group of haters dislike her because she seems like one of those actresses you know in high school who really, really loves theatre and always wants to talk about it.
Essentially, I read it as people who haven't gotten past high school reacting to her as if she goes to the same school as them and makes them feel stupid or look ugly. To whit, she makes them feel bad about themselves and they hate her for it.
In my own opinion, she's a talented actor and I hope she has a long and continually successful career.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:27 AM on March 1, 2013 [5 favorites]
I don't know, I'm generally annoyed by the fact that pineapples are called 'ananas' or some variant thereof in most of the world's languages.
posted by the cydonian at 12:31 AM on March 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by the cydonian at 12:31 AM on March 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
It's still ok to hate Andie MacDowell though, right?
posted by condour75 at 3:46 AM on March 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by condour75 at 3:46 AM on March 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
> "In the case of Miss Hathaway, I just can't muster any semblance of like or dislike about her as a human being ... But then maybe I'm weird."
I have the same reaction. I've basically been reading this thread while scratching my head in confusion and muttering, 'Never met the woman, myself.'
posted by kyrademon at 4:06 AM on March 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
I have the same reaction. I've basically been reading this thread while scratching my head in confusion and muttering, 'Never met the woman, myself.'
posted by kyrademon at 4:06 AM on March 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
I'm really, genuinely perplexed by the hate-on for Anne Hathaway.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:18 AM on March 1, 2013
posted by Thorzdad at 4:18 AM on March 1, 2013
I came in here to post the Onion link that Duffell posted, above; and to note that this Hathaway hate meme is not new: The Onion was talking about it back in September of 2011.
posted by BigLankyBastard at 4:24 AM on March 1, 2013
posted by BigLankyBastard at 4:24 AM on March 1, 2013
Also, the fact that the New Fucking Yorker with its tradition of highbrow longform essays should publish a bit about this recockulous Hathaway-Hate meme and take any tone other than flat out vitriolic condemnation of those who participate in it is horrid.
posted by BigLankyBastard at 4:33 AM on March 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by BigLankyBastard at 4:33 AM on March 1, 2013 [4 favorites]
I need to stop having opinions on celebrities on any level. If you want a true celebrity hate-on experience, go watch I'm Still Here, the "documentary" about Joaquin Phoenix abandoning Hollywood. Absolutely the worst waste of time ever put on film.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 4:54 AM on March 1, 2013
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 4:54 AM on March 1, 2013
Did she actually harm someone? Torture animals? Kick a kid in a wheelchair?
I read recently that all it takes to get a standing ovation these days is to show up on stage. Conversely, reasons people give for hating, actually hating another person have become stunningly trivial. Her smile is too frank and open? Seriously?
Man, it is one harsh world out there.
posted by kinnakeet at 4:58 AM on March 1, 2013 [5 favorites]
I read recently that all it takes to get a standing ovation these days is to show up on stage. Conversely, reasons people give for hating, actually hating another person have become stunningly trivial. Her smile is too frank and open? Seriously?
Man, it is one harsh world out there.
posted by kinnakeet at 4:58 AM on March 1, 2013 [5 favorites]
My theory is the haters knew someone like her in high school and hated her. Same thing happens toward pro athletes because of latent jock-hatred.
posted by rocket88 at 5:08 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by rocket88 at 5:08 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
The most disgusting thing about it, to me, is how people justify it, like that old fallback of "well, you knew what you were getting into when you went into show business." As if someone sat her down when she was still a teenager and explained that, among other things, dudes would crouch in front of her every single time she got out of a car in public and try to get an upskirt shot so that other people could talk about her pussy on national television. FFS.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:11 AM on March 1, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:11 AM on March 1, 2013 [6 favorites]
It seems like it would be a helluva lot easier to hate that Twilight actress.
I don't have strong feelings about most celebrities (and I find Hathaway charming) but back in the early days of the franchise I used to see Stewart on the red carpet and think "Stop glowering! You are an insanely lucky actress who hit the jackpot. Can't you enjoy the moment?" I've never seen any of her movies, and I don't HATE her, I just think all that fame appears to be a thorn in her side and that's a shame. Few people ever get to be internationally famous actors; I would hope if you reach that pinnacle, you would enjoy it.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:21 AM on March 1, 2013
I don't have strong feelings about most celebrities (and I find Hathaway charming) but back in the early days of the franchise I used to see Stewart on the red carpet and think "Stop glowering! You are an insanely lucky actress who hit the jackpot. Can't you enjoy the moment?" I've never seen any of her movies, and I don't HATE her, I just think all that fame appears to be a thorn in her side and that's a shame. Few people ever get to be internationally famous actors; I would hope if you reach that pinnacle, you would enjoy it.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 5:21 AM on March 1, 2013
You're never going to stop people hating on celebrities. What's different in these days of forums and social media is that people can be coordinated about it and turn it into a 'thing', which makes it visible to the celebrity involved, who did nothing more heinous than be in some films.
For this reason I've tried to check myself when saying things like: 'I can't stand x'. I admit I still do it in a one-to-one conversation but I'm going to try very hard never to do it online. Online bullying has started to become the background to our lives and it would be good if it could just stop.
posted by Summer at 5:33 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
For this reason I've tried to check myself when saying things like: 'I can't stand x'. I admit I still do it in a one-to-one conversation but I'm going to try very hard never to do it online. Online bullying has started to become the background to our lives and it would be good if it could just stop.
posted by Summer at 5:33 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Loved her in Ella Enchanted; it was a better live action Shrek, well better, live action shrek 2 and 3 and whatever. Shrek the original was at least "original" in scare quotes.
Yeah, I think she's got that "talented and poised" thing down and I don't understand why people dislike her for it. I won't be taking in "Les Mis" though, I honestly don't like musicals.
posted by NiteMayr at 5:59 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I think she's got that "talented and poised" thing down and I don't understand why people dislike her for it. I won't be taking in "Les Mis" though, I honestly don't like musicals.
posted by NiteMayr at 5:59 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Who is this writer and why does she seem to think that people hate Anne Hathaway? Have there been polls conducted? Is there any evidence of said hate?
posted by wolfdreams01 at 6:21 AM on March 1, 2013
posted by wolfdreams01 at 6:21 AM on March 1, 2013
Ugh, I'm so tired of this general attitude of "They're just so pretty and happy and it makes me sick!"
Look, I get when you're an angsty teenager, you think that you're the only person in the world who really knows what it's like to be an angsty teenager, and if all those happy "mundanes" could see the world for what it REALLY is, then they'd be miserable like you too. We've all been there, but the thing is, the big reveal for that part of your life (usually college for most people, or some other rite of passage) is that everyone, regardless of privilege, has struggles and fears and doubts, etc. You find that happiness isn't the absence of challenges, but maturing enough to understand that life is exactly what you make it, and that if you hate yourself, it has to do with shit you need to deal with, and that it's up to you to fix it.
I acknowledge that I've had a good life, and that I am blessed in many ways. It didn't prevent me from having crippling emotional issues, and it didn't make it any easier to work to overcome them. I'm happy IN SPITE of the challenges I face, not because I don't have any.
The type of people who would HONESTLY hate Anne Hathaway because she's pretty or happy are a fucking cancer who make everyone else's life a little worse because they refuse to fix their own.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 6:37 AM on March 1, 2013 [11 favorites]
Look, I get when you're an angsty teenager, you think that you're the only person in the world who really knows what it's like to be an angsty teenager, and if all those happy "mundanes" could see the world for what it REALLY is, then they'd be miserable like you too. We've all been there, but the thing is, the big reveal for that part of your life (usually college for most people, or some other rite of passage) is that everyone, regardless of privilege, has struggles and fears and doubts, etc. You find that happiness isn't the absence of challenges, but maturing enough to understand that life is exactly what you make it, and that if you hate yourself, it has to do with shit you need to deal with, and that it's up to you to fix it.
I acknowledge that I've had a good life, and that I am blessed in many ways. It didn't prevent me from having crippling emotional issues, and it didn't make it any easier to work to overcome them. I'm happy IN SPITE of the challenges I face, not because I don't have any.
The type of people who would HONESTLY hate Anne Hathaway because she's pretty or happy are a fucking cancer who make everyone else's life a little worse because they refuse to fix their own.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 6:37 AM on March 1, 2013 [11 favorites]
I looked her up and I've seen her in Brokeback Mountain, Rachel Getting Married and Get Smart. She was great in the first two, fine in the third, so I'm gonna go with liking her.
I also like happy people in general though, and aspire to be more like them.
posted by gaspode at 6:44 AM on March 1, 2013
I also like happy people in general though, and aspire to be more like them.
posted by gaspode at 6:44 AM on March 1, 2013
Anne Hathaway is a talented actress, very beautiful and seems smart and humble. I think one of the comments from the New Yorker touched on the bigger issue of authenticity. The comment uses Gwyneth Paltrow from 15 years ago as an example and I think the Julia Roberts example mentioned upthread may also apply. I wonder if women don't take to her because they feel as though she's always performing. Contrast to Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone, both of whom are also beautiful, talented and smart, but who don't catch the same sort of vitriol from the public. I think this article (linked from the New Yorker article) touches on this a bit more.
That said, I thought Anne Hathaway was great in Les Mis and feel incredibly bad for her for the amount of flak she takes, which is totally undeserved. I actually think she handles it beautifully, which is a strong statement of her character.
posted by young sister beacon at 7:08 AM on March 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
That said, I thought Anne Hathaway was great in Les Mis and feel incredibly bad for her for the amount of flak she takes, which is totally undeserved. I actually think she handles it beautifully, which is a strong statement of her character.
posted by young sister beacon at 7:08 AM on March 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
I like Anne Hathaway. She's a decent, not great actress in my book (I've only seen Brokeback and Rachel), but seems like a nice, smart person.
I wonder why woman aspires to be a Hollywood actress
Cash money?
But Woody Allen and Schwarzenegger have both done things that can at least explain why random people might dislike them. Dunno about Micheal Cera.
Jason Schwartzman. Jason Mewes. Zach Braff. Joseph Gordon Levitt. Zach Efron. Justin Beiber.
I'm not sure it's strictly gendered ... though looking at those pics, maybe it is a gender thing...
Extremism is unattractive on anybody.
That, however, is a gendered thing, I think. Men don't get criticism for being 2Xtreme. Part of the hatred for Hathaway is that's she's too successful and competent.
posted by mrgrimm at 7:14 AM on March 1, 2013
I wonder why woman aspires to be a Hollywood actress
Cash money?
But Woody Allen and Schwarzenegger have both done things that can at least explain why random people might dislike them. Dunno about Micheal Cera.
Jason Schwartzman. Jason Mewes. Zach Braff. Joseph Gordon Levitt. Zach Efron. Justin Beiber.
I'm not sure it's strictly gendered ... though looking at those pics, maybe it is a gender thing...
Extremism is unattractive on anybody.
That, however, is a gendered thing, I think. Men don't get criticism for being 2Xtreme. Part of the hatred for Hathaway is that's she's too successful and competent.
posted by mrgrimm at 7:14 AM on March 1, 2013
I hadn't heard about this tempest in a teapot until Ta-Nehisi Coates posted about it the other day. He basically was wearily shaking his head, saying he was just too old to understand it. Since I'm older than Coates, I figured that was all I needed to know, and didn't read any further.
posted by Currer Belfry at 7:18 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Currer Belfry at 7:18 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I suppose there's something Anne Hathaway could do that would make her more annoying than the New Yorker, but I can't imagine what it would be.
posted by straight at 7:19 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by straight at 7:19 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's still ok to hate Andie MacDowell though, right?
Of course not. Have you seen Groundhog Day recently? That movie holds up.
posted by straight at 7:32 AM on March 1, 2013 [7 favorites]
Of course not. Have you seen Groundhog Day recently? That movie holds up.
posted by straight at 7:32 AM on March 1, 2013 [7 favorites]
A note about the dress apology - it wasn't really to the public, but to Valentino. Dressing a nominated actress for the Oscars (especially when she wins one!) is a pretty big deal for a design house. It was announced to the press that Anne would wear Valentino. Hathaway and Valentino have pretty close relationship. The apology preserves that relationship.
posted by troika at 7:39 AM on March 1, 2013
posted by troika at 7:39 AM on March 1, 2013
So. If you're a young actress in Hollywood, are you seen as opting out of the game by refusing to smile on the red carpet, never mind the fact that you actually do, by and large, even when you are on goddamn crutches, but photogs and editors choose to publish the 0.02 seconds where you aren't, because it makes better copy since you've given interviews talking about how burdensome living with this sort of frenzy for years is, and also because we have a sexist society that demands young women smile in order to be socially acceptable because they're just so lucky? Kristen Stewart!
Alternatively, do you play the game and work it to show much you want it and let the private and public barriers blur? Ugh, Anne Hathaway, and how dare she clearly try and want success and play the game being offered by chatting about her new husband and her social causes!
They're different sides of the same coin, and it's super gross that there is such a narrow path for young actresses not to be shit on by mass media/random people on the Internet or watching TV.
posted by joyceanmachine at 7:52 AM on March 1, 2013 [8 favorites]
Alternatively, do you play the game and work it to show much you want it and let the private and public barriers blur? Ugh, Anne Hathaway, and how dare she clearly try and want success and play the game being offered by chatting about her new husband and her social causes!
They're different sides of the same coin, and it's super gross that there is such a narrow path for young actresses not to be shit on by mass media/random people on the Internet or watching TV.
posted by joyceanmachine at 7:52 AM on March 1, 2013 [8 favorites]
Kevin Street: Would anyone say "Oh Dustin Hoffman, you're so annoying." (Just to pick a name at random.) Guys don't get that kind of judgement, so why should women?Richard Gere and the hamster.
Rod Stewart "had to get his stomach pumped" after filling it with band-members'...
Justin Bieber.
posted by IAmBroom at 7:52 AM on March 1, 2013
she’s too actorly, and reminds us of the show-tune-belting nightmare we knew in high school;
I think this is a big part of it. It's the staginess. Like with Sarah Jessica Parker, although SJP is much worse. I like my movie starts more movie-ish. But the word "hate" has gotten really irritating. I don't "hate" SJP as a person. I hate watching her on TV and in movies throwing her arms around and yelling. She was so bad in Sex and the City that, even when she's not acting that way, I'm afraid she will and it ruins whatever she is in for me.
There have been so many articles about this stuff, since Gwyneth Paltrow won the Oscar. I think calling the people who are not fans "haters" is obnoxious and it takes attention away from the real misogyny behind this intensive scrutiny that young female actors always get.
posted by BibiRose at 7:57 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I think this is a big part of it. It's the staginess. Like with Sarah Jessica Parker, although SJP is much worse. I like my movie starts more movie-ish. But the word "hate" has gotten really irritating. I don't "hate" SJP as a person. I hate watching her on TV and in movies throwing her arms around and yelling. She was so bad in Sex and the City that, even when she's not acting that way, I'm afraid she will and it ruins whatever she is in for me.
There have been so many articles about this stuff, since Gwyneth Paltrow won the Oscar. I think calling the people who are not fans "haters" is obnoxious and it takes attention away from the real misogyny behind this intensive scrutiny that young female actors always get.
posted by BibiRose at 7:57 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm the opposite. I like Anne. Jennifer Lawrence. Ugh. I'm the one who pushed her at the Oscars making her trip (well in my mind, I did). She bugs the shit out of me.
Look at me, I'm funny.
No, you're not. You're trying to hard.
posted by stormpooper at 8:12 AM on March 1, 2013
Look at me, I'm funny.
No, you're not. You're trying to hard.
posted by stormpooper at 8:12 AM on March 1, 2013
...The type of people who would HONESTLY hate Anne Hathaway because she's pretty or happy are a fucking cancer who make everyone else's life a little worse because they refuse to fix their own.
Uther Bentrazor,
Your comment is satire, yes?
You are faking pointless rage at people you don't know who are full of pointless rage at people they don't know!?:)
posted by Jody Tresidder at 8:14 AM on March 1, 2013
Uther Bentrazor,
Your comment is satire, yes?
You are faking pointless rage at people you don't know who are full of pointless rage at people they don't know!?:)
posted by Jody Tresidder at 8:14 AM on March 1, 2013
Haters gonna hate.
posted by clvrmnky at 8:19 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by clvrmnky at 8:19 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
Long live the Princess of Genovia.
posted by mmmbacon at 8:35 AM on March 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by mmmbacon at 8:35 AM on March 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
Does anybody else automatically think of Ms Hathaway from Beverly Hillbillies whenever you hear her name? It's an odd predilection.
No, man, I think of Shakespeare's wife!
posted by urbanlenny at 8:45 AM on March 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
No, man, I think of Shakespeare's wife!
posted by urbanlenny at 8:45 AM on March 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
I can't help but picture Hathaway-as-Miranda-from-Alice saying to people that vocally express their displeasure at her existence, "But I do not owe you a kindess."
posted by CancerMan at 8:45 AM on March 1, 2013
posted by CancerMan at 8:45 AM on March 1, 2013
Assuming your comment was in good faith, I'm not 'faking' anything, no.
I legitimately take issue with the mindset addressed in this article, because that type of person has directly made my life worse in my attempts to battle my own depression/anxiety. It's hard enough trying to claw your way out of darkness without your 'friends' seeing your emerging confidence as an error to be corrected because they think you aren't 'keeping it real'.
I don't think that Anne Hathaway's mere existence, let alone her ebullience, is remotely as harmful as the ACTIONS of miserable people who look at the happiness and success of others as cause to "take them down a peg" because having to think about and address their own failures makes them feel bad inside (by 'remotely' I mean, 'not in the slightest')
Unless your comment is that all rage is pointless, because honestly, I might agree with you there.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 8:52 AM on March 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
I legitimately take issue with the mindset addressed in this article, because that type of person has directly made my life worse in my attempts to battle my own depression/anxiety. It's hard enough trying to claw your way out of darkness without your 'friends' seeing your emerging confidence as an error to be corrected because they think you aren't 'keeping it real'.
I don't think that Anne Hathaway's mere existence, let alone her ebullience, is remotely as harmful as the ACTIONS of miserable people who look at the happiness and success of others as cause to "take them down a peg" because having to think about and address their own failures makes them feel bad inside (by 'remotely' I mean, 'not in the slightest')
Unless your comment is that all rage is pointless, because honestly, I might agree with you there.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 8:52 AM on March 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
Wait, wait. I love Anne Hathaway. I fell for her in Brokeback, and then become a fanboy after Prada. I loved her before Les Mis, and I'll love her after. But she *has* been annoying during the whole awards season. Her sincerity and earnestness has seemed fake and over-rehearsed. As Margo Channing said, "I detest cheap sentiment."
She's been annoying because she hasn't felt like a real person in a while.
Now she's got the Oscar and she will hopefully go back to being herself.
All that said, I'll be there with my $12 to see her next movie, and all this will pass.
As for why everyone loves Jennifer Lawrence (and why are they pitting the two against each other, anyway?), people love her because she seems so completely, gawkily, realistically, authentically sincere. (I like Jennifer Lawrence, but I don't love her yet. I could see it happening, but I'm not there yet.)
P.S. I'm over caffeinated.
posted by MoxieProxy at 9:03 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
She's been annoying because she hasn't felt like a real person in a while.
Now she's got the Oscar and she will hopefully go back to being herself.
All that said, I'll be there with my $12 to see her next movie, and all this will pass.
As for why everyone loves Jennifer Lawrence (and why are they pitting the two against each other, anyway?), people love her because she seems so completely, gawkily, realistically, authentically sincere. (I like Jennifer Lawrence, but I don't love her yet. I could see it happening, but I'm not there yet.)
P.S. I'm over caffeinated.
posted by MoxieProxy at 9:03 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
> "No, man, I think of Shakespeare's wife!"
Yeah, I sometimes wonder if the hate is still about the thing where people thought he was too young for her.
GET OVER IT PEOPLE IT WAS MORE THAN 400 YEARS AGO
posted by kyrademon at 9:04 AM on March 1, 2013 [6 favorites]
Yeah, I sometimes wonder if the hate is still about the thing where people thought he was too young for her.
GET OVER IT PEOPLE IT WAS MORE THAN 400 YEARS AGO
posted by kyrademon at 9:04 AM on March 1, 2013 [6 favorites]
I'll add to the chorus of confusion. I mean, there are celebrities who annoy me, sure, but I don't expend energy as to why they annoy me. I think the only time I could see that being acceptable is when some of them make shitty comments about homosexuality/poverty/women's rights/etc., because while they are completely entitled to their opinion, they've just proved themselves an asshole in print or other media.
And IIRC, Jennifer Lawrence has said some crappy things in the media too. (Again I may be wrong!)
posted by Kitteh at 9:12 AM on March 1, 2013
And IIRC, Jennifer Lawrence has said some crappy things in the media too. (Again I may be wrong!)
posted by Kitteh at 9:12 AM on March 1, 2013
I'm actually baffled about the claim that there even is any kind of noticeably-large group of people even expressing dislike in the first place. I'm not only thinking "wait, how could people possibly hate Anne Hathaway," I'm also reading where they say "everyone" hates her and I'm all, "they do? Since when?"
I am kind of out of it, though.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:21 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I am kind of out of it, though.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:21 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
> "And IIRC, Jennifer Lawrence has said some crappy things in the media too. (Again I may be wrong!)"
I have no idea if you are right or wrong, but when shit I said before the age of 22 becomes the standard by which I am judged by all the people of the world, then I might feel more comfortable judging others on it. Or at least, I might feel more comfortable doing so shortly before I ask you to shoot me dead.
posted by kyrademon at 9:33 AM on March 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
I have no idea if you are right or wrong, but when shit I said before the age of 22 becomes the standard by which I am judged by all the people of the world, then I might feel more comfortable judging others on it. Or at least, I might feel more comfortable doing so shortly before I ask you to shoot me dead.
posted by kyrademon at 9:33 AM on March 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
But I think that's part of the problem at any age when you're famous; most of the terrible things we've said are usually forgotten or forgiven, but when you're in the limelight, they last forever.
posted by Kitteh at 9:36 AM on March 1, 2013
posted by Kitteh at 9:36 AM on March 1, 2013
Oh, absolutely, Kitteh. But when someone in their 30's or 40's or 50's or whatever spouts off about Scientology or homeopathy or the gays fluoridating our water, while I'm certainly willing to give them a fair shake if they change their minds at some point, at least I consider them old enough to have encountered the world and have formed their own opinions about it.
But when I, at least, was in my teens and early twenties, I had good intentions but was still working out a lot of stuff about the differences between what my parents had brought me up to believe, what society tried to convince me to believe, and what I actually believed. That resulted in occasional forays into REALLY DUMB SHIT before I learned better.
No one should be judged based on every offhand remark they happen to make when someone else is listening. But it's particularly unfair to condemn total strangers for nothing more than being the age that they are.
posted by kyrademon at 9:49 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
But when I, at least, was in my teens and early twenties, I had good intentions but was still working out a lot of stuff about the differences between what my parents had brought me up to believe, what society tried to convince me to believe, and what I actually believed. That resulted in occasional forays into REALLY DUMB SHIT before I learned better.
No one should be judged based on every offhand remark they happen to make when someone else is listening. But it's particularly unfair to condemn total strangers for nothing more than being the age that they are.
posted by kyrademon at 9:49 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
(And incidentally, I do not in general consider someone in their 30's or 40's or 50's spouting off about Scientology or homeopathy reason to hate them as a human being, either. Spouting off about gays fluroidating our water, assuming they are not obviously mentally ill, may be a different matter.)
posted by kyrademon at 9:55 AM on March 1, 2013
posted by kyrademon at 9:55 AM on March 1, 2013
I've always admired humanity's tart honesty and ability to be personally offended by broad social trends.
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:04 AM on March 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 10:04 AM on March 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
Meanwhile, the President is hunky-dory with using drones to kill civilians.
Just out of curiosity, what does a MeFi thread have to be about for someone not to mention this?
posted by The Bellman at 10:09 AM on March 1, 2013 [14 favorites]
Just out of curiosity, what does a MeFi thread have to be about for someone not to mention this?
posted by The Bellman at 10:09 AM on March 1, 2013 [14 favorites]
Lena Dunham?
posted by Kitteh at 10:09 AM on March 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 10:09 AM on March 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
As someone I know posted on Twitter: "I love Jennifer Lawrence. I also love Anne Hathaway. It is, in fact, possible for two women to be awesome at the same time."
posted by cider at 10:10 AM on March 1, 2013 [14 favorites]
posted by cider at 10:10 AM on March 1, 2013 [14 favorites]
I wonder if some people are just put off by Anne Hathaway's kind of otherworldly looks.
I think there is something to this. Because her eyes and mouth are large, all her facial expressions just get amplified. Maybe this amplification ends up looking like insincerity to some people.
Anyway, I like her and thought the Oscar was well-deserved.
posted by emeiji at 10:31 AM on March 1, 2013
I think there is something to this. Because her eyes and mouth are large, all her facial expressions just get amplified. Maybe this amplification ends up looking like insincerity to some people.
Anyway, I like her and thought the Oscar was well-deserved.
posted by emeiji at 10:31 AM on March 1, 2013
I'm also reading where they say "everyone" hates her and I'm all, "they do? Since when?"
"Everyone" doesn't hate Anne Hathaway, or most other celebrities. Snark dominates the kind of general-purpose communities that dominate fandom conversations, while fans of particular celebrities tend to retreat to their own spaces for "stanning." To a casual entertainment consumer who stays in the know by browsing a general community like ONTD, it often appears as if there were a lot more hate than love. That's a distortion in most cases.
posted by fatehunter at 10:54 AM on March 1, 2013
"Everyone" doesn't hate Anne Hathaway, or most other celebrities. Snark dominates the kind of general-purpose communities that dominate fandom conversations, while fans of particular celebrities tend to retreat to their own spaces for "stanning." To a casual entertainment consumer who stays in the know by browsing a general community like ONTD, it often appears as if there were a lot more hate than love. That's a distortion in most cases.
posted by fatehunter at 10:54 AM on March 1, 2013
She 's my "celeb look-a-like" so if I ever become my own enemy, I will naturally have to turn on her as well. That's how those things work right? For now, I think she seems sweet and I like her hair.
posted by Katine at 11:11 AM on March 1, 2013
posted by Katine at 11:11 AM on March 1, 2013
Also, the fact that the New Fucking Yorker with its tradition of highbrow longform essays should publish a bit about this recockulous Hathaway-Hate meme and take any tone other than flat out vitriolic condemnation of those who participate in it is horrid.
Does the New Yorker seem less... good than it used to be? Maybe it's because it was before there was a lot of content online, but ten years ago I used to buy the magazines at least once a month, and was even contemplating an international subscription (and then kids arrived).
Now I barely visit the website. I used to love reading their long form stuff in the late 90's when Remnick took over from Tina Brown, and even the Brown-era New Yorker was more compelling than the magazine today.
Or am I just getting old?
posted by KokuRyu at 11:13 AM on March 1, 2013
Does the New Yorker seem less... good than it used to be? Maybe it's because it was before there was a lot of content online, but ten years ago I used to buy the magazines at least once a month, and was even contemplating an international subscription (and then kids arrived).
Now I barely visit the website. I used to love reading their long form stuff in the late 90's when Remnick took over from Tina Brown, and even the Brown-era New Yorker was more compelling than the magazine today.
Or am I just getting old?
posted by KokuRyu at 11:13 AM on March 1, 2013
I don't know anything about celebrities, I just watch the Oscars and movies sometimes. I can't comment on why anyone else finds Anne Hathaway annoying, but I found her completely unsufferable when she hosted the Oscars two years ago. Just... overly peppy to the point of being manic; trying way too hard to be liked, trying way too hard to be funny, just trying too hard in general. NOT a comment on her ambitions as an actress - try as hard as you want in your career - but her personality was just the wrong side of eager to be loved and I think a lot of people respond to that unconsciously. It is worthwhile to contrast that to Jennifer Lawrence, who just comes across as a chill person amused to be the center of attention - she's like the cool punk girl who somehow ended up in an elegant party full of rich, well-connected people, and feels totally out of place but is willing to roll with it for shits and giggles.
posted by naju at 11:21 AM on March 1, 2013
posted by naju at 11:21 AM on March 1, 2013
I started to read it but gave up. How far down the article would I have to actually read, before I get to inane criticism of her?
posted by surplus at 11:23 AM on March 1, 2013
posted by surplus at 11:23 AM on March 1, 2013
"I cannot stand Julia Roberts. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something about her that just irritates me."
I used to feel that way about her, too. Then I saw her on Late Night with David Letterman right after he came back from his heart surgery, and something about the way he is just utterly charmed by her won me over too.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:33 AM on March 1, 2013
I used to feel that way about her, too. Then I saw her on Late Night with David Letterman right after he came back from his heart surgery, and something about the way he is just utterly charmed by her won me over too.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:33 AM on March 1, 2013
Okay, this is weird. I am an Anne Hathaway fan, as I stated before, and yet I'm going to try to explain the current hate (which, as I said before, I predict will quickly dissipate, now that Oscar season is finished).
She was SO CHEESY when accepting awards, or talking about her work in Les Mis!!! It doesn't detract from her work, it doesn't mean she doesn't deserve the Oscar, but come on!! When she did her stage-whisper soliloquy, "It came true!" I literally rolled my eyes.
Anne, I love you, you earned the gold man, and you deserved it. Now stop.
I think it's okay to love her and criticize her, because that's what I'm doing: loving and criticizing.
posted by MoxieProxy at 11:33 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
She was SO CHEESY when accepting awards, or talking about her work in Les Mis!!! It doesn't detract from her work, it doesn't mean she doesn't deserve the Oscar, but come on!! When she did her stage-whisper soliloquy, "It came true!" I literally rolled my eyes.
Anne, I love you, you earned the gold man, and you deserved it. Now stop.
I think it's okay to love her and criticize her, because that's what I'm doing: loving and criticizing.
posted by MoxieProxy at 11:33 AM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I think Anne's fine but I can see why people find her unlikeable. I don't think it's jealousy, but possibly that she devotes so much of her energy to appearing polished and poised as if she's always performing instead of relating, that it's hard to feel like she could connect with you.
But her mom was a stage actress, she has a lot of theater training, and people who are endlessly performing tire people out, especially in an age where people are so into celebrities and relating to them.
I think if you compare an interview with Natalie Portman with one with Hathaway, you'll see the difference.
It's not fair, of course, but people like to feel connected. They can't connect with someone who is always performing. She's flawless too and pretty reserved. She didn't talk about her heartbreak over her ex. She's very professional in an industry where people make mistakes very visibly and are forced to reveal themselves in so many ways.
posted by discopolo at 11:42 AM on March 1, 2013
But her mom was a stage actress, she has a lot of theater training, and people who are endlessly performing tire people out, especially in an age where people are so into celebrities and relating to them.
I think if you compare an interview with Natalie Portman with one with Hathaway, you'll see the difference.
It's not fair, of course, but people like to feel connected. They can't connect with someone who is always performing. She's flawless too and pretty reserved. She didn't talk about her heartbreak over her ex. She's very professional in an industry where people make mistakes very visibly and are forced to reveal themselves in so many ways.
posted by discopolo at 11:42 AM on March 1, 2013
Yeah, Hathaway's charm feels more artificial, and demanding somehow, than Portman's. I think Hathaway is a very talented actress, and am happy to watch her on the screen, but I don't find her particularly interesting when she's just bullshitting out of character in an interview in the same way I do Portman.
I think the Samuel Jackson skit actually sort of exemplifies the forced aspects that can make her a bit hard to take at times. That said, I find it difficult to see how it rises to the level of hate that's out there....
posted by snuffleupagus at 12:32 PM on March 1, 2013
I think the Samuel Jackson skit actually sort of exemplifies the forced aspects that can make her a bit hard to take at times. That said, I find it difficult to see how it rises to the level of hate that's out there....
posted by snuffleupagus at 12:32 PM on March 1, 2013
I need to stop having opinions on celebrities on any level.
I'm going for this myself. I have some actors whose work I like, and I would like to see more of. I have some TV shows and movies I enjoy, but I don't read interviews or watch award shows and I canceled my subscription to Entertainment Weekly. I don't really want to build celebrities up, or participate in tearing them down.
I'm pretty worn out by all the incessant judgeyness of celebrity internet commentary. The minutia, the assumptions, the basic irrelevance to anything in my life that actually makes me happy.
posted by Squeak Attack at 12:35 PM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm going for this myself. I have some actors whose work I like, and I would like to see more of. I have some TV shows and movies I enjoy, but I don't read interviews or watch award shows and I canceled my subscription to Entertainment Weekly. I don't really want to build celebrities up, or participate in tearing them down.
I'm pretty worn out by all the incessant judgeyness of celebrity internet commentary. The minutia, the assumptions, the basic irrelevance to anything in my life that actually makes me happy.
posted by Squeak Attack at 12:35 PM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I feel like if Anne had tripped, J Law style, the same chorus of people who say she seems too rehearsed would say that the stumble was rehearsed.
posted by troika at 12:36 PM on March 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by troika at 12:36 PM on March 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
After reading many of the comments, I don't expect this to be a popular sentiment but, I will admit to not liking Anne Hathaway. If she's in a movie, I won't see it. I think it's likely because of the theater-vibe she puts out that makes everything feel too big to be real or something.
posted by smirkyfodder at 12:39 PM on March 1, 2013
posted by smirkyfodder at 12:39 PM on March 1, 2013
smirkyfodder, not liking Anne Hathaway *as an actress* is simply a matter of personal taste.
However, not liking Anne Hathaway (or any celebrity) *personally as a human being*, unless either 1) you actually know them in real life, or 2) they have said things that are demonstrably offensive or insulting, is some kind of ... weird psychiatric malady a surprising number of people somehow seem to be suffering from.
posted by kyrademon at 12:48 PM on March 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
However, not liking Anne Hathaway (or any celebrity) *personally as a human being*, unless either 1) you actually know them in real life, or 2) they have said things that are demonstrably offensive or insulting, is some kind of ... weird psychiatric malady a surprising number of people somehow seem to be suffering from.
posted by kyrademon at 12:48 PM on March 1, 2013 [3 favorites]
smirkyfodder, did you see Brokeback Mountain, Rachel at the Wedding, or The Devil Wears Prada???
Watch the scene in Brokeback where she has to tell Ennis del Mar that Jack is dead. Just that scene, and you'll see that she's capable of amazing emotional depth and subtly.
posted by MoxieProxy at 12:52 PM on March 1, 2013
Watch the scene in Brokeback where she has to tell Ennis del Mar that Jack is dead. Just that scene, and you'll see that she's capable of amazing emotional depth and subtly.
posted by MoxieProxy at 12:52 PM on March 1, 2013
Wait, this is what the whole Anne Hathaway thing is about? I've been seeing things here and there alluding to some sort of controversy, but I hadn't gotten round to reading them, and I assumed that she'd made some comment about politics or religion or cat-declawing or something. People are upset that she was bubbly and excitable or even a little annoying while accepting one of the most prestigious awards in her profession?
I mean, shit.
posted by kagredon at 1:10 PM on March 1, 2013 [10 favorites]
I mean, shit.
posted by kagredon at 1:10 PM on March 1, 2013 [10 favorites]
I wonder if it was easier for people when there was no television or internet, and they only had to compare themselves unfavorably to other people that lived near them.
posted by davejay at 4:03 PM on March 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by davejay at 4:03 PM on March 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
I'm always pleasantly surprised by her, like in Dark Knight Rises. Phooey on the haters. Keep fighting the good fight, Anne.
posted by homunculus at 7:49 PM on March 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by homunculus at 7:49 PM on March 1, 2013 [2 favorites]
I'm all for Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Lawrence, and heck, even Julia Roberts. I like goofy, funny women who keep being funny and saying sassy things and doing awesome--especially when they can still keep it up under the pressure of Hollywood drama. Because really, no matter what they do they are going to be hated and shamed just because they exist and other people know they exist, and they'll never hear the end of it. A lot of people to go pieces at this kind of thing, but they keep plugging along and winning Oscars.
I can't wait for the Anne hate to let up. I've always thought well of her. Sure, she looks too gorgeous to be human, but her personality is pretty down to earth, she thinks she looks funny, and she's had love go wrong and picked herself up and went on from there. And won an Oscar. You go, girl. I'm Team Anne all the way.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:13 PM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
I can't wait for the Anne hate to let up. I've always thought well of her. Sure, she looks too gorgeous to be human, but her personality is pretty down to earth, she thinks she looks funny, and she's had love go wrong and picked herself up and went on from there. And won an Oscar. You go, girl. I'm Team Anne all the way.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:13 PM on March 1, 2013 [1 favorite]
According to wikipedia: "Hathaway was raised Catholic with what she considered "really strong values", and has stated she wanted to be a nun during her childhood. However, she decided against it at the age of 15, after learning her brother Michael was gay. She has stated: "I realised my older brother was gay, and I couldn't support a religion that didn't support my brother ... Hathaway is a LGBT rights activist and has donated money to organizations that support same-sex marriage."
Anne Hathaway seems like a compassionate and decent person.
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 8:39 AM on March 2, 2013 [1 favorite]
Anne Hathaway seems like a compassionate and decent person.
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 8:39 AM on March 2, 2013 [1 favorite]
Anne Hathaway seems like a compassionate and decent person.
So does Seth MacFarlane, tho his humor at times belies that fact. Doesn't mean you have to like him.
posted by mrgrimm at 2:55 PM on March 2, 2013
So does Seth MacFarlane, tho his humor at times belies that fact. Doesn't mean you have to like him.
posted by mrgrimm at 2:55 PM on March 2, 2013
I dunno, mrgrimm. MacFarlane told the New Yorker that his mother was an idiot and likes making jokes about rape and domestic violence, neither of which strike me as compassionate or decent.
posted by pxe2000 at 3:13 PM on March 2, 2013
posted by pxe2000 at 3:13 PM on March 2, 2013
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Anne Hathaway makes most women feel like Carol Burnett, basically. That's why they hate her.
Personally I like her fine. It's Bradley Cooper I can't stand. God, what a smug little whatzis.
posted by Diablevert at 8:30 PM on February 28, 2013 [8 favorites]