Pearle's of Wisdom: Helen Mirren blasts H’wood: ‘I’ve always sensed a misogynist & sexist attitude’

Monday, December 10, 2012

Helen Mirren blasts H’wood: ‘I’ve always sensed a misogynist & sexist attitude’

re-posted from Cele|bitchy by Kaiser

Here are some new photos of Helen Mirren and Anthony Hopkins at the UK premiere of Hitchcock. Hopkins has been largely absent from the promotion of this film, I guess because he doesn’t want to participate in the Hollywood thing or the Oscar race or whatever. All I know is that it’s nice to see him, and he looks pretty good. As for Helen… well, you know I love Helen Mirren. You should probably also know that I think Helen is kind of crazy. In Helen’s defense, she’s 67 years old, and some of her notions about sex, rape, prostitution, gender equality and sexism are kind of dated, plus… I think we as a society tend to give older people a pass when they say crazy stuff. We roll our eyes and say, “Yeah. What are you going to do? Crazy old person.” Does Helen’s history of sometimes crazy/wacky statements take away from her talent? Do we give Helen a pass because she’s older and because we love her films? Perhaps. So, what is Helen talking about this week? Hollywood sexism and feminism. And… it’s not that bad!

Dame Helen Mirren has slammed “misogynist and sexist” Hollywood.
The 67-year-old actress has never been interested in starring in major blockbuster movies because of the attitudes of studio bosses, so she can understand why it appears she suddenly got famous after her 2007 role in ‘The Queen’.
Asked about her sudden surge in popularity, she said: “Well, that’s how it looks from the outside. My success grew slowly but constantly. I’ve been working every year since I started acting and I got many awards before I won the Oscar for ‘The Queen’. Maybe it’s because I’ve never been interested in big Hollywood flicks and I’ve only been in a few recently. I’ve always sensed a misogynist and sexist attitude, even in the 60′s and 70′s. Can I say that [1970 movie] ‘Five Easy Pieces’ sucks?”
The ‘Hitchcock’ star thinks it is important to maintain her feminist stance within her career.
She said: “You need to be a feminist. It’s about equality and rights.”
Helen – who is married to director Taylor Hackford – admitted she always expresses her plans to retire when she completes each of her films – but can’t help but accept “interesting” parts.
She said: “I can’t say no to an interesting role. I always tell my husband, ‘That’s it, I quit, I’ve done all I wanted’ and he’s just like, ‘Yeah, yeah. Sure.’ ”

[From The List]
I’m fine with Helen saying “You need to be a feminist. It’s about equality and rights.” It IS about equality. I have no problem with that. But I do think her statement about Hollywood sexism and misogyny is… oddly worded? Is she saying that Hollywood never recognized her talent before The Queen because Hollywood was sexist and misogynist? Was she saying that she never cared to do Hollywood films because of the general, pervasive sexism in Hollywood? Do you see what I mean? It’s oddly worded. Also, I think she’s kind of wrong about her whole career – I was just looking through her IMDB, and while most of her most celebrated roles were outside of Hollywood (in British films and British television), Helen has worked steadily in Hollywood for the past two decades too. So… bizarre, I guess.