Natalie Portman

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Agree, I think she is a mediocre actress at best. She is very pretty, though, and I think that tricks people into thinking she's a better actress than she really is...jmho.

I thought wearing the cape was a bit overdone (but I like less frills and simpler elegant dresses personally.) Her hair looked great though, not everyone is able to carry off a blunt cut like that.

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I hadn’t heard that about her production company until she wore the cape, and it does make her seem like a hypocrite. I’m still not going to hate on anything that brings attention to the fact that female directors are almost always overlooked by the Oscars. Only one woman has won the best director Oscar and only five have even been nominated EVER. That’s crazy. They deserve to be called out repeatedly until something changes. I don’t care if the messengers are sometimes imperfect.

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Feb 10, 2020 10:54:41 GMT -4 lae said:

She has always gotten on my nerves but I feel like she’s been more bearable the last few years. I don’t even mind the cape even though it’s pretentious. I actually appreciate the gesture (although if she does have a production company and could give female directors more opportunity, I can see where the gesture could be seen as hollow.) I still don’t get everyone’s obsession with her though. She has always come across as a wooden actress to me.

I agree on finding her more bearable these past few years. She's now a lot more self-aware and genuine in interviews than she used to be. And maybe I'm also more aware of certain things now and understand her better. She was a child when she became famous and had grown men openly lust after her from that moment on. I get why she and/or her team tried to sell her as this genius person who is so much smarter than anyone else in Hollywood because she went to Harvard. It was a way to protect her, I think. But it just lead to nerdy men justifying their Natalie lust by saying "Oh, but I love her because she's SO smart, not because she's hot" and all those critics overpraising her.
As for her production company...I don't know how things in Hollywood work exactly but her company's only female-directed film flopped. So I'm not sure she even has that much of a choice of just producing film after film, employing other female directors. Hollywood is after all still run by the same men that have run it for decades.

[Carolina]

Feb 10, 2020 1:34:07 GMT -4 dragonflie said:

While I (kinda) understand the sentiment: 1: pretentious as f^ck. 2: Maybe if that's your cause make the embroidering big enough for a human being to actually, I don't know, see.

Jennifer Nettles didn't mess around at the CMA awards when she wanted to send a message about the lack of airplay female country artists get. Go big or go home, Natalie. Also, don't wear a sheer skirt over granny panties.

[seat6]

Well, good for Natalie, but I think Jennifer Nettles did it better. If you're going to make a statement, make the statement.

Jinx, Carolina!

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I’m happy to see both of them making statements about gender inequality in the entertainment business.

[Mutagen]

Rose McGowan found Natalie's cape "deeply offensive":

In a post on Facebook, McGowan said Portman had made “the kind of protest that gets rave reviews from the mainstream media” but was “more like an actress acting the part of someone who cares. As so many of them do.”

McGowan added: “I find Portman’s type of activism deeply offensive to those of us who actually do the work.”

I don't think the criticisms of her production company should be completely off the table, but this also reeks a little bit to me of "you didn't do everything perfectly so you suck." Natalie Portman fought hard for Patty Jenkins to direct Thor 2 and did initially hire Lynne Ramsay for Jane Got a Gun. She lost both battles, but you know what? If you want people to "do the work" you can't shit on them for not magically triumphing over the patriarchy every time.

[celerydunk]

"Deeply offensive" is a bit much.

[lae]

Feb 12, 2020 8:46:10 GMT -4 Mutagen said:

Rose McGowan found Natalie's cape "deeply offensive":

In a post on Facebook, McGowan said Portman had made “the kind of protest that gets rave reviews from the mainstream media” but was “more like an actress acting the part of someone who cares. As so many of them do.”

McGowan added: “I find Portman’s type of activism deeply offensive to those of us who actually do the work.”

I don't think the criticisms of her production company should be completely off the table, but this also reeks a little bit to me of "you didn't do everything perfectly so you suck." Natalie Portman fought hard for Patty Jenkins to direct Thor 2 and did initially hire Lynne Ramsay for Jane Got a Gun. She lost both battles, but you know what? If you want people to "do the work" you can't shit on them for not magically triumphing over the patriarchy every time.

I feel for Rose McGowan and everything she’s been through but she does appear to be very unstable. I feel like Natalie does speak out on a lot of issues. Even if she didn’t “do the work” wouldn’t more women voicing their opinion and bringing attention to the issues be a positive thing? I feel like women constantly shitting on other women for not doing things perfectly is one of our main problems.

[scarlet]

I'm no Natalie Stan, but Rose McGowan is exhausting.