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Alice Soleng
Writer
Illustration: AdobeStock // Victor; Freepik //freepik,
She’s ungrateful, untalented.
A stupid girl who’s only in films and television series, because
someone found her pleasant to look at. She slept her way to fame,
while thinking that she’s better than everyone else. But she’s not.
She’s on stage, a performer, but she’s also a fake, and you shouldn’t
believe a word she says. She tries so hard to be likable, but it’s
obvious she’s basic. She’s only in it for the money, and she’s entitled,
spoiled and a bitch.
Sounds familiar?
This is how we speak about women in Hollywood.
Do we really hate women in Hollywood?
Quick! Think of female celebrities you hate. Got your list ready?
Now I want you to think of the reasons why you hate, or strongly
dislike these female celebrities. What have they done to acquire
your resentment. Now do the same for male celebrities, and think
of what they have done to earn your perception of them.
I must admit, I am 100% guilty of what I am trying to accuse all of
you of. Kim Kardashian, Kristen Stewart, Kylie Jenner and Miley
Cyrus (during her Bangerz era). All of them have somehow broken
the rules for how we believe women should act. They shouldn’t
dress provocatively, play on their sexuality or benefit from their
beauty. Some of these women do use sex as a measure to gain
fame, but should that give us a reason to hate them? Aren’t they
just benefitting from a system who want them to be sexual, and
then shame them when they conform to our desires? One could say
that the Kardashians aren’t the most talented bunch, but somehow,
they have marketed themselves into multi-millionaires. Kristen
Stewart has also had an unproblematic career, yet she is one of
Hollywood’s most hated actresses. Simply, because people find her
annoying, and they didn’t like that she wasn’t super grateful for
being the centre of attention. All these reasons can of course be
valid reasons to dislike someone. The problem shows up when you
look at the reasons why you dislike some male celebrities.
The first people that came to my mind was: Kanye West (far right
political opinions, antisemitic remarks, his behaviour surrounding
his divorce), Alec Baldwin (sexist and racist remarks) and Chris
Brown (committed assault and accused of rape and sexual assault).
As you can tell, the reasonings between the male and female
celebrities are quite different. That is the point I’m trying to make.
We hold men and women to different standards when it comes
to our admiration and praise. We threaten, belittle, and despise
women in Hollywood, for the same reasons that we praise their
male counterpart.
The Rachel Zegler Controversy
Rachel Zegler was everywhere in the news a couple of months
ago, and for what reason? She criticised a beloved fairytale and
declared that she should be paid for her labour. If you’re not
familiar with the situation, Rachel Zegler said exactly these words
during an interview with Variety from 2022:
“It’s no longer 1937. She’s not gonna be saved by the prince. She’s not
dreaming of true love; she’s dreaming about becoming the leader she
knows she can be”.
During a SAG-AFTRA strike (actor’s union) at the end of 2022 she
also said that:
“If I’m gonna stand there 18 hours in a dress of an iconic Disney
princess, I deserve to be paid for every hour that it’s streamed online”.
Zegler’s been called every word in the book and has even received
death threats. The first comment from this article, is one I randomly
found while reading the comments from a post about her. She’s
been called arrogant, ungrateful, and annoying.
Let’s look at what she said. The first statement is about what the new
version of Snow White will be about. Do any of you guys believe
that Rachel Zegler marched onto the set, and demanded that the
new version should be more feminist? Do you think she decided
how they should market the film? What I’m saying is that Rachel
Zegler was 21 when she said what she said. That poor girl probably
has a marketing team, who told her to say those things, and she’s
been suffering for it ever since. Of course, the backlash also comes
from the anti-woke movement, who resents the abandonment
of traditional values, and the hyper fixation on being politically
correct. Others, while understanding my previous point, still claim
to hate her, as they perceive her as ungrateful for an opportunity,
millions would have killed for. Criticising the original film, she
angered many fans who did not wait a second to “cancel” her. On
to her second statement, she is being called entitled for a statement
I believe we can all agree on. People who work should be paid for
their labour. Perhaps she phrased it poorly, but I’m willing to make
a claim that if she was a man, she would not have received the
same backlash. Don’t believe me?
In November of 2023 actor Jacob Elordi (Euphoria) criticised the
film franchise “The Kissing Booth”, which he starred in a few years
back. In an interview with USA Today he called the films ridiculous,
and said he didn’t want to make the them. While he faced criticism
from film reviewers, that called his statements pretentious, the
public opinion was quite the opposite of the response Rachel Zegler
received. Many praised him for being honest about his experience
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