It’s not often we say this — almost never — so we’ll just spit it out real fast: We agree with the feminists.
That’s right, the thin-skinned, easily insulted feminists got one right — for once.
Sure, the whole matter is again much ado about nothing, but there is a little there there.
Here’s a picture from a photoshoot for the new movie “Red Sparrow,” shot Tuesday on the rooftop of the Corinthia Hotel in London. From left to right are director Francis Lawrence, then actors Matthias Schoenaerts, Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton and Jeremy Irons. (For now, forget how the dudes are looking at the half-dressed starlet).
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At issue is what she’s wearing — or not wearing to be more precise. London in February is cold, and all four guys are wearing winter coats. But Lawrence is wearing half a dress.
Of course, she looks lovely, although clearly a bit overdressed (while ironically also being underdressed). She could attend a Buckingham Palace ball, whereas the guy second from the left looks like he’s going back to his farm later to plow the fields.
But in this day of #metoo, with Hollywood actresses battling against the casting couch and the proclivity of male directors to see them as sides of beef, the choice by Lawrence seemed a bit odd.
Lawrence, 29, has spoken frankly about her own experiences in the film industry. She said when she first began acting as a teen, she was made to take part in a “naked line-up,” where she and a group of other, “much, much thinner” women “stood side-by-side with only paste-ons covering [their] privates.” Lawrence said it only got worse from there. “After that degrading and humiliating lineup, the female producer told me I should use the naked photos of myself as inspiration for my diet,” Elle reported.
So why show up half dressed on a rooftop for a promo shoot?
Out came the feminists. BuzzFeed UK News Editor Elizabeth Pears wondered:
Helen Lewis, deputy editor of the liberal British magazine New Statesman, went one further.
And this:
The thread rolled on, picking up pace.
“Much of the backlash against the photographs, taken on the roof at London’s Corinthia Hotel on the city’s Southbank, revolved around the idea that Lawrence ‘felt pressure’ to appear in a dress for a film photocall — while others suggested that the actress clearly knows her own mind and had chosen what to wear,” the Daily Mail reported.
Chief Executive of The Fawcett Society, Sam Smethers, told MailOnline: ‘This image sums up what is wrong with the film industry and with wider society.’
‘It objectifies rather than respects her for the outstanding actor she is. We truly have a long way to go.’
On Twitter, plenty held the same view. @helwiger60 added: ‘Just reinforces the film industry’s requirement that women be sexy, even if impractical! The picture is really dumb! I’m surprised Jennifer Lawrence didn’t object.’
But a few more things. Yes, Lawrence is a grown woman. She can make her own decisions. And yes, she was wearing a Versace gown, so why cover that with a coat? And of course, she’s young and beautiful, so why not flaunt it?
Still, it’s just weird. And the feminists are — this time, anyway — more right than wrong. When’s it’s 41 degrees out and you’re on a rooftop with four guys in winter coats, does a Hollywood actress really have to strip down to next to nothing to be included in the photos?
And as long as actresses like Lawrence — the cream of the crop — do it, won’t all others be expected to follow suit?