Anne Hathaway apologies for depiction of limb difference

https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2020/1106/1176307-anne-hathaway/

For **** sake. What the hell is wrong with people getting so easily offended?

Before the usual suspects get in to accuse me of being offended by the apology, I'm not. Yes, I'm baffled, but certainly not offended.

It's so bizarre.

Wibbs

IMHO a lot of this is as usual with Hollywood down to money, or any potential losses caused by "offence", never mind the apology is a nice bit of advertising while not looking like it.

suicide_circus

My god celebrities have little to worry about

suicide_circus

suicide_circus wrote: »

My god celebrities have little to worry about

while I agree, in part, we shouldn't forget the power of social media and lobby groups in the US. Hollywood encouraged the beast to be born in social media, and now, is required to pander to the masses when they do anything.

TBH It's just what I expect of Hollywood and Americans now. Hollywood was always a cesspit of morals, and hypocrisy, but the weinstein affair was reeled out for political/social reasons, even though such behavior had been a core part of that culture for decades. Hollywood is a lot like the media.. completely morally bankrupt, but wishing to project their view of reality on to the rest of the world... and as such, they're limited by the people who they have converted.

This nonsense is simply a reflection of that movement, and we're likely to see virtue signalling of all kinds coming from them, because its now part of the job description.

It's like most things in western societies. The bar on quality and personal principles has dropped considerably over the last three decades. Gone are the days when we could truly respect our journalists, our actors increasingly are shallow, and our musicians are copying what went before.

It makes me smile in a way. A few years ago, an American colleague of mine called me decadent because I was European, and the manner of my lifestyle. He was a Mormon from the US, and with his mob of other morons, content to pass judgment over Europe while, completely ignoring the state of his own country. (And getting hostile when presented with those facts. Decadent. haha. Yup. That's me.

The US is an absolute mess, and Hollywood is a posterchild for that mess.

keano_afc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaC1-U8LIY0

Deserves another watch.

85603

Summarise what happened. instead of just leaving a link.

Gatling

Humanity is lost

Gatling

Gatling wrote: »

Humanity is lost

Err... no it's not.

Western culture and society is cannibalising itself, but there's a lot more to humanity than that...

Eduard Khil

Hollywood should apologize for butchering the films of my childhood no more remakes

Donald Trump

I suppose there is a point to it. But I'm not sure she should be apologising about it.


I mean I'd have never even considered it before but then I don't have any of these obvious differences* but if you had a kid with some deformity then you might be sensitive to the fact that other kids would decide that to bully that kid and calling it a witch


I mean she could maybe apologise for not realising it or being aware of it beforehand rather than apologising for actually doing it.

On the other hand, you will usually offend someone. Mostly it will be people looking for offense, but in a tiny minority it will be genuine cases.



(*apart from me massive presidential orange lad of course)

85603

85603 wrote: »

Summarise what happened. instead of just leaving a link.

Yes Sir!

Anne Hathaway has apologised to children with limb differences following her portrayal of The Grand High Witch in The Witches.

In the film, Hathaway plays a witch who has split hands, a neurological condition where the muscles on the side of the thumb appear wasted. A trailer released for the film entitled 'How to spot a witch' included Hathaway's character's defect.

The Oscar winning actor has since shared an apology for any children who may have been affected by the film.

"I have recently learned that many people with limb differences, especially children, are in pain because of the portrayal of the Grand High Witch in The Witches," she said.

"Let me begin by saying I do my best to be sensitive to the feelings and experiences of others not out of some scrambling PC fear, but because not hurting others seems like a basic level of decency we should all be striving for.

"As someone who really believes in inclusivity and really, really detests cruelty, I owe you all an apology for the pain caused. I am sorry. I did not connect limb difference with the GHW when the look of the character was brought to me; if I had, I assure you this never would have happened."

85603

Deleted User wrote: »

while I agree, in part, we shouldn't forget the power of social media and lobby groups in the US. Hollywood encouraged the beast to be born in social media, and now, is required to pander to the masses when they do anything.

TBH It's just what I expect of Hollywood and Americans now. Hollywood was always a cesspit of morals, and hypocrisy, but the weinstein affair was reeled out for political/social reasons, even though such behavior had been a core part of that culture for decades. Hollywood is a lot like the media.. completely morally bankrupt, but wishing to project their view of reality on to the rest of the world... and as such, they're limited by the people who they have converted.

This nonsense is simply a reflection of that movement, and we're likely to see virtue signalling of all kinds coming from them, because its now part of the job description.

It's like most things in western societies. The bar on quality and personal principles has dropped considerably over the last three decades. Gone are the days when we could truly respect our journalists, our actors increasingly are shallow, and our musicians are copying what went before.

It makes me smile in a way. A few years ago, an American colleague of mine called me decadent because I was European, and the manner of my lifestyle. He was a Mormon from the US, and with his mob of other morons, content to pass judgment over Europe while, completely ignoring the state of his own country. (And getting hostile when presented with those facts. Decadent. haha. Yup. That's me.

The US is an absolute mess, and Hollywood is a posterchild for that mess.

What did your sin of decadence relate to?

What did you do to anger the lord?

whisky_galore

Americans unable to tell the difference between make-believe and reality shocker.

ArrBee

So, I read the article, I watched the trailer, and I am confused.

What is she apologising for, and why is she (like what's it got to do with her how the cgi is done)?

Is there more to it than the character she is portraying has traits similar to some people with disabilities/birth abnormalities (not sure what the correct term is)?

Maybe this one should be in the woke-ism of the day thread!

Quantum Erasure

Hurrache

suicide_circus wrote: »

My god celebrities have little to worry about

Nothing to do with her, there was a concerted campaign, as ridiclous as it was given she's playing a bloody witch, to get upset over nothing and publicly complain about it.

Eduard Khil wrote: »

Hollywood should apologize for butchering the films of my childhood no more remakes

It's a good remake, my kids prefer it to the original anyway.

Tony EH

Wibbs wrote: »

IMHO a lot of this is as usual with Hollywood down to money, or any potential losses caused by "offence", never mind the apology is a nice bit of advertising while not looking like it.

Exactly. Optics/profile/money

whisky_galore

Donald Trump wrote: »

I suppose there is a point to it. But I'm not sure she should be apologising about it.


I mean I'd have never even considered it before but then I don't have any of these obvious differences* but if you had a kid with some deformity then you might be sensitive to the fact that other kids would decide that to bully that kid and calling it a witch


I mean she could maybe apologise for not realising it or being aware of it beforehand rather than apologising for actually doing it.

On the other hand, you will usually offend someone. Mostly it will be people looking for offense, but in a tiny minority it will be genuine cases.



(*apart from me massive presidential orange lad of course)

Kids can be massive cnuts to other kids different to themselves all of the time.

Donald Trump

Donald Trump wrote: »

I suppose there is a point to it. But I'm not sure she should be apologising about it.


I mean I'd have never even considered it before but then I don't have any of these obvious differences* but if you had a kid with some deformity then you might be sensitive to the fact that other kids would decide that to bully that kid and calling it a witch


I mean she could maybe apologise for not realising it or being aware of it beforehand rather than apologising for actually doing it.

On the other hand, you will usually offend someone. Mostly it will be people looking for offense, but in a tiny minority it will be genuine cases.



(*apart from me massive presidential orange lad of course)

My brother was electrocuted and died. I do feel a pang of sadness when I see electric shocks played for laughs in films and on telly. That's my issue though. The onus isn't on people to be sensitive to my situation.

It would never cross my mind that someone should apologise for the way they portray electric shocks in film.

Donald Trump

whisky_galore wrote: »

Kids can be massive cnuts to other kids different to themselves all of the time.

They always will be.


It's not something I would think about if I was an actor playing a character though that maybe some kid who has a deformity like my character will be taunted for it by being slagged as being my character.





Maybe then if I realised that that could happen, that I'd feel bad and say sorry for it. Because I never thought about that

Donald Trump

Deleted User wrote: »

My brother was electrocuted and died. I do feel a pang of sadness when I see electric shocks played for laughs in films and on telly. That's my issue though. The onus isn't on people to be sensitive to my situation.

It would never cross my mind that someone should apologise for the way they portray electric shocks in film.

I am sorry to hear about your brother.


It is not the same thing. She is just talking about portraying a character with a physical deformity and equating it to being a witch.


If you had a child with say 3 webbed fingers, and there was a popular cartoon film where all the witches had webbed fingers.....well then the child would have to deal with being identified as a witch at the same time as dealing with just being different anyway. To us, that might not seem like a big deal, but it might if you are from Leitrim and ever wanted to leave the county to another place where webbed fingers and toes are uncommon.



I'd imagine she was apologising for not realizing it rather than for doing it.

StupidLikeAFox

Once again, most of the outrage seems to be coming from people outraged at the outrage. I don't know anybody with elongated fingers, but I'm sure those people are very self conscious about them. She felt the need to apologise for some reason - it's likely a small gesture to a small audience, so who gives a **** really?

I didn't even know elongated fingers were a thing but
it is probably a source of great anguish for a tiny number of kids who don't feel "normal". Then a blockbuster film comes out which equates this disability to being a witch. Was it really necessary to include that detail? Probably not, but after the fact I don't see how a small, 3 line apology is even worthy of a comment

whisky_galore

Donald Trump wrote: »

They always will be.


It's not something I would think about if I was an actor playing a character though that maybe some kid who has a deformity like my character will be taunted for it by being slagged as being my character.





Maybe then if I realised that that could happen, that I'd feel bad and say sorry for it. Because I never thought about that

Should someone who plays a nerdy character feel bad for nerdy kids getting bullied?

Likewise a character that has red hair, or specs, or is fat etc etc etc?

SouthWesterly

I thought that having a deformity would have made all these kids feel included.

Donald Trump

whisky_galore wrote: »

Should someone who plays a nerdy character feel bad for nerdy kids getting bullied?

Likewise a character that has red hair, or specs, or is fat etc etc etc?

Gingers are a special case. I think that a lot of people really underestimate the impact that that condition is going to have on the quality of that child's life and the hurt of missing out on potential opportunities that non-ginger kids take for granted.

Tony EH

Deleted User wrote: »

My brother was electrocuted and died. I do feel a pang of sadness when I see electric shocks played for laughs in films and on telly. That's my issue though. The onus isn't on people to be sensitive to my situation.

It would never cross my mind that someone should apologise for the way they portray electric shocks in film.

The vast majority of people feel like you do. Watching someone die of cancer on a TV show/movie would affect millions. But I doubt anyone is seriously asking for TV shows and movies to not show it or apologise for it.

But these "apologies" have nothing to do with genuine sorrow or empathy for any potential hurt that may be caused. In reality, it's just profile building and making sure that the world still thinks you're a viable "star".

It's down to the here today gone/tomorrow nature of Hollywood, where silence is a career killer. It's especially so in today's world of 24/7/365 internet junk.

Donald Trump

SouthWesterly wrote: »

I thought that having a deformity would have made all these kids feel included.

The point was the equivalence between having the deformity and being the evil witch.

meeeeh

I think at the moment it's easier to apologise than explain. The whole thing goes away quickly. Warner Bros apologised too. Optics of arguing with people with disabilities would look bad no matter how nonsense the complaint is.

Hurrache

She also needs to apologise to people with big noses and facial scars. Imagine having a large nose and everyone assuming you're a witch.

colm_mcm

Oddly enough I’ve just started reading ‘The witches’ to my son. We did the chapter last night on how to recognise a witch.
I must say I wasn’t very comfortable with the way physical afflictions were associated with something supernatural but put it down to the fact that it was written in a different time.
The grandmother in the story was smoking a cigar and offered it to the 7 year old telling the story - obviously something that would never fly in 2020!
I’m not a fan of rewriting books, but if making one into a movie (The witches was already released as a film 30 years ago) then I have no issue with removing details that send out the wrong message to their audience.

It shouldn’t be up to actors to apologise for this. Obviously it’s for self preservation and not down to conscience.

One eyed Jack

“limb differences” :rolleyes:


Anyway, I get where she’s coming from, and she’s right about a basic level of decency, fair enough, it’s not like there’s a fine line between that and intentionally going out of ones way to be offensive and hurtful to others as possible.

This falls more into the former category than the latter, as it’s an apology from Hathaway herself (to any children who were upset or were bullied because of the condition) of her own volition rather than the usual mobs clamouring for the film to be boycotted, etc.