Earlier in the semester, we talked about celebrities and stars that undergo a great amount of scrutiny or are more commonly disliked rather than celebrated. In some cases we had good reason or justified annoyance's with these celebrities, one celebrity that came up was Anne Hathaway. Anne Hathaway (outside of the discussion in our class) has maintained a pretty consistent opinion from the public, most find her annoying, fake, or associate her with the phrase "try hard." With all this said, Anne Hathaway's talents as an actor have been celebrated. In 2012, she won the Oscar for her performance in Les Misérables as Fantine, a performance deemed both worthy and unworthy of the win but powerful nonetheless. Now that we are caught up on her more recent accomplishments, let's delve into why it is that I am here posting about her. After watching the Madonna doc, Madonna: Truth or Dare, I saw a few parallels between the two. I'm not saying Madonna and Anne Hathaway are equally talented, equally iconic or equally misunderstood, I'm just applying Madonna to someone we spoke about in the past that is currently in the public eye for the press on her new film Colossal. Anne Hathaway broke out of her Princess Diaries Disney shell by tackling roles in a completely different realm. She did her first nude scene (now she's performed several) shortly after leaving the Princess Diaries in the film titled Havoc, she also ventured into the Batman universe while consistently working in indie films as a variety of characters. Personally, I've never cared for Anne Hathaway but I have always fell on the more "I don't really care for her" side, and the podcast linked below gave me a new perspective of her. It didn't make me love her or anything, but it revealed a lot of the same things that Madonna's doc did. Anne Hathaway is an artist (the level of this artistry is your decision), and she is exploring and expressing herself through her art just as Madonna did (does). There are criticisms for the choices they make, whether they are contrived are annoying, but regardless they are women in a position of power that are freely expressing themselves. Taking a step back from the initial feeling Anne Hathaway gives me when I see her in a role and just looking at her as an artist (with different taste than mine) made me feel less judgemental of her. This podcast reveals how Anne Hathaway has attempted to navigate these constant public criticisms and really put how hard that can be into perspective. She is evolving as a person each day just like the rest of us. I'm probably not going to see Colossal or anything because of this realization, but I'm definitely glad that I listened to it.
http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-801-anne-hathaway-aimee-mann
That's really interesting. Anne Hathaway is someone I either really enjoy or just am "meh" about her--totally depends on the film. For instance, I really did like her in Les Mis (I know many that did not), but I did not care for her in The Dark Knight Rises. However, I think I feel this way towards many actors, and merely chalk it up to them trying out a diverse change of roles. The Truth or Dare film made me think about a lot of celebrities and how they format themselves for fame and artistic integrity. Thinking about Anne Hathaway, I can totally see the similarities as she really has played quite the wide array of roles. It's easy to overlook artistic expression as "trying-hard," and I think we have to remind ourselves that, hopefully, these celebrities are artists first and foremost.
ReplyDeleteI just listened to this episode and had the same thought. I think she's fascinating because her "Star persona" isn't very rooted in her visibility as a star. Of course I know who Anne Hathaway is but I really don't know too much about her personal life, nor does she ever really do in depth interviews often.
ReplyDeleteI think podcasts in particular are really interesting place to see celebrities in a more neutral enviornment.