Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year Awards

I’ve said this a lot over the past year, but I love Nu Keira Knightley. Remember how grumpy she used to be? Her vibe was all about cheekbones and angst. Motherhood changed her for the better, plus I think she just grew up – her 20s were a dumpster fire, but she’s really feeling herself in her 30s. Well, Keira is still promoting various films – The Nutcracker, Colette, and The Aftermath – so she sat down with The Guardian (you can read the full piece here). The conversation was mostly about feminism, motherhood and how people overreacted to her talking about how she banned Cinderella and The Little Mermaid in her house. Some highlights:

She wanted to be a boy when she was little: At 11, she was “obsessed by The Godfather. I wanted to be Al Pacino and that’s where I was heading. The great parts are the guys’ parts. You don’t want to be the pretty girl in the corner or the mum being lovable and supportive. Of course, when you grow up you are, but you still want to have the adventures.”

The through-line for her roles: She’s drawn to stories about “the masculine side of the female, stuck in the dresses and makeup. Almost every character I’ve played has tried to break out of that image of femininity. That’s why I like period films, because it’s such an overt cage you put the woman in. That’s always something I’ve really identified with. I feel like I sit somewhere else. I’ve never wanted a pen1s. Apart from to piss up a tree. Being able to do that standing up: so convenient. You can just whip it out and whatever. But the idea of something so vulnerable swinging between my legs, I think I’m all right without.”

Her disses of several Disney princesses: “I thought I was just being perky in an interview. My God, people feel really strongly. Don’t f–k with Cinderella. Her fans will end you.”

Her essay about the Duchess of Cambridge’s childbirths: “The whole essay was about the silencing of women’s experience. So it’s interesting that’s exactly what happened from certain media outlets. They turned a moment of empathy from one body to another around to say: she’s shaming her.” Yet women seemed just as mean as men. “Yeah, that’s interesting. Internalised misogyny? I’m not criticising that. All of us respond to and survive within the culture in the way that we can. But I think we need to have a big look at ourselves.”

The male experience is so explored: “We all empathise with men hugely because, culturally, their experience is so explored. We know so many aspects of even male sexuality. But we don’t feel like men can say: ‘Yes, I understand what you’re talking about because I’ve got this wealth of art and film and theatre and TV from your point of view.’”

Motherhood, childcare & mental health: She read recently that 50% of new mothers have mental health difficulties. “With children, it’s one in 10 and that’s called a crisis. So what’s one in two? That’s a f–king catastrophe. We have to talk about it so we know we haven’t failed. It’s really difficult for me, who has an unbelievably supportive family and the money to pay for good childcare. How, as a society, are we not supporting single mothers 100%? We should literally be wrapping them in cotton wool and giving them a cuddle. Saying absolutely we will help [them] as much as we possibly can. That we’re not seems insane.”

[From The Guardian]

I love that she’s talking about all of this, actually. I think this is the root of so many problems too: “We all empathise with men hugely because, culturally, their experience is so explored.” That’s is BEYOND true. We empathize and sympathize with men – specifically white men – because their experiences, actions, thoughts and feelings receive oversaturated coverage in art AND news. White men are given humanity at every level, while other people just… aren’t. I also enjoy what she says about not criticizing internalized misogyny, although…to be fair, I think she would and will criticize it, just not in this particular case.

Photos courtesy of WENN.
Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year Awards
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms Screening