Scarlett Johansson Is Sorry And Not Sorry About Some Of Her Past Controversial Remarks
Scarlett Johansson isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. She’s the hardest working Asian trans-arbor actor there is, and tree doesn’t care who knows it! Scarlett’s staring down the barrel of an Oscar nomination for her stirring rendition of white human woman going through a divorce in Marriage Story, and for her equally stirring rendition of white human woman going through WWII in Jojo Rabbit. I guess Scarlett really can play anything! As such, she’s featured in Vanity Fair’s Oscars Edition and gave an interview where she touched on some of her past comments that sparked controversy, because she probably has to if she wants that statue.
In regards to the wild statement she issued in which she name checked Jeffrey Tambor (of all people), among others, when her being cast as real-life trans man Dante “Tex” Gill in Rub & Tug came under scrutiny, Scarlett admits she was in the wrong. But in regards to her dear friend Woody Allen, she said what she said!
VF asked her about “the general phenomenon whereby she has said things which have generated substantial amounts of fuss” which is a very fancy way of saying “you still caping for Woody and trying to play Asian or what?” According to VF, “her reply is a spirited one.”
“I’m not a politician, and I can’t lie about the way I feel about things,” she says. “I don’t have that. It’s just not a part of my personality. I don’t want to have to edit myself, or temper what I think or say. I can’t live that way. It’s just not me. And also I think that when you have that kind of integrity, it’s going to probably rub people, some people, the wrong way. And that’s kind of par for the course, I guess.”
I don’t think I’ve ever fully understood the definition of integrity before! Now I get it. Thank you, Scarlett. VF followed up by asking her about Woody specifically, a line of questioning “she sees as inflammatory impulses behind journalists even raising the subject.”
“Even though there’s moments where I feel maybe more vulnerable because I’ve spoken my own opinion about something, my own truth and experience about it—and I know that it might be picked apart in some way, people might have a visceral reaction to it—I think it’s dangerous to temper how you represent yourself, because you’re afraid of that kind of response. That, to me, doesn’t seem very progressive at all. That seems scary.”
Even though elsewhere in the interview Scarlett said hearing from the trans community helped her understand why her reactive response over the Rub & Tug criticism was “uneducated” and “kind of tone-deaf,” she’s not willing to connect that to the push-back she’s received for defending Woody, despite Scarlett at one point being a loud and proud defender of the #MeToo movement.
“I don’t know—I feel the way I feel about it,” she says. “It’s my experience. I don’t know any more than any other person knows. I only have a close proximity with Woody…he’s a friend of mine. But I have no other insight other than my relationship with him.”
VF then points out that she’s “effectively saying, in 2019, to a woman who has spoken out: ‘I don’t believe you.’” Don’t say “triggered“, please don’t say “triggered.”
“Yeah,” she says, and that single word hangs there for a while. “I do understand how that is triggering for some people. But just because I believe my friend does not mean that I don’t support women, believe women. I think you have to take it on a case-by-case basis. You can’t have this blanket statement—I don’t believe that. But that’s my personal belief. That’s how I feel.”
She said it. Scarlett got prickly at that point and said “I think if I wanted to continue this conversation, it can be done personally with the people involved and not through statements to Vanity Fair. I don’t think that’s productive…it kind of feeds that sort of dragon.” So, Dylan Farrow should be expecting a call from Scarlett any day now or nah?
Woody must be a helluva good friend. He probably always remembers her birthday, texts her to see how her day is going, and sends her funny memes when she’s feeling down. Scarlett and Lena Dunham should consider starting a support group for friends with friends who’ve been accused of sexual misconduct.
Pic: Wenn.com