Welcome to the February 10, 2015 edition of Outrage Watch, HitFix's daily rundown of all the things folks are peeved about in entertainment. Today's top story? Leave Uma Thurman the hell alone, cries a small chorus of reasonable humans.
After the “Slap” star was spotted on a red carpet looking “almost unrecognizable,” according to multiple ultra-classy outlets, a precious few writers leaped to Thurman's defense, including Health.com's Lisa Lombardi, who wrote: “The problem with this line of commentary on her so-called transformation is that the woman in question is screwed either way: She”s either getting too old or she”s trying to hide that she”s getting too old.”
For his part, TIME's Daniel D”Addario weighed in with a different take, comparing the situation to the recent hubbub surrounding Renee Zelleweger's supposed “transformation” several months ago:
“Renée Zellweger and Uma Thurman have a great deal in common,” D'Addario writes. “They were both hugely in-demand actresses after breakout roles in the 1990s through wide acclaim in the early 2000s. In the subsequent years, by choice or due to the realities of the market, both Zellweger and Thurman worked less and less. …Will comebacks ever be allowed by the public again, or must every star over 40 have remained consistently in the public eye, so that their aging process comes little by little rather than all at once?”
Madonna also has something to say about this, by the way.
Want more? There's plenty of indignation to go around. See below for a full roundup of today's kerfuffles.
Outraged: Shirley Manson
Target: Kanye West
Why: The Garbage frontwoman pulled an Amanda Palmer on Monday following Kanye's infamous Grammy rant about Beck's album of the year win, calling the rapper out for his behavior in a finger-wagging Facebook takedown. “You disrespect your own remarkable talents and more importantly you disrespect the talent, hard work and tenacity of all artists when you go so rudely and savagely after such an accomplished and humble artist like BECK,” she fumed. “You make yourself look small and petty and spoilt.” In related news, I will now be using “spoilt” in at least every other sentence.
Outraged: The Root contributor Michael Arceneaux
Target: Azealia Banks
Why: Arceneaux took issue with Banks' use of the word “faggot” — a response, she claims, to being called a “bitch” by “misogynistic” gay men — in a recent post on TheRoot.com, saying in part: “If we”re talking about misogyny, Banks has routinely insulted men-gay and straight alike-by calling them f–gots and using femininity as a pejorative.” Though his rant was published a couple days ago, it's even more timely now thanks to that Sirius XM clip making the rounds today. I am shocked and appalled and will continue to blast “Yung Rapunxel” on the treadmill.
[The Root]
Outraged: Jon Stewart
Target: The Media
Why: In the midst of the brutal Brian Williams pile-on that's currently underway, Stewart took a moment on last night's “Daily Show” to highlight the widespread hypocrisy in the media's reporting on the issue — particularly given their, um, poor handling of the 2003 invasion of Iraq “Finally, someone is being held to account for misleading America about the Iraq war,” the “Daily Show” host snarked. Ooh, I just got Dick Cheney chills. (Michael Moore had something to say about this too.)
Outraged: Martha M. Lauzen, executive director for the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University
Target: Hollywood
Why: The latest annual report from Lauzen and her team on gender representation in Hollywood films paints a dire portrait. Among the depressing statistics: women made up only 12 percent of protagonists in 2014's top films at the box-office – a 3 percent dip from last year. While “outraged” may be too strong a term for Lauzen's reaction, she's certainly not thrilled with this downward trend: “The chronic underrepresentation of girls and women reveals a kind of arrested development in the mainstream film industry,” she said. “Women are not a niche audience and they are no more ‘risky” as filmmakers than men. It is unfortunate that these beliefs continue to limit the industry”s relevance in today”s marketplace.”
Still reeling over this shocking report. Can't. Believe. It.