Renee Zellweger and Why It’s Still Not Ok to Talk About Women’s Faces and Bodies
Here’s a thought: how about we, as members of the media, cease to write about, comment on, or judge how Hollywood actresses age, look, or present themselves? A marvel of an idea right?
That idea seems to have slipped past Variety, which yesterday, in response to the “Bridget Jones’s Baby” trailer, published an offensive piece by Owen Gleiberman with the absurd title “Renee Zellweger: If She No Longer Looks Like Herself, Has She Become a Different Actress?”
In response to this incredibly sexist, ageist, and misogynistic piece, we’ve chosen to republish a piece which originally ran in Forbes in 2014, and was an analysis of the insane reactions to Zellweger’s return after several years out of the limelight.
We also need to remember why women (especially actresses) feel the need to alter their appearances: It’s because society is judging and unforgiving. So in honor of Independence Day next week (which we will be taking off) we want to reiterate that it’s not anyone’s job to judge how anyone looks, and women, even actresses, are allowed to look however the fuck they want without having entire articles written picking them apart, especially if it is based off of a two minute trailer.
The Renee Zellweger Hullabaloo: Faces, Bodies, Feminism and Hollywood
The internet exploded yesterday (as it is wont to do) because actress Renee Zellweger showed up at Elle Magazine’s annual event honoring women in Hollywood looking quite a bit different from the last time she appeared on a red carpet. The immediate reaction from all corners was shock and rebuke at what she had done to her face.
A couple of things before we even get to Zellweger.
The irony of the evening was that this was a celebration of successful women working in Hollywood, from Tina Fey to Brie Larson to Gugu Mbatha-Raw to Annette Bening to Jessica Lange, a fact that seems to have been missed in every single story about the event. Granted, it is an event thrown by a fashion magazine, but it is also one of the few nights when Hollywood acknowledges women and their contributions to the industry. Jennifer Garner, one of the awardees, spoke about why she hopes in the near future we won’t need events like this anymore. She said, “I mean, the ‘Men in Hollywood’ event is every day — it’s called Hollywood. Fifty-one percent of the population should not have to have to schedule a special event to celebrate the fact that in an art that tells the story of what it means to be human and alive, we get to play a part.”
What she brings up is the huge contradiction that is Hollywood today. Young women (but rarely young men) are asked if they are feminists in a “damned if they do, damn if they don’t” media ritual in the service of creating clickbait articles. When they say yes, as Kristen Stewart said recently, we love them. And when they say no (even though they may believe in what feminism stands for a la Shailene Woodley), we school them (as I did myself.)
But feminism is not the problem here, it is actually the solution. The problem is that the world has become a reality show. We peer, we glare, we judge, we question — and most of the people at the receiving end of those judgements are women.
Renee Zellweger surprised people not only with her change in appearance; she surprised people by appearing on the red carpet, period. She was there. She was present. She was written off a couple of years ago after some of her movies didn’t do well. She went to the place where women go when they hit 40 — away. Looking at her IMDb page, she hasn’t made a movie in over five years.
Five years is a long time to be out of the limelight. Hollywood years are like dog years, so her five-year hiatus seems like an eternity. She is five years older and a different person. As she said to People Magazine in response to the online hullaballoo about her appearance, “I’m glad folks think I look different! I’m living a different, happy, more fulfilling life, and I’m thrilled that perhaps it shows,” She talked about how she burned out and pushed herself too hard and how she needed to take a step back. So she did. And now she is ready to get back into the business, but this time it seems that it will be on her own terms.” I did work that allows for being still, making a home, loving someone, learning new things, growing as a creative person, and finally growing into myself.”
The question for me is what kind of roles we will see Zellweger play. She shined in “Jerry Maguire” and “Chicago,” and of course we loved her as Bridget Jones. But lots of movies let her down. Now, as she gets older, like most other women in Hollywood, those parts will be different. Keeping in mind that only 30% of characters in films last year were female and only 15% of protagonists were girls or women, there are not a lot of options for older actresses, especially for someone whose last movies were not well received. As Jennifer Garner remarked, every part she gets offered now is a mom part. Just because you are a mom doesn’t mean every part you play has to be a mom. But that’s what is out there now. Boy, have we have come a long way from “Alias.”
We are brutal to women in Hollywood as they age. Actually, we are brutal to women at every age. I wonder if we will learn any lessons from the hysteria surrounding Zellweger’s appearance. I doubt it, because I haven’t seen anyone write anything about how we shouldn’t even be talking about women’s appearances. It’s just the norm now. So the next time someone writes about how Hollywood is so feminist, remember, it’s not. Women are still judged incredibly differently. It doesn’t matter how many women identify as feminists. Hollywood is still a culture that makes a sport of knocking down women.
Originally published in Forbes on October 22, 2014
