Rooney Mara nearly escapes discussing her nipples
A few movie-writers have kicked over a hornet’s nest this week by spreading the impression that Rooney Mara wasn’t showing enough enthusiasm and deference to suit them. The perception seeped out like black mold, aggravating the fungus allergies the Twitterverse, so before long the strings of snot were blown far and wide. Once a story like that takes hold, it’s not easy to refute — after all, the rumors were reported from the Academy luncheon where lowly civilians were not invited. What pissy behavior did they see that we didn’t?
Compare Rooney Mara’s behavior last week with that of another alluring Oscar darling, Michelle Williams, after the cut.
Let’s take a sec to look at how these two videos are headlined and indexed on youtube:
“Rooney Mara On Her Private Piercing and Getting Naked For Dragon Tattoo”
vs.
“Michelle Williams is Still Searching For an Oscar Dress But is Prepared With Snacks”
Somebody with free time on his hands can take a stopwatch to confirm my suspicions — but Michelle Williams is naked onscreen quite a bit, as well, right? (though I understand being naked in a bathtub is a different level of R-rating than being naked in a bed). If I were Rooney Mara, I might wonder why nobody else gets grilled about being naked. If I were her, that might make me a bit wary whenever I approach a microphone, wondering when the questions will inevitably veer off in that direction — and my trepidation would be justified because, sure enough, that’s how the Q&A goes. I’d hope to handle it with Miss Mara’s patient humor and grace — and I’d strive to be as charming, demur and lovely as Rooney proves herself to be.
Interference from the Attitude Adjustment Bureau is one of the more grotesque phenomena we put up with during the Silly Season from December to February every year. Amateur psychologists in blogs and message boards analyze the personalities of people they don’t know and attempt to diagnose whether they’re worthy of a gold-plated trophy. What ought to be the annual culmination of our filmloving lives, our celebration of the most exciting movies of the year, is too often reduced to clumsy remarks blown out of proportion, attacks that often inflict serious damage to reputations of our finest filmmakers.
We know the Oscars are a political event, so you’ll forgive me making a more overt political comparison.
The Three GOP Stooges — Romney, Gingrich, Santorum — stand in front of the cameras and flat-out lie to gullible followers. They lie when they say that Obama has made the economy worse since he took office; when they say he’s not a US citizen; when they claim he’s a Muslim sympathizer, soft on terrorism; and they now lie to their ignoramus base, telling them Obama is the enemy of Christianity. Lies, lies, lies. I hate to even repeat the lies, because the nasty words will resonate in sick little minds of those ill-informed folks already inclined to believe ugly fabrications.
Similar situation with Rooney Mara. There are moviegoers and moviewriters who don’t care for the two films she’s made with David Fincher, and they want to believe the same slanderous narrative that’s been pinned to Fincher himself. Nonsense like this: Neither the director nor his star play the publicity game, they’re aloof, too shy, they seem as if they’re “not having fun,” they don’t kiss ass like they’re supposed to.
So they tweet their little tweets, cluck their thick tongues, shake their heads, and insinuate their hurtful horseshit oh so delicately.
The people who want to cluck along in unison will love it. They’ll greedily devour the rumors. The rest of us watch the gossip-mongers eat it up, and hope they choke on their own slimy rubbish.
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Whatever people say about Rooney Mara, Michelle Williams is worse. This is her third nomination, and she’s just as awkward as ever.
Let’s be honest, she gets away with it because of Heath Ledger, but she deserves every bit of criticism Rooney Mara gets. Especially since she’s supposed to be playing Marilyn Monroe.
Mara seemed just fine to me. A little blown away by all of it and perhaps tired of answering similar questions everywhere she goes but I didn’t get the impression that she was tired of the whole thing overall. I think she’s soaking it all in as I would be while at the same time still a little struck by being the center of attention.
Fincher I think is definitely tired of the process whenever he gets nominated for something. I guess that’s because he makes his films for the right reasons and that on a personal level, the statues don’t matter much to him. He still is gracious and attends the banquets throughout the season (unlike Woody Allen) but he often doesn’t seem gracious which may have played a factor especially last year in his chances of winning. Again, it doesn’t matter because he doesn’t care if he wins or not — his films themselves are the legacies, not the hardware attached to them.
She’s such a sweetheart. I don’t know where the nonsense started, how or why it’s been perpetuated. She’s darling.
Sasha, spot on!
Noone deserves this kind of criticism, neither Mara nor Williams – and surely not from people, who never themselves are the center of attention, who simply sit on the outside and judge every nuance of behaviour. Where does this lack of empathy come from? Also, am I the only one who finds question regarding nipple-piercings not only pointless, but also remarkably tasteless? Especially at such an event?
Here’s another clip — in a more informal setting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BcRDqZtZ80
Her style is so unlike the “Always ON!” attitude we’re accustomed to seeing, I just find her restraint and naturalism incredibly appealing.
Nothing against the interviewer in this clip — those entertainment reporters are paid to be peeing their pants all the time — but seriously, who would you rather spend time with? The perky Access Hollywood gal, or a sweet reserved girl like Rooney?
The Access Hollywood person would wear me out in about 3 minutes. I’d be looking for the nearest EXIT. I recoil from people like that. They make me uncomfortable — even to watch from a safe distance via video, much less right up my face.
So I truly feel genuine empathy for people like Rooney Mara whose lives are pretty much invaded by this overwhelming pressure to be “yiiiiiie! yiiiiiie!” all the time.
I understand that many actors enjoy being BIGGER THAN LIFE! — but I have such affection for those who don’t.
I second every word.
I didn’t see anything unusual about Ms. Mara’s demeanor in this interview. She is relatively new to the press circuit process, and I think she showed much class and grace (especially with the question on her piercing, which to me was going a bit far).
I imagine that being interviewed so frequently must be taxing on anyone; it would be for me.
Michelle Williams= 2 minutes of not really answering any questions, except we now know she will be munching on a granola bar at Oscar Night
I always think of seeing Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks on the Oprah Winfrey Show, falling all over themselves trying to say how in love they are with each other. It’s exhausting to see these people try so hard to appear adorable. Ironically, I adore Ms. Mara’s demeanor much more than anyone who just appears to be “on,” as Ryan stated earlier. And I read the Entertainment Weekly interview where she mentioned how she wasn’t too thrilled to be cast in Nightmare on Elm Street, and it has been blown so out of proportion. In fact, the only thing about the article that shocked me is that Rooney’s sister is Kate Mara. How have I never known that?!
I second Paddy’s seconding.
@ ZAch(the original) What does Williams awkwardness have to do with playing Marilyn Monroe? That’s a role, another person she’s playing.
Otherwise, seconding what Ryan, Voland, and Sasha said.
I agree Sasha…but three GOP stooges? Fair enough. Oscar is political, so let’s play fair: Obama has lied A TON, too. He’s as much a politician as anyone else. I work pretty deeply in the political realm; I know these people; and I can tell you firsthand that almost ALL of these people are the same, including Obama. Sorry, Sasha, just keeping it real. If you want me to tell you behind-the-scenes stories impugning GOPers, I can do that, too.
At any rate, Rooney Mara is a class act, and she gave us what I believe to be the best female performance of the year. Infantile reporters need to focus on how her performance was empowering to women instead of to simply objectify her by asking about her nudity. Grow up, people.
Just to be clear — because we don’t need further misunderstanding — I think Michelle Willians is equally sweet and unpretentious.
Didn’t mean to pit them against each other — and tried be sure to describe both as charming.
Just that’s it’s Mara who’s getting flak for being tentative and soft-spoken — but nobody critiques Williams for being just as bashful.
I love that they both appear to be slightly overwhelmed.
The cheeky brash exuberance is fine for actresses who are wired that way. But it’s frankly tiresome for me to watch stars be aggressively bubbly. Cheap champagne — all fizz, no bouquet.
“If I were Rooney Mara, I might wonder why nobody else gets grilled about being naked” Well Michael Fassbender gets asked about being naked in EVERY interview. He had to play ‘identify the penis’ of other stars’ while on the Red carpet at the Golden Globes for an interview. Not to mention George Clooney getting on national T.V. and talking about the poor guy’s penis to everyone and their grandma. So yeah if you have been naked and you are hot people will want to talk about it in interviews. Not saying it’s fair to Rooney Mara or Michael Fassbender but it’s not something new and not restricted to only Rooney Mara. Also for any prudes Rooney has said time and time again she has no problem with nudity or answering questions about it. There are posters all over the world with her bare naked pierced nipples proudly on display thanks to David Fincher and Sony Entertainment. This very site was defending those nudie posters not too long ago when many of us were saying they were sexist due to Daniel Craig not having to expose any naked parts in return. So this article seems a bit hypocritical…
I was too young to remember – did this happen to Holly Hunter back in the day when she was nominated for “The Piano”? Because she – and Harvey Keitel, for that matter – were naked a lot in the movie and the sex scenes… I love the movie, one of my all time favorites, and wonder if she got this kind of shitty questions back then, too.
I agree Sasha…but three GOP stooges? Fair enough. Oscar is political, so let’s play fair: Obama has lied A TON, too. He’s as much a politician as anyone else. I work pretty deeply in the political realm; I know these people; and I can tell you firsthand that almost ALL of these people are the same, including Obama. Sorry, Sasha, just keeping it real. If you want me to tell you behind-the-scenes stories impugning GOPers, I can do that, too.
FYI, Ryan wrote this post – I didn’t!
*restricted*
Daniel, I wrote this, so “Three Stooges” is my construction
The type of lying I’m talking about here is the blatant spreading of misconception and character assassination that is a GOP specialty. The swift-boating of war heroes, the repellant birtherism (which Gingrich and Santorum tacitly encourage.)
If you can show me where Obama questions the patriotism of his GOP rivals, then I’ll consider your argument.
This is all flagrant bullshit, Daniel. Obama does not stoop to this slanderous level, and you know it.
The GOP candidates throw this “red meat” to their low-information followers every day. It’s a degree of ugly lies than I’ve never witnessed in American politics. Be honest and tell me if it doesn’t make you ashamed.
So this article seems a bit hypocritical…
Not hypocritical.
Rooney Mara clearly doesn’t have a problem with showing her nipples. And I clearly don’t have a problem posting photos showing her showing her nipples. (Notice I even managed to put “nipples” in the headline — because Sony, Rooney and me — we all know how to get people’s attention.)
I’m just saying — her performance is many things, with many aspects I’m sure she’d love to talk about, things she’d rather be asked about.
But here we have a 6-minute Q&A, and 25% of it is occupied with nipples and nudity. Is it wrong to wish reporters would have more thoughtful questions? How is it hypocritical to wonder if she might get tired of talking about her nipple ring and merkin?
I mentioned the issue right up front, in the headline, in a way I hope shows that I roll my eyes every time I hear an interview with nothing more interesting to ask about.
lawd ham mercy
Seriously, when did it become normal to ask a stranger (and a reporter and an actress most of times are strangers to each other) about her piercings? It’s not even talking nudity in the movie, it’s asking her about her private most intimate life now. And what if she wanted to keep it because she liked it? Would she need to reply to that, too? Do people ask Fassbender if he trims or shaves his pubes? I felt uncomfortable just watching.
FYI, the link to Mara’s second video takes to an unavailable video.
The questions about what they’re going to wear on Oscar night are shite too. Seriously, it would get tiring to answer fashion questions if you really don’t care…as neither of the two interviewees seemed to (but Mara did her best to play the game anyway).
Haha, sorry, Sasha! I should have checked to see who wrote the post.
OK, Ryan, if we are being honest with one another, it is fair to say that all politicians running for office throw red (or blue) meat to their respective constituencies. I resent your conflation of the entire GOP base to “low-information followers.” That type of over simplicity is exactly the type of rhetoric for which you are accusing the GOP nominees of embracing and the same blend of least common denomonator thinking that you believe is indicative of GOP voters. I’ve been a follower of this Web site for years, and based on conversations we’ve had, I know you are a good guy and I know you are better than that. Many GOP voters are uninformed, sure. I’ll concede that fact, because I have worked tons of such dunces. By the same measure, several GOP voters are patriots who are well versed in the Constitution, knowledgeable about philosophers such as Burke and Hayek and genuinely care for others, even though the economic model they embrace does not, on its surface, suggest so.
But going back to Obama and your challenge, I will admit that I do not recall the President maligning or questioning people’s patriotism. However (and I know you may not agree), Mr. Obama has a disinct advantage, in that he has a well organized political machine that attacks on his behalf, so that he does not have to do so. I can name names, if you want. But he is the President, after all; and he is also guided by a mainstream media that fawns over his every move, word and whim (with the exception of his wars in Libya/Afghanistan) and runs stories that support the President at every juncture. Other than Fox News and some internet sites like Drudge, Republicans do not have this advantage.
As well, I do not think the comments you listed suggest that President Obama is “unpatriotic.” They are low blows, sure, but these are common in Presidential elections, so as to feed the base. I think Obama is a good guy. We vastly disagree on much of his policy, but I believe him to be well intentioned. He DID go abroad and apologize for America – this is indisputable – I saw the speech. But obviously he does not “run around” everywhere and do so.
Newt is an ass hole – I know him well – and Santorum is “George Bush: Part II,” but I think you make a mistake conflating Romney with those two. He is even keeled and formidable – probably the only challenge to Obama. But I am digressing. My initial point in my first post was that Obama lies…A LOT. I can list numerous occurrences, if you prefer. The thing is: all politicians do this, which I hate. I was not suggesting that Obama is unpatriotic; that he is not a US citizen; or that the inflammatory language you referenced is justifiable. I merely think that Obama has revealed himself to be no different than any other common politician; and that is something I think you should consider more often, out of fairness to your point. The Obama sheen from 2008 is off the rose, for better or for worse, and I think the Republican candidates are crappy, pandering blowhards.
As an “insider,” I am fed up with the entire process. Obama, Democrats, Republicans…they are all the same to me, and they should be to you, too. Trust me, I could tell you stories. That was the point I was making, and I just wish you would consider these things more often. I never see a balanced analysis of liberalism on this site, in contrast to fthe current state of film. But I am a social liberal/economic conservative. We can agree to disagree on this point, but I’m sure we can find some common ground somewhere, too.
“Do people ask Fassbender if he trims or shaves his pubes?” Yes. Daniel Radcliffe was asked the same question in a recent interview because he will be fully naked in his next movie (FYI: he doesn’t shave and won’t have to for the movie either). Male actors go get naked on film usually get questioned much more about the details of nudity than actresses. So I guess in that way it is unusual for Rooney Mara to be asked these questions. However like I said before there are naked posters of her used to market the movie so that’s probably why the press thinks it’s fair game to bring up the topic. The other female actors who have been naked in movies don’t have naked posters used as marketing tool. However I will have to agree with Ryan that there are MUCH more and better questions that the press could be asking Rooney Mara. And yes she actually does smile a lot on the red carpet and has been very nice to the press. She just doesn’t kiss butt like the George Clooneys of that world.
Agreed on the poster. It was a terribly sexist choice Lisbeth Salander herself
wouldn’t have approved. She would’ve kicked their asses. I think I said something similar myself here back then. That said, that she’s showing her breast in a poster doesn’t give the right to anyone to ask about the current state of her nipples. She’s not even shooting the sequels yet. What she does with them belongs to her privacy. Only. Particularly because I’m pretty sure the reporter knew the answer, as Mara has answered the same question before. And if I know the answer, and I don’t follow her as to see everything she’s in. (I haven’t even seen TGWDT!), she had to know it.
I resent your conflation of the entire GOP base to “low-information followers.”
Daniel, I’ll discuss with you, but I won’t let you get away with these same sneaky tricks, ok?
NOWHERE did I ever mention the GOP base. I say very plainly:
They do. This dumb stuff is aimed specifically at the low-information followers — who may be a subset of the base (You tell me. Are they? Yes? I thought so.) — but I never said the entire GOP base is low-information.
If I didn’t know better, I’d guess you’ve picked up bad habits from the GOP strategists who squeal like victims by twisting clear statements of fact into something a lot more diabolical than I ever intended.
Maybe you’re just testing me to see how much you can get away with. That’s another GOP tactic. But no, I don’t want to believe any of those things about you. Instead, I’ll try to think that you simply misread me. (I think that’s the likeliest explanation.)
I trust that our own readers here are high-information enough to know they can scroll up to compare what I really said with what you try to claim I said.
Because I don’t roll over and play dead when I’m unfairly accused and my friendly intentions are maligned.
It would be pretty screwed up if you tried to come at me with the exact same tactics I’m talking about. So that’s not what happened, is it?
i seriously don’t know what I’d do without you and Sasha. Is everyone else in Lala land insane????
Thank you for your common sense and wisdom.
Both Mara and Williams seem like charming people to me. I don’t know what all the hoohah is about via Mara. She seems shy, like many actors, and maybe that translates for some as being aloof. But that’s the commenters’ problem, and not hers.
As well, I do not think the comments you listed suggest that President Obama is “unpatriotic.”
For me, when a presidential candidate attacks a sitting president in scary terms that suggest Obama’s secret intention is to undermine very foundations of American society — dumb people are going to fall for that crap and they will see that false portrayal as a sign he’s deeply unpatriotic.
“He’s attacking your religious freedom!” Daniel, you’re a smart guy. You know that Obama is not the enemy of religious freedom. So why are all three of these stooges insisting that he is?
Those are examples off the top of my head because they’re fresh in the current news cycle. I could go search for worse quotes, but I really don’t want to turn this topic into a political debate.
Here’s my point, and my train of thought, plain and simple:
- Falsehoods, lies, misrepresentations have been spread about Rooney Mara.
- The people most likely to latch onto these lies are low-information people who don’t know the facts, but are eager to believe the smears because they don’t much like her to begin with.
- So I’m saying this is a nasty cultural phenomena that has grown much worse in recent years.
- And I’m laying some of the blame on the low-blow deceitful gutter politics we see splattered in the media every day.
- I’m blaming assholes like Gingrich with his snide veiled racism for helping create a climate where idle lying gossip seeks to smear the integrity of some very fine people.
Daniel — I have no problem with 95% of what you said. I agree with almost everything you wrote. I’ll even happily concede that Gingrich and Santorum occupy a different circle of scariness, a level of loony that Romney appears to wish he can avoid.
Just please don’t try to make out like I’m disparaging the “entire GOP base” — ok? I know we have lots of Republican readers… [cue SFX, crickets chirping].
I really only try to disparage the most ignorant voters (of both parties!)…
…those people who are not likely to have seen any of the Best Picture nominees, so they won’t be here reading, and won’t be bothered by me calling them ignoramuses.
oops, iggy.
I posted a dud link before.
try this one?
Ryan,
My mistake. I guess it’s easy to misinterpret a word here and there and conclude from the subtext that you are maligning the entire GOP voting bloc. I think we are in agreement on most things. I was not trying to pull any dirty tricks, though obviously having worked in politics for a long time I may have a tendency to sneak in a subtle jab or two and not even realize I am doing it.
I agree that there are “low information” people in both parties that would latch onto those lies about Rooney Mara. I think (and I apologize if I am wrong about this) that you may feel that people of GOP philosophy may be more prone to spreading falsehoods about her than Democrats, given a general intolerance for her performance from people on the right wing…and you’re probably not wrong about that. I do wish some amount of time on this site was spent challenging Democrats, but I do realize they are far more friendly to Hollywood than those in the GOP.
You’re right: Rooney Mara is being attacked by some of the same overly simplistic phrases that Gingrich and Santorum are using…and low information people are bound to latch onto this harmful rhetoric and unfairly judge her. It definitely is despicable. And I agree, in the political sense, that attacking a sitting President in that manner is uncalled for, and frankly I think for that reason it is going to hurt the GOP nominee, whomever that may be (I don’t really like any of them). Based on what you are articulating, am I to assume that you like Ron Paul on some level? I actually do, too, a little bit.
Are people basing the overreaction to Mara’s behavior on this interview, or her personality altogether?
I like her quite a bit, as well as Williams, but I have to say, nobody’s pulling their she’s-very-terse-and-unpleasant viewpoints out of their asses. For the most part, Mara has been a very tough interview. She seems put off by interviewers. I get why, definitely, answering the same questions over and whatnot. But in 2011/2012, everyone knows if you want to be an actor/actress, half of your job is selling yourself. The same is true for writers, actually, especially novelists.
I’d argue that the reason Williams hasn’t been given as much flack is because she at least tries to be pleasant. She may be nervous and awkward, but she doesn’t seem pissed at you for talking to her like Rooney does.
I think (and I apologize if I am wrong about this) that you may feel that people of GOP philosophy may be more prone to spreading falsehoods about her than Democrats, given a general intolerance for her performance from people on the right wing…
…er …yikes, that’s news to me. I would never have assumed such a thing. (frankly surprised that low-information right-wingers would even have gone to see Dragon Tattoo…)
nope, never occurred to me to suspect or insinuate that, Daniel.
here’s the thing: I have FOX News blocked on my cable remote the same way I would block the ScatPorn channel. So if any of those people have been huffy about Dragon Tattoo, I would never know it.
*(I don’t watch CNN either — they’re not much better than FOX)
I’m more surprised to hear that there’s a “GOP philosophy”
…here I thought it was a “GOP polemical creed”
Based on what you are articulating, am I to assume that you like Ron Paul on some level? I actually do, too, a little bit.
I like thinking about a Coen Bros movie with a Ron Paul character.
He’s genuine, he’s a straight-shooter, I’ll give him that.
everyone knows if you want to be an actor/actress, half of your job is selling yourself.
Whatever the job of actress entails, Rooney Mara seems to have her approach figured out.
Everybody is quick to say she’s had this demeanor for years. It hasn’t hampered her ability to work with Fincher, Malick, Soderbergh. Hasn’t thwarted her Oscar-nomination-getting abilities.
So, let’s see. She’s doing better than 49,800 other actresses. How about we all stop giving her advice on how she needs to act if she wants to succeed.
“How about we all stop giving her advice on how she needs to act if she wants to succeed.”
I’m not giving her advice, and as I stated, I like Rooney. I just get why some interviewers said what they said. Not saying it’s necessarily justified, but I see where they’re coming from.
Glad you posted this. I had added it to the original thread last night when I came across it. I was absolutely stunned at how full of charm and grace she was especially since this is the event that supposedly made Feinberg draw out his claws. He lost all credibility with me once I saw this. She did absolutely nothing to warrant his bullshit comments. He just comes across as a bit of a troll to me now, who is full of himself and feeling entitled well beyond his accomplishments or professionalism.
I am genuinely annoyed by how they keep asking about dresses. My God, there are more important questions to ask. Sheesh!
MikeMike -
“Are people basing the overreaction to Mara’s behavior on this interview, or her personality altogether?”
She may be a tough interview, but what Feinberg said was that she is “acting like it’s a horrible chore to have to do an interview, or show up at a tribute, or attend an Oscar nominees luncheon.”
And this was tacked on “Stop sulking. You’re an Oscar nominee. If Meryl Streep is willing to do it, you can suck it up too.”
And then you see this cute little press interview from the nominees luncheon, which he posted his bullshit after and you wonder what crawled up his ass. Because her behavior was most certainly not sulking and she didn’t act like she was doing a chore.
I think the fact that Mara is such a Hollywood newbie was part of the reason she was able to nail the role so well. I seriously can’t think of any established starlet who would be able to connect so readily with material like this. This is her first nomination and I would assume that initially at the beginning of the award season getting an Academy award nomination so soon was one of the last things on her mind. I will say also that being in front of reporters and attending media based events can have a certain way of affecting more introverted personalities. What people see as a sense of disengagement is really a person just “taking it all in” without going with the feeling to sit and hide in the bathroom stall for a few moments of calm.
Um….Mara has a lot of nerve to say how easily she can understand a character with a personality disorder who was molested by her father, set said father on fire, served time in a mental institution, was physically abused, sodomized, raped some more….and etc. I think Mara is a bit of a Natalie Portman in training. Too good for the rest of us mortals.
But, at any rate….some one should tell her to stop saying that about Lisbeth being so easy for her to relate to.
Really? It is insulting.
And to @tone saying the nomination was the last thing on her mind? Hahahahahahahaha! I guarantee it was expected and has been discussed since her casting. Scott Rudin even got her in the academy last year with three bad films and a bit part in Social Network under her belt.
Peter -
Wow. It takes nerve for an actor to say they could easily understand a character? No actor who hasn’t had a storied history of abuse can find things to relate to in a character who has? That’s “insulting?” Fuck off. How’s that for insulting?
(By the way, Lisbeth Salander is not real. The character was the invention of a guy who also seemed to understand her despite never having been raped.)