<p>Why are these women receiving so much venom for their recent comments? Does any rational, sober-thinking, objective person truly believe that these women compared their circumstances to actual sexual assault victims or in Paltrow’s case, soldiers in battle? I think they’ve backtracked or otherwise apologized, but I have no patience for people who can’t be bothered to try to understand true intent and context. Such folks are perpetually angry about one thing or another and are just looking to start a fight, that they usually will turn and run away from when thinking about it becomes too hard. </p>
<p>I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, people LOOK for reasons to be offended. </p>
<p>I honestly have no idea what was said- I just read “outrage” on various pages. As they say “Ain’t nobody got time for that.” (Though, apparently, people do) </p>
<p>I agree with you, LakeWashington, that it seems as if Paltrow especially will inflame certain people whatever she says, and that her critics often gleefully assume the very worst. I do wish that she would pull back a bit. I see a tone-deaf quality and a non-intentional arrogance in much of what she writes. In a way I admire her for insisting on being exactly who she is; I do think she’s a good actress (though Theron is a better one). If she didn’t have so many online critics, I’d have no idea what her take is on things. Who knew she had a blog and a website and wrote books? Not me.</p>
<p>I just looked up Theron’s statement, and it seems clear to me that what she meant was a vivid expression of “violated.” I really don’t understand why people have to start getting up in arms about this and demanding apologies and so forth. It really is over the top. Any sensible person realizes that she knows the difference between actually being raped and this. She was trying to express how very bad it felt.</p>
<p>If someone doesn’t get an award, and people say “S/he was robbed,” are we to expect an outcry demanding an apology from victim’s rights organizations?</p>
<p>Strongly reminds me of when Joe Biden referred to Barack Obama as being “clean,” which some people have tried to cast as a racist slur. It was obvious that what he meant was the somewhat old-fashioned descriptor “clean cut.” Barack Obama’s personal appearance and style is virtually the epitome of clean cut. I think that Biden was completely correct in saying that that sort of person has a broad appeal. It doesn’t mean that Biden thinks other black people are dirty. </p>
<p>‘I was robbed.’ Great analogy and on point, Consolation.</p>
<p>Nobody is angry. Everybody understand though how remote all those stars from our regular lives and how distorted thie vision of our regular lives is. I personally do not care much about who said what, but when you watch most movies and shows on TV, you just wonder, they would do anything for money and publicity, anything at all, sell off all of us, not blinking the eye…I am not angry, I simply cannot afford loosing an emotion on any out there, I really truly do not care, just a matter of another laugh, what else we can do, but continue laughing? Bunch of arrogant, uneducated snobs, they can continue saying whatever, does not bother me at all, they actually do much worse, than they say…</p>
<p>I was annoyed with Gwyneth when she said, “'It’s easier to be a mom with an office job than to be a mom and an actress.” I have no problem with Charlize though. You are right Consolation. People don’t use figures of speech apparently. When I say, “Twitter or FireEye stock is getting slaughtered,” is that offensive to vegans? </p>
<p>I’ve never understood all the venom flung at Gwyneth Paltrow. Sure she is self-absorbed and only moderately talented, and she sometimes says vapid and/or clueless things, but that is a description that could fit two dozen other Hollywood celebrities just as well as it fits her. </p>
<p>I just don’t understand why she has been repeatedly singled-out over the years for special hatred. Can anyone explain it?</p>
<p>"I was annoyed with Gwyneth when she said, “'It’s easier to be a mom with an office job than to be a mom and an actress.” </p>
<p>I haven’t heard any of the fuss, but I suspect people just like beautiful actresses to shut up and be beautiful. I don’t see anything annoying about that comment, though, it seems obviously true. It would be far easier having a regular 8 to 5 job that you can schedule around, than a job where you may have to travel several months at a time or if at home, working irregular and sometimes extremely long hours. Of course people will think if you are wealthy that you can just hire as much household help as you need, but then again some people actually want to raise their own children.</p>
<p>@courer I never understood the anti-Gwyneth thing, either. But, I do know. I think the more you listen to her and read her “Goop” stuff, the self-absorbed and only moderately talented aspect you refer to merges with an amazingly unaware of the real life that other people are living aspect which is frankly, annoying. Her useless advice is so out-of-touch with most people’s reality that it borders on the comical. </p>
<p>I wanted to see one of her movies a few years ago. My kids objected, strongly. </p>
<p>I think the anger at people like Paltrow and Theron quite honestly is that people look at them, the fame they have, the money, how their lives seem to constantly be in the news and so forth, and look to bomb them because they feel (rightfully or wrongfully) that it isn’t fair they get treated as royalty, have their views quoted, when “all they are is an actress” . People these days are frustrated and angry, and a lot of it comes out sideways, and stars take more than a bit of that. It is the same way when musicians make political statements from the stage, Bono of U2 when he was outspoken that supporting the IRA in Northern Ireland by sending money and guns wasn’t about liberation, the guy took death threats over that, or when a musician speaks out against a candidate or some such you get ‘they should just play music’ (yet many of the same people complaining have no problem when a musician speaks out for someone they like…back in the late 60’s, a lot of the ‘older generation’ were angry at rock stars for being anti war, unpatriotic, etc, told them to shut up and play music, yet none of them said anything about people like Frank Sinatra who actively supported the GOP and Nixon and so forth)…people feel it is unfair that celebrities speak out against ‘their’ issues or ‘their candidate’, and feel like they get listened to even though they are just ‘a musician’…</p>
<p>There is another problem, too, people are often hypersensitive or looking for slights, When Paltrow made the statement about it being harder to raise a child as an actress then with an office job, I am sure a lot of moms trying to balance work and life, who don’t have the resources that these women do, feel like it is a putdown on them and their lives, even though Paltrow probably didn’t mean it as such, and I am sure if she talked to the women upset by what she said, they would understand that even with all the resources, it can be very, very difficult to do what actresses do, long hours on the set, travel, etc, not to mention having to try and fend off their kids from paparazzi and crazies…I think a lot of people really have a hard time looking at intent, they read the words and don’t even think about what the person was trying to say. I ran into that on a forum on here, I mentioned that my son had been involved with a program and ran into an insufferable woman (a school music teacher)), who was patronizing and arrogant, and by the end he made the comment that was pure hyperbole, saying she was so bad it made him want to bomb the local teacher’s union office. It wasn’t a threat, it is like saying “he made me so angry I could have killed him”, yet I had these people threatening to get me banned for inciting violence, how it was so shocking I could write that in the face of Newtown and Columbine, when it was clearly hyperbole. People are looking for things to set them off, and rather than look at intent, they take things literally, and the result is what you see. </p>
<p>Could somebody provide links to what they said? I have no idea.</p>
<p>I disagree that Gwyneth is not talented. </p>
<p>I do think that she occasionally opines about things she has no knowledge or experience with, and this annoys people. I don’t make declarations about the lives of working actresses because I know I have at most a very superficial acquaintance with what that entails. GP knows nothing of what it’s like to be an “office mom.” There is no one set life of “office mom”; it varies. I know many who must bring home work to do at night after all their other home obligations are met. It’s not necessarily 9-5 nor an easier thing to manage.</p>
<p>Gwyneth has put herself out there as “lifestyle adviser”. And, her advice is not exactly relatable. So, she’s kind of asking for it imho. She also complains a lot and says whacko things like calling her divorce an “conscious uncoupling”. Being quiet might be better if she wants privacy. Charlize, no problem. That was a metaphor, I agree.</p>
<p>In Paltrow’s case she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and has never suffered any everyday hardship in her life. As for Theron’s case her dad was an alcoholic whose who shot to death by her mother. She at least deserves the benefit of the doubt. Either way no one should care what either one of these empty heads should have to say.</p>
<p>IMO, you can’t pigeonhole a regular job as just an 8 to 5 pm job because that is just not true. Days can turn to 14-hour jobs and you can have conference calls with people from different time zones but you still need to attend meetings at regular working hours in your time zone. I don’t really like mommy wars so I get annoyed with statements that imply one’s job/life is so much harder than another’s ergo she’s the better super-dooper mom. That’s just me. Maybe, Ms. Paltrow was talking about minimum wage jobs but then again that’s why she gets paid in the millions.</p>
<p>Angelina Jolie: “I actually feel that women in my position, when we have all at our disposal to help us, shouldn’t complain. Consider all the people who really struggle and don’t have the financial means, don’t have the support, and many people are single raising children. That’s hard.”: <a href=“Angelina Jolie doesn't feel 'mom guilt,' knows her stardom gives her flexibility to raise kids”>Angelina Jolie doesn't feel 'mom guilt,' knows her stardom gives her flexibility to raise kids;
<p>Cougar Town’s Busy Phillips: “I don’t ever feel like I have to stop myself from complaining about how hard it is to be an actress,” she said with a laugh. “I mean, it’s not that hard.”: <a href=“http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/gwyneth-paltrow-busy-phillips-share-view-working-moms-article-1.1811605#ixzz33XVK3aBA”>http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/gwyneth-paltrow-busy-phillips-share-view-working-moms-article-1.1811605#ixzz33XVK3aBA</a></p>
<p>I am not concerned about any of this but both those comments got a lot of buzz today. I know they didn’t mean anything that would hurt anyone’ but years ago I was the lone Jewish member in a group and we trying to think of a name for it. A member of the group who I knew was of German descent suggested to me that we call the group xxxxing Nazi’s. I felt my self turn white and was literally speechless. I know she thought it was funny and I understand that she didn’t mean anything by it and wasn’t angry once I took some time to think about it. But I had an immediate visceral reaction that I never forgot. (And of course could never have been part of a group with that name.) I can see where while no harm was meant people close to rape and the military could see the comments as offensive. Apologizing and moving on is all that needs to be done.</p>
<p>As for GP’s comments on the difficulty of her parenting/work situation, it is very different than the typical office mom because GP has the option of not taking those jobs and still feeding her kids and keeping a roof over their heads… Sure it is difficult, all parents have the right to whine about the challenges of parenting but comparing oneself to others, especially others who very likely don’t have a choice crosses the line IMO. </p>
<p>“As for GP’s comments on the difficulty of her parenting/work situation, it is very different than the typical office mom because GP has the option of not taking those jobs and still feeding her kids and keeping a roof over their heads… Sure it is difficult, all parents have the right to whine about the challenges of parenting but comparing oneself to others, especially others who very likely don’t have a choice crosses the line IMO.”</p>
<p>It is always difficult to honestly compare ones own situation to others, unless they have been in their shoes. Though I don’t think trying to talk honestly is complaining or whining. People get far too touchy and take things personal. I just agree or disagree.</p>
<p>I have been in a situation where I have been away from my baby for long periods of time. And I can guarantee you, it is terrible. It is much easier to be home every day, and I know that for certain. If I’d have thought ahead, I guess I wouldn’t have joined the military or decided to have a baby at that time. But you make your decisions and live with them, right or wrong. I don’t think talking about them is complaining, but I think people are jealous of a beautiful and wealthy actress, and think she isn’t entitled to have any problems, and that she could make choices that others couldn’t. I don’t feel jealous at all of people like GP, I would never want to do her job and be in such a spotlight, and I’m sure she’d never want to do mine.</p>
<p>Neither Angelina nor Busy are jealous of GP. That’s just hilarious.</p>
<p>How anybody can pay attention to words of those who live on a different planet? Unfortunately their irresponsible actions, not words is affecting everybody else is a very negative way, but that is not discussed here. </p>