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Sofia Coppola States The Obvious: Celebrity Culture Is Out of Control

sofia coppola

I’m not some Sofia Coppola fangirl who spends my downtime reblogging Marie Antoinette or Lost In Translation gifs to my tumblr, so my general feeling about her is that she’s kind of overrated and a little bit corny. Sure, The Bling Ring looks like a lot of fun, but I guarantee you it’ll be ridiculously popular with the hipster set by virtue of the fact that it’s her film, even if it’s not actually executed all that well.

Anyhoo, that’s neither here nor there. Sofia Coppola obviously has a grasp on ~celebrity culture~ and guess what – she thinks it’s all getting a little out of hand.

From The Independent:

“I see celebrity culture as some kind of guilty-pleasure thing that you look at once in a while,” declares Sofia Coppola. “But now it’s become the dominating thing in our culture in America. It’s out of control.”

The writer-director, who is now 42, has always been a woman economical with words. She’s definitely not keen on over-explaining herself or her films and, while never defensive, once she’s drawn lines, she is unwilling to cross them. Would she, for instance, count herself a feminist?

“Oh, I don’t talk about political things,” she says. “But I’m happy I get to put out a feminine point of view.” What advice would she give to the real-life Bling Ring-ers? “I don’t want to dispense advice but my parents always emphasised the importance of hard work. That’s something I try to instil in my daughters.” What are her theories about the boom in celebrity culture? “I don’t want to say. I just tried to make a movie that showed the experience of these kids and let the audience decide how they feel.”

Oh, Christ. So, celebrity culture is out of control, so you make a film directly about it, criticise the trend in society and then decline to elaborate on her theories. Lovely. Also, the bullshit “I don’t talk about politics” answer when asked if you’re a feminist is so fucking tired, I can’t even. Here’s an easy litmus test for anyone who might be confused about the matter. Do you believe that women and men should have the same rights, earn the same money for doing the same job and be able to do whatever they want to do without distinction from men? Ding ding ding, you’re a feminist!

Yes, celebrity culture is “out of control”. But it’s also fun and a nice distraction from everyday life for us peons – and for some of it, it’s our livelihood. That’s good enough for me.

5 CommentsLeave a comment

  • dudette! exactly. she pisses me right off with this jackoff quote, somewhat complaining about it, whilst MAKING A TON OF MONEY off it. betch please, you just made a mainstream film glorifying the very thing you say is out of control, therefore you’re a big part of the problem, so don’t play coy. STFU, sofia. even if lost in translation is still fantastic…STFU. i for one am gunna try my best not to see this new one. that might be difficult once it reaches netflix, but….gotta stay strong. if paris hilton’s involved, i will not give a penny, not a viewing, not a NOTHIN’. phooey. give offa my laaaaawwwwwn

    • If all of her films have one thing in common, it is that they attempt to humanize celebrities, to show the struggles of the famous and wealthy in an effort to deglamorize.them. All of her characters are troubled either due to or in spite of their lifestyle. If people go to see her films, then she, as the director, should be making money off of her art. Maybe you should stick to cartoons.

      • fair enough, smarty pants, i see your point & totally agree with it, minus the cartoon snark. i’m with blasted1 as well – virgin suicides is creepy fantastic. sofia’s soundtracks always did give me a boner…. so fuck it, i’m a fan, but that quote IS annoying. plus anything paris hilton touches turns to coke covered crabs, so gunna stay away from this flick; i’ll stand by that. have fun at the theater, mikey poo, enjoy.

  • I was all set to be a Sofia Coppola hater. She got her job because of her dad, period. Any other person would have to come up the damn near impossible hard road and then be lucky to have a shot. So, I went to see “The Virgin Suicides” with a determination to hate it before I saw the first scene…..I became a life-long fan about 15 minutes in and the rest is history. Yeah, you make your living from gossip and it’s fun, but there really isn’t anything bad you can say about Sofia and her films except some are better than others. Why are you trying so hard to diss her? Her working life proves she’s a feminist.

  • Feminist my ass, all she does is perpetuate the problem…come on, The Bling Ring?? Marie Antoinette?? Movies that focus on materialism, and then go and complain about it. I second the betch please. People who stick up for celebrities have ZERO argument. Brain surgeons and Astronauts make a fraction of what celebs make to stand around and be narcissistic. Acting may be difficult, but it’s not fucking harder than brain surgery, or teaching, this world is so out of fucking whack. FUCK CELEBS, especially the ones who bitch about celeb culture.