Recommendations of the Editorial team
Cate Blanchett reflected on the #MeToo movement in Hollywood during an interview at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday – and found that it didn’t last nearly as long as many had hoped.
“It was shut down very quickly, which I think is remarkable,” Blanchett said. “There are many people with a platform who can publicly say with relative certainty: This happened to me. And the so-called average woman on the street, the average person on the street, says: Me too. Why is this being silenced? What it has exposed is a systemic pattern of abuse – not just in this industry, but in all industries. If you don’t name a problem, you can’t solve it. If you shut down that conversation, you don’t get anywhere.”
The power imbalance on film sets still exists when she works there, she said. “I’m still on film sets doing my head count every morning, and there’s still – well, there’s 10 women and 75 men every morning,” Blanchett said. “I like men, but what happens is that the jokes always become the same. You have to steel yourself a little bit inside, and I’m used to that – but it just gets boring for everyone when you come into a homogeneous workplace. I think that has an impact on the work.”
Hollywood as a political stage
In the wide-ranging conversation, Blanchett also discussed the importance of Hollywood as a place for political debate – including the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.
“It’s a sad state of affairs when film festivals suddenly become the only places where you can talk about wars, conflicts and genocides – as if they would be solved here,” Blanchett said. “It’s very important to keep these things in the public consciousness. I just wish the question times in parliaments around the world were far more honest and focused on solutions, because what’s happening in the world is frightening and infuriating.”
Blanchett also commented on AI, saying her central concern is that of “consent.” “Human consent must be put first so that innovation and human action can coexist,” she explained. “AI is now a reality, and it is a powerful tool. Like any powerful tool, it must be used with respect and caution.”
KI: Cheap and monotonous
She added: “I find the idea of uniformity incredibly dull and uninspiring. This is an interesting toy that may be useful in some areas. The problem becomes when it becomes more complex – and you realize what’s really behind it: that they think it’s cheaper.”
