Boos and Hisses
I didn’t even know about the online mass rebellion/popular turnoff movement against Katherine Heigl until last weekend. I know that Sarah Ball‘s summary piece in Newsweek seemed unduly harsh and brash so I stopped reading it. Then Awards Daily‘s Sasha Stone sent it to me today. This time I read it through to the end. I then checked around to see how many others are piling on. And it does seem as if there’s something going on, “seem” being the operative term.
Katherine Heigl
It still seems like too much. I don’t care for Heigl’s performance in The Ugly Truth either but I don’t want to see her killed or run out of the business. And I wonder how many people feel this way given the $31 million that The Ugly Truth, Heigl’s latest and most detestable film thus far, has made since last Friday. What’s clear is that it’s awfully damn easy these days to go from being loved/admired/enjoyed to being loathed/depised/dumped on. You’re flying high in April, shot down in May.
I, for one, can’t stand her. There is an air about her. She seems to think she’s accomplished more than she has. There are 2 reasons anyone knows who the hell she is. Grey’s Anatomy and Knocked Up. Yet, she has no qualms about biting the hand that feeds. She is capable of giving a decent perf, but she’s just not likeable.
Yeah. What sumo said.
Also if she puts on a few pounds she’s done.
i think women who have seen her movies love her, whereas anyone whos heard of her ripping the writers on Greys Anatomy or Knocked Up or have dealt with her professionally think shes an unwatchable C.
She’s super sexy. Please stay around.
God forbid a pretty woman doesn’t take shit from people. If she was a guy people would be talking her up as the next Brando. But she’s not a guy. And she smokes. Let’s hang her.
It doesn’t surprise me that there’s a movement against her, because I’ve been heading that direction myself. I loved her in “Knocked Up”, but she lost me when she started in with the “it’s sexist!!” crap. First of all, it was one of the more balanced, humanistic mainstream comedies in recent memory; love or hate it, anyone with a brain knows that it’s not selling the female characters short as human beings. Secondly, you lose your feminist card the minute you step on set for something like “27 Dresses”. I don’t make the rules.
Milkman, who has given her shit? She’s always the instigator with her BS; pulling her name from emmy consideration because she didnt feel the writing was up to par, all the crap with Knocked Up being sexist after it made her a star.
Fuck her. and yes, I would.
And The Ugly Truth isn’t sexist?
Ken Levine, who’s written for CHEERS and FRASIER, wrote a pretty good hate-on piece about her last week:
http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2009/07/why-i-hate-katherine-heigl-again.html
Simple arithmetic:
She’s too hot to have a solid female fanbase. People don’t like to hear that, because it’s true. This is why Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan were superstars: Attractive “enough” but not to a degree that made the female audiences of their movies jealous.
BUT she can’t get male fans because she’s openly resistant and hostile toward “guy” movies, even though thats been the only thing anyone’s cared about her in.
Women dislike her because she’s better looking than most of them are, men dislike her because she comes off stuck-up. That adds up to zero.
Milkman,
The next fucking Brando? Are you high? She’s not even the next Cloris Leachman. Choose your metaphors more wisely. Sheesh.
Milkman is right. Nobody had a problem with her until she spoke out about Knocked Up being sexist, and defended the gay dude on her show.
If George Clooney made similar comments he’d still be loved. But she’s hot (yeah, she is) and a woman and we like our women to keep their mouths shut.
Jonah,
So she’s the next Brando huh?
“Women dislike her because she’s better looking than most of them are, men dislike her because she comes off stuck-up. That adds up to zero.”
That isn’t true; I liked her a lot. Still like her as an actress. I agree she’s annoying, however.
Yes, as MilkMan suggested, there’s a double standard. The smoking issue would never be a problem for a man.
But that whole Emmy nomination debacle would have hurt anyone.
I love how the evidence of Heigl’s supposed downfall rests on TMZ and Perez Hilton.
And besides, it’s payback for her Mormanism.
Yeah, I fucking mentioned Brando, Sumo.
Dipshit.
pulling her name from emmy consideration because she didnt feel the writing was up to par
To paraphrase The Wire…’so now we’re ripping people for telling the truth?’ How anyone can argue with a person who says the writing on Grey’s is shitty is beyond me.
To paraphrase The Wire…’so now we’re ripping people for telling the truth?’ How anyone can argue with a person who says the writing on Grey’s is shitty is beyond me.
Agreed. I really don’t get the attitude towards her. I mean if you disagree with the content of what she says, if you think that Grey’s Anatomy is a brilliantly written show or that Knocked Up didn’t have some issues with the female characters, then fine, disagree with her. But this whole “Shut your mouth and be grateful!” attitude seems rather silly.
Maybe the nonlove is partially due to her being like Kate Hudson and now opting for high-paying mediocrity.
And a loud “Amen” to Gabriel’s comment.
Yes, there is a double standard for women (esp. performers) when it comes to speaking out about stuff.
Yes, she is also an annoying, bitchy actress.
These two statements are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
So, where exactly is the double standard? I’m not saying it’s not there, but what male star has publicly trashed thier breakthrough projects, especially while they were still new and/or on air – and was praised?
storymark
George Clooney has pretty well ripped his Batman movie. Batman put money in the bank, gave him credibility as a box office star.
He wasn’t exactly praised for knocking it but nobody ripped him for it either. I believe he also talked shit on Peacemaker and his early films in general.
Heigl, as far as I know, didn’t say Knocked Up or Grey’s were bad. Just that KU was sexist in how it dealt with female characters and that she didn’t feel the Grey’s writers gave her great material for one season.
Clooney has been much more harsh toward Batman. Deservedly so.
Johnny Depps first real break was 21 Jump Street. It made him a matinee idol and gave him a chance to make big movies. He was on the cover of every teen magazine.
He has done nothing but crap on that show over the past 20 years, and from what I’ve read he didn’t exactly keep quiet his hatred for the show while he was on it.
But nobody says a thing about that.
Her reputation doesn’t just come from a couple of public statements. She’s been acting like a diva since for quite some time. There are other outspoken women in the business who are not despised like she is.
How has she been acting like a diva?
Glenn Kenny on Heigl’s “no toplessness in my movies” rule: http://somecamerunning.typepad.com/some_came_running/2009/07/katherine-heigl-is-not-going-to-let-you-see-her-breasts-ever.html
That always got me about her. In KU she kept her bra on, and I thought that’s not realistic. How many women do that? OK, maybe a qucikie, I get it. Haven’t seen Ugly Truth, maybe on dvd. My daughters want to see it, so I am probaly doomed to take them.
They must be in the minority, she still manages to get butts in the movie seats.
She wasn’t even the first choice for Knocked Up. Did she not read the script? If it was so sexist why not take a stand before and request changes or not take the part instead of waiting for the Apatow hit machine to roll on?
I can see the Heigl haters are already piling in with the same misinformed comments. Firstly the Knocked Up comments. She was asked by Vanity Fair about her views on the role of women in the movie as some had pointed out that they were sexist. She responded the yes, she felt they were a little sexist and explained why. Then she added that she hoped women realised the exaggerated characters – both male and female were what made the humor in the movie. She also added it was the best filming experience of her career and that she was incredibly grateful for the opportunity. There must be a dozen video clips where you can find her saying this before and long after the movie was released. Heigl is outspoken and honest and people do not like this particularly in a actress in Hollywood. They are supposed to look pretty and shut up but she doesn’t follow that idea thankfully. Now clearly everyone would prefer to have their interviews come from the mouth of publicists where everyone loves everyone else and everything is perfect. Personally I prefer an opinion and a viewpoint and 99% of the time I agree with what she has to say. Her withdrawal from the Emmys was justified and she was quite correct – the writing was awful that season. You can understand her frustration when she is contracted to the show and unable to do anything else other than in the summer break and after winning an Emmy her character then gets to rescue deers and sleep with her best friend. The critics who hated the story then turned on her for agreeing with them! Heigl is not a nasty person far from it, and those who work with her having nothing but nice things to say and are full of praise. Sadly for being honest she is labelled a diva and a bitch. For standing up for herself she is demanding and ungrateful. No she is none of these things she is actual a pretty positive role model for women. Ok some of her movies may not be fantastic but she had said many times she wanted to do a few rom coms because 9 months of the year she is dealing with death, injuries and drama on her TV show. She also has started her own production company and optioned some interesting stories most of which are not romantic comedies. Her next flick is an action movie. So she may offend some people and if they dont her that is fair enough but the vindictive nature of some of the press reports has gone over the top. Newsweek should be ashamed at even writing an article like that.
Re: previous comment – I meant the movie was sexist rather than the women LOL. I hate comment boxes – always difficult to read back what you have written. Anyway..this article also addressed this topic..and spoke about Heigl being a punchbag for the media:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2009/07/the_strange_case_of_katherine.html?ft=1&f=93568166
You make some really good points, Liam.
Unfortunately, you don’t make many paragraphs. Maybe that’s why it’s so difficult to read back what you have written!
I have it on good authority that KH has really, really ugly hairy nipples. Seriously, you should all be happy that she keeps her bra on.
More people should withdraw from Emmy consideration … go on rotation or something. Seriously, Jeremy Piven *should* have done that rather than being dropped. It would have saved some face after “l’affaire sushi”. Emmys … same people every year, practically. She did some other actress a favor. Why does no one look at it like that? Wish Sally Field would take a page out of Heigl’s book.
I want to apologize for the bad joke above . . . I’m sure that Katherine Heigl has a perfectly beautiful set of breasts.
I don’t understand the hate on her. I have pretty much no issue with her except how she mentioned that Knocked up is (exact quote): “a little sexist. It paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys. It exaggerated the characters, and I had a hard time with it, on some days. I’m playing such a bitch; why is she being such a killjoy? Why is this how you’re portraying women? Ninety-eight percent of the time it was an amazing experience, but it was hard for me to love the movie.”
And then she plays the exact same humorless, uptight woman in the Ugly Truth, which is what she said she didn’t like as per above. She does have a choice to do something else…
Other than that, I have no issues with her, lots of actors/actress have said worse things, so why get so excited?
This is sort of a David Caruso-type thing. Little birdy wants to fly too high too soon. Well you know what happens then.
Heigl should be grateful she gets to work at all. And if she has gripes, keep out of the news. There hundreds of girls waiting right in line behind her to take her spot on Grey’s.
Also, remember how she corrected the pronuniation of her name during the Emmys? It was rude and snooty to do that and kind of lame. Stuff like that is what will kill her reputation. And all actresses need all the help they can get if they want long careers. If they don’t – they can Debra Winger into obscurity.
byanyother you seem like a real champion of women.
“I believe he also talked shit on Peacemaker and his early films in general. ”
I just wanted to add that Clooney was the bomb in Peacemaker!
That film definitely doesn’t deserve to be tied in with Batman and Robin or One Fine Day.
I think Clooney and Heigl would make a nice team on screen.
Ok, so was this written before or after The Ugly Truth made over 30 million? Because when I got to the phrase “the role earned her a best-actress Emmy” I stopped reading. It was a supporting Emmy. Simple enough fact to check, but why bother when you preface Perez Hilton in the intro.
Re – George Clooney ragged on Batman & Robin, but he also more or less fell on the sword, taking full blame, constantly referring to himself as ‘the guy who killed Batman’ or something to that effect. The other difference is that Clooney used the money from Batman & Robin to start a new career making better, more challenging mainstream entertainment. Heigl called Knocked Up sexist, then went on to make ‘more of the same’ with 27 Dresses and The Ugly Truth.
SHe’s playing the type of game with her Greys Anatomy bosses that always bite you in the ass in the long run. Britney Murphy had a hot movie career for a few years and then it dried up pretty quickly. She shouldn’t take hers for grantite. Heigel is clearly a bridge burner. BAD form!
God help us all….she has the ”tude” because she
can….bitch or no bitch…let her get a few ”wine and cheese” movies out of the way before she
tackles the Kidman pathway to success….and then you can discuss her ways.
It’s really sad and pathetic how mysogynistic and hateful people can really be toward actresses.
We don’t often see this kind of hatred targeted for male actors.
You don’t like her? Fine.
Get the fuck over it.
I’m not a big fan of her as an actress, and certainly, she’s made lousy career choices, but I maintain a lot of this shitstorm started when she stood up for T.R. Knight during that whole debacle.
Having An Opinion on Katherine Heigl strikes me as a life reassessment prompt on par with getting a DUI on the way to the hospital while your wife is in labor
“byanyother you seem like a real champion of women. ”
We’re talking about Hollywood here, not saving the world, not doing anything other than entertaining people and serving one’s ego. I feel no need to protect Heigl simply because she’s a woman. At first I was on her side – but she lost me at some point after she kept bitching and griping. She strikes as someone who is very dumb – someone who believes her fame and power will last forever. I also know a lot of actresses who would kill for her position.
byanyother,
So, as a woman, she should just shut the fuck up and be happy about her career.
Gotcha.
We don’t often see this kind of hatred targeted for male actors.
Yes, we do. The likes of Shia LaBeouf get all sorts of abuse from the internets.
She’s Kate Hudson with an attitude problem. I for one am not surprised that she’s not liked, because of the movies she makes as a star. And now, she’s only interested in making vapid movies for people who find her unappealing to begin with. If anyone needed to be lobbying for a role in a Greengrass or a Soderbergh movie to show some range, it’s her. Instead, she makes the Ugly Truth.
So I’m guessing she either isn’t good at reading people (and by extension, the viewing public), or she isn’t that bright.
Bosh,
For different reasons, related to stupid personal actions and poor movie choices. Not for speaking out about his films.
“So, as a woman, she should just shut the fuck up and be happy about her career. ”
No. As a *WORKING ACTOR/ACTRESS” she should just shut the fuck up and enjoy her career. YES. Or else melt into obscurity and have to live with long lines at the DMV like the rest of us. They have no right to complain about working, no. Not unless we’re talking about starving kids from India who are in danger of being sold by their parents or being evicted from their homes. No, shut up, collect your paycheck, ride that wave until the bitter end.
“She was asked by Vanity Fair about her views on the role of women in the movie as some had pointed out that they were sexist. She responded the yes, she felt they were a little sexist and explained why. Then she added that she hoped women realised the exaggerated characters – both male and female were what made the humor in the movie. She also added it was the best filming experience of her career and that she was incredibly grateful for the opportunity.”
This is as skewed in the positive direction as any person you’re responding to was skewed in the negative direction. You do know the actual quotes disagree with you, right?
“Heigl is outspoken and honest and people do not like this particularly in a actress in Hollywood.”
I don’t like that everybody keeps falling back on, “You can’t criticize her, she’s a *woman*.” Nobody has pointed out any example where any other actor has been as openly negative about their most popular projects as Heigl. And, I’m sorry, but if you like an actor, it is generally because of a specific project, at least at first. If you, as an actor, turn around and badmouth the project which made people like you, then many people will not like you, specifically because of that.
The Heigl defenders seem to be spending a lot of time playing down the things she said and acting as if they’re completely normal; well, no, Clooney was *not* bad-mouthing ‘Batman and Robin’ when it came out; he waited until it had become a joke, and then made the joke himself, and consistently added that it raised his profile so much that he couldn’t hate it at all.
“Her withdrawal from the Emmys was justified and she was quite correct – the writing was awful that season.”
I believe the idea is, you’re on a show, you have to work with a bunch of people; if you genuinely think the writing is that bad, maybe you shouldn’t make a big PUBLIC deal out of saying, Hey, don’t worry, I totally would’ve been nominated for an Emmy, but I pulled myself back, because it’s just not up to the typical Grey’s Anatomy standard. Most people who stop their own nominations don’t then make public statements so that everybody knows that they weren’t ignored by the Emmys.
“and those who work with her having nothing but nice things to say and are full of praise.”
Do you have any examples? At all? Because the entire cast and crew of ‘Knocked Up’ disagrees with you, and the people I know who worked on the New York portion of ’27 Dresses’ would also like to add a few things.
“Sadly for being honest she is labelled a diva and a bitch.”
This is like when somebody says something really shitty to you, like “Hey, that shirt is fucking Elephant Man ugly” and then you get upset and the person says, “Oh, yeah, *I’m* an asshole, just because I was honest?” No, genius, you’re an asshole because of *how* you were honest.
“For standing up for herself she is demanding and ungrateful.”
Standing up for yourself would be getting out of a contract that is no longer fulfilling, not continuing to take the money and not saying anything about the writing privately, but waiting to go public with it.
That said, both sides of this thread are hilarious, but this was the only post that jumped out at me and seemed to need a response.
Jonah,
“George Clooney has pretty well ripped his Batman movie. Batman put money in the bank, gave him credibility as a box office star.
He wasn’t exactly praised for knocking it but nobody ripped him for it either. I believe he also talked shit on Peacemaker and his early films in general.
Clooney has been much more harsh toward Batman. Deservedly so. ”
Not to my recollection. For quite a while, he took the blame for the film being so bad, and even now, I can’t find any quotes where he actively rips the film.
“I don’t like that everybody keeps falling back on, “You can’t criticize her, she’s a *woman*.” Nobody has pointed out any example where any other actor has been as openly negative about their most popular projects as Heigl. ”
Nobody said you can’t criticize her because she’s a woman. They’ve said she is overly criticized for this particular issue because she’s a woman. Let’s not do a DZ and try to cloud what is really being said. Let’s not also alter the main point some of us have tried to make so we can make our own, insignificant, point.
And I did mention examples. I think the Clooney one works, and so does the Depp example. Brad Pitt criticized the Devil’s Own before it came out, and while the press made a deal about it, the movie going audience didn’t give a shit. And it didn’t stick with him either.
Byanyother
“No. As a *WORKING ACTOR/ACTRESS” she should just shut the fuck up and enjoy her career. YES. Or else melt into obscurity and have to live with long lines at the DMV like the rest of us. They have no right to complain about working, no. Not unless we’re talking about starving kids from India who are in danger of being sold by their parents or being evicted from their homes. No, shut up, collect your paycheck, ride that wave until the bitter end. ”
So you have never complained about your career? Or does it matter how much money you make? Where is the cut off? Who gets to decide what that cut off is? And did she complain about her career, or did she criticize a couple of projects she has worked on? I know the answer to that, do you?
Byanyother,
you have some serious anger towards women. Everybody else seems to be able to discuss the issue but you fly off the handle. May want to do some “inner work” to figure out where that anger toward women comes from.
I’m not sure what country you grew up in. But she very much does have the right to complain about working, even though that’s not what she complained about. Seriously, are you trying to take the King Dumbass title from DZ and Travis?
Yeah, Jonah I may be a dipshit, but at least I’m not the dipshit who compared Heigl ti Brando. Go ahead, stand on that wobbly leg Einstein.
Jonah, she absolutely has the right to complain. I’m not flying off the handle at all and I happen to be female. Any actor who whines about long work days on Letterman to “embarrass” her employers is in for a rude awakening when she realizes how little people care about her and fast it can all disappear. I’m stating my point as I see it. You continue to provoke – in hopes of exactly this kind of exchange? I guess being passive aggressive has worked for you. Perhaps you should do some “inner work” on that.
Heigl is the one out there destroying her career. But any time she’s ready she can stop being an actress and complain all she wants about life. But please, don’t complain when you have it better than 95% of the world’s population.
Knocked Up? Sexist? Oh, perish the thought.
Oh, and as for saying men don’t get this treatment, didn’t Gary Oldman get shut out of Hollywood for five or so years after bad-mouthing The Contender?
Again, people telling the truth. The Contender, with the exception of Jeff Bridges and Sam Elliott, was ridiculous. It’s like they pulled the beliefs of various Rs and Ds from a hat.
Joe McD said: “If anyone needed to be lobbying for a role in a Greengrass or a Soderbergh movie to show some range, it’s her.”
She already got her Soderbergh movie — granted, it was 16 years ago when she was a kid, but still…
I remember that everyone was saying she was too pretty for
“Knocked Up”. That how could that guy even get someone who looked like that to go to bed with him.
Now, she’s being hated.
Don’t hate her because she’s beautiful. No matter what the “proof”, it’s too much. Too much ugly competition with her.
Even if she was the most unlikable person in the world, she would only be in a league with a whole lot of other unlikable actors. Some are likable, some are not. But the heat on this one is just wierd. Witch hunt.
I’m female, and I like her. Not enough to watch Grey’s but I’ve never been irritated by any tic or mannerisms she has as an actress, and I first saw her in My Father The Hero when I was in high school. She’s not the greatest, but her acting style’s by and large emotionally honest and with no fear about being disliked.
She is a knockout, but I think the reason why a lot of females dislike her is that she has a brittle personality . and that aura that she emits of not giving a damn about what people think of her. Hence her reputation for rudeness and ungratefulness. Still, she’s acted since childhood that she has thrived until now says something.
Her movie career ought to go pretty well. She seems considered as having better chops than Biel or Alba, but at this point can’t compete with Scarlett, Natalie, Keira and Emily Blunt for dramatic roles. She is probably offered the offered the comedic roles that Anne and Reese and maybe Amy Adams turn down. She won’t get to their level of fame or A-List status or until she acts sweet for the press – and she seems to have no intention of being America’s Sweetheart.