Sometimes Natalie Portman really annoys me
During the 2013 awards season, while former young actress Anne Hathaway campaigned to win Best Supporting Actress for Les Miserables (which, of course, she did end up winning), she was also setting a golden standard in Hollywood's newest movement, the humble-brag. This article from The Vine summarizes the recent trend of fake humility really well, quoting Anne's Oscar acceptance speech as an example:
- "It came true," whispered a pixie-cut, Bambi-eyed, girlie-voiced Anne Hathaway as she picked up her Academy Award in all her pink the other day. It was a rehearsed line, no doubt, which went hand-in-hand so perfectly with the performance she gave on the red carpet: move slowly, look down from time to time, and frequently put your hand on your chest whilst opening your mouth slightly as if to say, "All this? For me? Really?" Oh, and remember to look a little bit au naturel all the time, like glamour doesn’t come all that natural to you.
But recently, another Oscar-winning former young actress has been trying her best to outdo Anne's fake humility. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month, Natalie Portman, now 33, bragged that she doesn't keep her Oscar statue on display (in fact, she doesn't even know where it is!) because she is so wise and enlightened that she recognizes it as a "false idol."
- "I don't know where it is. I think it's in the safe or something. I don't know. I haven't seen it in a while. I was reading the story of Abraham to my child [son Aleph, born in June 2011, about three months after she won the Oscar] and talking about, like, not worshipping false idols. And this is literally like gold men. This is literally worshipping gold idols - if you worship it. That's why it’s not displayed on the wall. It's a false idol."
Just listen to her. Listen to the way that she keeps repeating herself. She doesn't know where it is. She doesn't know. She hasn't seen it in a while. Why does she have to keep hammering in that her Oscar means so little to her? Maybe because she wanted us to be impressed by what a regular, down-to-earth gal she is. Or maybe she wanted to be sure that her statement made headlines - which she did. (See Vanity Fair's blazing announcement: Natalie Portman Has No Idea Where Her Oscar Is, among others.) But remember when Natalie actually won Best Actress, for Black Swan in 2011? She campaigned for it. After all, who wouldn't? She lost weight, went through rigorous ballet training, and worked hard to make Black Swan. She made no secret of how much she wanted to win an Oscar for it. But now, five years later, it's a "false idol" to her, and she doesn't even know where it is.
Of course, it's probably easier to say that about an Oscar after you've actually won one.
Natalie with her Oscar and a huge grin in the pressroom and at an afterparty.
She posed with it happily for a long time.
But if Natalie's Oscar statue really is a "false idol" to her, then why doesn't she just give it away? (Several other Oscar winners have given theirs away to managers or family members.) Why doesn't she give it back to the Academy? Or why doesn't keep it out of sight, and then not say anything to the press about it? Maybe because then, she wouldn't be giving us a chance to ooh and aah over how modest she is. I wonder if this is something that Natalie is going to work into all her interviews from now on - you know, like how she graduated from Harvard. It's always been hard to find an interview of hers where she doesn't bring that up.
Natalie's pretentious attitude is annoying, but I have to say that I do respect her. She started acting as a kid, transitioned into a successful adult star, and just directed a movie in her second language. So few child actresses are able to achieve a solid adult career, and while Natalie owes a lot to having responsible parents and never going through an awkward phase, she made some really smart decisions of her own, too. Likely she'll contintue to make more - let's just see if she takes her name out of the hat for any future Oscar nods.