Anne Hathaway is fighting an impossible battle against her haters
Oh, the case of poor Anne Hathaway. The Oscar-winning actress has received an avalanche of bad press over the last couple of years for that most polarizing kind of offense: being herself.
She’s the kind of celebrity who inexplicably bugs people. She has “too perfect” of an image; a sunny personality that must be fake; a tendency to take herself seriously. Things heated up during the 2013 awards season when Hathaway took home many well-earned trophies for her role in “Les Miserables.” But to many, she came off as smug and self-important. So despite winning awards, her reputation ended up being damaged instead of enhanced.
Now, Hathaway’s back in the news as she makes the rounds for the Christopher Nolan film, “Interstellar.” In the process, she’s addressed and defended her image, talking candidly about how people’s cruel comments have affected her self-esteem. It’s easy to feel sympathetic, but also tough to watch because she’s fighting a losing battle: When it comes to public perception of celebrities, it is extraordinarily difficult to change people’s minds.
In a cover story for Harper’s Bazaar, Hathaway took a defensive tactic, running down all of the moments people didn’t like.
To the people who don’t like Hathaway, her excuses still might not be enough. In the article she talks about stumbling across a story online titled something like “Why does everyone hate Anne Hathaway?”
She told Harper’s that finding that story felt like being “Punched in the gut … Shocked and slapped and embarrassed. Even now I can feel the shame.” Hathaway added that her reputation started to cost her roles in movies since directors didn’t like her public image.
Beyond how her reputation affected her professional life, Hathaway expanded on the emotional consequences in an interview on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show.
“Well, I listened at first. And I couldn’t help it, you know? You try to shut it off and I couldn’t. And then I realized that why I couldn’t was I had not learned to love myself yet,” she explained. “I hadn’t gotten there. And if you don’t love yourself when someone else says horrible things to you, part of you is always going to believe them.”
“I feel like I’ve arrived in a place where … I have a tremendous love and compassion for everyone else. And best of all I have it for myself, which I never enjoyed before.”
The audience burst into applause, and DeGeneres commended her attitude.
If only it were that simple. The public is strange – generally, the greater online audience tends to decide that they’re going to dislike someone until they’re good and ready to stop.
Also, Hathaway has already found the most valuable way to get back on people’s good side: Focus on what she’s good at, which is acting. She told Harper’s she started getting back in Hollywood’s good graces once Nolan cast her in “Interstellar,” which shows the best way to shut everyone up is to get roles because she’s talented.
If there’s one thing everyone has learned, trying to convince angry Internet commenters they’re wrong is just a losing battle.