Cate Blanchett calls for an end to cancel culture so society can understand the mistakes of the past.
The 53-year-old Oscar-nominated actress’s new film, ‘Tár’, has been accused of being “anti-woman” but she said the world will be doomed to repeat its past mistakes if offensive works of art or the creations of artists with questionable or abusive histories are now erased from existence for fear of offending people with modern views.
Taking the abusive womaniser Pablo Picasso as an example, she told the new issue of Radio Times: “If you look at Picasso, you can only imagine what happened in, out and around his studio.
“But you look at Guernica and say it’s one of the greatest works of art of all time? Yes, that’s a fact. I think it’s important to have a healthy critique.”
“If you don’t read old books that are slightly offensive because of what they say in a historical context, then you will never be able to deal with the minds of the time (and) we are destined to repeat those things.
Cate is tipped to win her second Best Actress award for her portrayal of obsessive conductor Lydia Tár in ‘Tár’, where her character becomes the first female conductor of a German orchestra before she is revealed to be a bully and, after one of her former students commits suicide, Lydia is accused of having inappropriate relationships with her female protégés.
The backlash to the film, which has six Oscar nominations including Best Picture, has been led by director Marin Alsop, 66, who said she was offended by the portrayal of the lead character, telling The Australian: “To have the opportunity to cast a woman in that role to make her an abuser, to me that’s heartbreaking.”
Cate added to the Radio Times that the film had used cancel culture as a plot device to address “existential” issues and previously told BBC Radio 4 that the film, directed by Todd Field, was “very provocative” and “a mediation on power”, which she added is “genderless”.
Read the full interview with Cate Blanchett in the Radio Times BAFTA film special.
