On September 29, 2013, the Theatre and Dance Department hosted an “Inside the
Actor’s Studio” style talk back session with Kathleen Turner. A friend of mine, Jonathan Becker had the
good fortune to work with Miss Turner this past summer on a workshop of the
play Mother Courage at Arena Stage
Theatre in Washington, DC. It was
through this relationship that the Theatre and Dance department was able to
bring Kathleen Turner to campus for various workshops with theatre students,
and this talkback in particular. The
timing could not have been more perfect.
The
following Monday, we began discussion of culture jamming and the Barbie
Liberation organization – in particular the 1993 ‘surgeries’ the group
performed on hundreds of Barbie and GI Joe dolls in an effort to wipe out
gender stereotypes. This event in particular served as inspiration for one of
my all time favorite Simpsons episodes, Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy, starring the one
and only Kathleen Turner as Stacy Lovell, the original creator of Malibu Stacy.
Having known that Miss Turner was
considered an outspoken celebrity, especially when it comes to portrayals of
women in film and television, I went for the sole reason of asking her one
question about this episode in particular – how much influence did she have on
the portrayal of Stacy Lovell’s character.
The
episode begins with Lisa, who is appalled by the stereotypical things her
Malibu Stacy doll is saying, and she wants Stacy Lovell to know that this
happening. She heads over to Stacy
Lovell’s mansion to discuss this with her - she believes that if she knew how stereotypical
and condescending these dolls are, then she wouldn’t allow it to happen. She is only able to convince Stacy Lovell to
help her after playing the doll’s lines for her over the security intercom: “Don’t
ask me, I’m just a girl!” That finally convinces
Stacy that something should be done – the answer is the Lisa Lionheart Doll – a
version of the Malibu Stacy that Lisa and Stacy create together to project
positive female values. Of course, the
corporate heads at Malibu Stacy trump the sales of the new Lisa Lionheart doll
by introducing a new Malibu Stacy doll that features a new hat.
Suffice
it to say I chickened out when it came time for the Q and A portion of the
evening, but Miss Turner still had some incredibly funny and relevant thoughts
to share on her groundbreaking portrayals of women in film and TV.
She discussed
the various types of roles she has played, and what she ultimately is attracted
to as an actress. She was cast in Body Heat at the age of 25 – her first
major role in film. This role was an
opportunity for her to push the limits of sexuality in a film. They offered her sequels to this film, but she
wasn’t interested in recreating something she had already done. The material that most interests her is
always something that she hasn’t done before – and she discusses the idea that
this almost goes against the entire thinking of the industry. If you’ve done something well, then the
thinking is that you should do it again.
An example she uses is Jennifer Aniston:
“She’s been playing the same role for how long? Now I am sure she is
extremely rich, and that is a choice you have to make, but I find her boring as
hell. The same cannot be true for me.” She also talked about working to consistently
play strong women and how the idea of portraying the victim is not something
that she could do – she has no interest in playing women who want someone else
to solve their problems and/or rescue them – “Bottom line, if you take this
woman out of the script, and the story doesn’t change, then I don’t do it.”
To hear such conviction from such a powerful woman in
Hollywood could not have come at a better time.
While I was learning about gender roles in popular culture, it was great
to have one of the crusaders for the positive portrayal of women on screen in
front of me, in studio, to hear it for myself.
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