Actress Lola Kirke has, in a short time, curated quite the filmography. Appearing in “Gone Girl,” “Mistress America,” “Mozart in the Jungle,” and recently in the incredible “Gemini,” the actress has been collecting great role after great role. But it was that latter film that found the young Kirke in a bit of controversy. And now, she’s speaking up a little bit more about the controversy, and why she took a stand against misogyny.
Back in early 2018, New Yorker film critic Anthony Lane published a review for the film, “Gemini.” In the review, he took an unusual amount of words not talking about the quality of the film or Kirke’s acting performance. Instead, he decided to tackle her physical appearance in the film and drawing the conclusion making it seem as if Kirke’s looks were detracting from her performance.
“She wears big jeans and a baggy gray top, while sporting the haircut from hell—brown bangs cut straight across, as if by a six-year-old with blunt scissors,” Lane wrote in his review.
He continued saying that Kirke “requires no disguise; she is sphinxlike enough as it is.”
As you might imagine, Kirke, along with many others, took those comments as misogynistic and she responded with a letter to the editor. However, with more time passed, the actress has discussed how the review made her feel and why she decided to take a stand in a new interview with the Daily Beast.
It didn’t take long for Kirke to have a reaction to the review. She explains that her reaction to Lane’s words was quick and powerful. “My immediate reaction honestly was shame,” Kirke said.
“I felt ashamed of myself for not being as beautiful as I maybe could or should’ve been. And then I was like, ‘oh wait, that’s internalized misogyny,’” she continued. “I hate cliché so much that I’ll do whatever I have to do to defy it. And if that means risking something, if it’s in the name of something that I really believe is right, which is overturning outdated standards of beauty, then I don’t care.”
Honestly, if you haven’t seen Kirke’s performance in “Gemini,” don’t listen to Lane’s criticism. The film is wonderful and well worth watching. And we can’t wait to see what Kirke has lined up next.