Marion Cotillard: ?Feminism Has No Place In Film Industry?

By Jennifer McShane
30th Sep 2015

Marion Cotillard: ?Feminism Has No Place In Film Industry?

Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard‘s views on feminism in Hollywood have surprised quite a few people. The French star has been subjected to some online criticism after saying that the very term only creates ‘separation? between the sexes and that it had ?no real place in the industry.?

In a recent interview, she said that she was not a feminist, and added that filmmaking ?wasn’t about gender.? ?Filmmaking is not about gender,? she said. ?You cannot ask a president in a festival like Cannes to have, like, five movies directed by women and five by men.

?For me it doesn’t create equality, it creates separation. I mean, I don’t qualify myself as a feminist.?

The Cannes Film Festival has frequently come under fire amid claims that it fails to promote diversity in film – even its CEO was reported as saying they needed to search harder for films directed by women – but Cotillard apparently doesn’t see the issue. ?We need to fight for women’s rights but I don’t want to separate women from men. We’re separated already because we’re not made the same and it’s the difference that creates this energy in creation and love. Sometimes in the word feminism there’s too much separation.?

Her views, though not widespread in Hollywood, echo that of actors Meryl Streep who also said she wasn’t a feminist (though she has previously expressed her support for feminist rights), and also Emily Watson who said that: ?In terms of equal pay, there’s obviously a question to be answered about how it’s divided up, but I don’t think it’s my personal quest,? the Oscar nominee said previously. ?I just feel so grateful that I do a job that I love and someone pays me.?

ICYMI: Hilary Clinton Defines Feminism In The Best Way

The above actresses are the only few (so far) to speak of feminism publicly in this way. It has been a hot topic in the industry of late with stars like Emma Watson, Emma Thompson, Lena Dunham, Annie Lennox?and even Hilary Clinton all vying for feminist rights and equality among the sexes in the entertainment world and in general. And of course, Patricia Arquette raised the issue of the pay gap during her now iconic Best Supporting Actress acceptance speech at February’s Oscars:

Cotillard’s comments have been met with quite a bit of negativity online, but one?argument is that, she is of course entitled to her opinion and right to not identify as a feminist. The issues would arise however, if the wrong person decided that her views were gospel and started to wave that flag. How she can contend that an issue such as feminism (and one that affects so many of her colleagues) has no place in Hollywood is rather baffling, to say the least.