Cate Blanchett is using her inner Lydia Tar to warn us about societal discomfort.
Blanchett, one of the great actresses of her generation, recently lashed out at so-called “trigger warnings.” The most recent example of which came from Max slapping a warning right before streams of “Blazing Saddles.”
Blanchett spoke with The Sunday Times about the topic, using her 2022 film “Tar” as an example, saying a button-pushing film like “Tar” is needed because “you don’t want a film about which everybody is going to say, ‘Well done.’ When people debate it it’s absolutely thrilling.”
She then pointed to a larger problem that extends beyond the arts.
We are terrified of tough conversations… but we need them. We talk about radical candour, but when there’s a trigger warning in front of something you are implying that there is a lack of mutual respect or that the subject hasn’t been properly interrogated….
She’s right. It comes out as a lecture, as if being told you’re too stupid to process a film, or work of art, on your own. You basically need to be talked down to. It amounts to an absolute insult to our intelligence.
“It may offend you,” she said. “It may challenge you. You may laugh uproariously. You just don’t know, but you are going to surrender to what is coming.”
With the already mentioned “Blazing Saddles,” there have been countless examples of studios placing trigger warnings before classic films, including “Dumbo” and “Peter Pan.” The BFI also stamped trigger warnings on James Bond films they were screening, their excuse, like most of these cases, was that the 007 films featured outdated cultural mores.
I watch a lot of old movies, daily — they ALL have outdated behavior and speech. Cultures and standards evolve, it's how people learn. Having these blanket warnings is treating the general public like children.