The writer behind Variety’s review of Carey Mulligan’s film Promising Young Woman has spoken out in his won defense amid allegations of sexism.
Dennis Harvey recently became the target of online furor after referring to the actress, 35, as a ‘strange choice’ for the role of femme fatale, while suggesting producer Margot Robbie would have been a better choice.
And in a new interview with The Guardian, the film critic calls Carey’s response to his words “ bizarre ” and “ quite a leap ” – insisting that his review never compared the actresses’ attractiveness.
Speaking of which, the writer behind Variety’s review of Carey Mulligan’s movie Promising Young Woman has spoken out in his won defense amid allegations of sexism
He said: ‘[W]While Carey Mulligan certainly has the right to interpret the review as she likes, her projection of it, suggesting she’s “not hot enough”, is just bizarre to me. I’m sorry she feels that way. But I’m also sorry that that’s a conclusion she’d jump to because it’s quite a leap. ‘
Harvey also admitted to being unsure about his future at Variety after writing for them for 30 years, while apologizing for his ‘insensitive’ review.
“I didn’t say or even suggest that Mulligan is ‘not hot enough’ for the part,” he said. ‘I am a 60-year-old gay man. I don’t dwell on the relative hotnesses of young actresses, let alone write about them. ‘
‘[I’m] shocked to be accused of being a misogynist, which is something very strange about my personal beliefs or politics, ‘he continued. “This whole thing couldn’t be more gruesome to me than if someone had claimed I was a fanatic Trump supporter.”
Problem: Mulligan attacked the Variety review, insisting it was ‘transparent’ and out of date
During his interview, Harvey pointed out that his article had stayed online for 11 months with no complaints until Carey spoke out against it.
He also said that shortly after the review was posted last year, US distributors asked to use pull quotes from his review as part of their marketing campaign.
In his Variety review, Harvey stated that Mulligan appeared to have “ bad drag ” in the movie as he suggested that Robbie should have taken on the role instead.
In an interview with the New York Times late last year, Mulligan had condemned Variety for the ‘sexist’ criticism, saying it ‘ [her] crazy’.
The review read, ‘Mulligan, a fine actress, seems a bit of an odd choice considering this admittedly multi-layered apparent femme fatale – Margot Robbie is a producer here, and you can (perhaps too easily) imagine the role would ever have been meant for her.
Role: In his review, Harvey suggested that Margot Robbie, a producer on the film, would have been a better choice for the role of femme fatale
While at this star Cassie wears her pickup bait gear like a bad resistance; even her long blonde hair looks like fun. ‘
The Variety review was posted online a year ago, but was updated with a bold apology from the ‘Editor’s Note’ after Mulligan spoke out in a recent interview.
“Variety sincerely apologizes to Carey Mulligan and regrets the insensitive language and innuendo in our review of ‘Promising Young Woman’ that minimizes her daring performance,” read the apology.
Variety told the Daily Telegraph that Harvey is a freelance critic and would not say whether he would continue to write for the publication.
A statement said, “Variety has no further comment. The apology speaks for itself. ‘
Revisiting the Review: Mulligan spoke out again this week speaking about the controversy with fellow movie star Zendaya in Variety’s Actors on Actors series
Mulligan spoke out again this week, addressing the controversy with fellow movie star Zendaya in Variety’s Actors on Actors series.
During the interview, Zendaya Mulligan probed Variety after the Promising Young Woman review was released.
“I think it’s important that criticism is constructive,” said Mulligan. ‘I think it’s important that we look at the right things when it comes to work, and we look at the art and we look at the execution.
“And I don’t think that has to do with the actor’s appearance or your personal preference for what an actor looks like or not – which he said that article did.”
“So I guess when criticizing or lamenting a lack of attractiveness on my part in a character, it wasn’t personal contempt,” Mulligan continued.
Acclaim: Her portrayal of Cassie in Promising Young Woman has received widespread acclaim
It didn’t hurt my ego, but it worried me that in such a large publication the appearance of an actress could be criticized and accepted as perfectly reasonable criticism.
It’s important to mention those things because they seem small and insignificant. But it has stayed with me because I think it’s these kind of everyday moments that make sense. ‘
“Beautifully said,” Zendaya replied.
The apology came about after Mulligan called Variety in an interview with The New York Times after Variety published their review.
“I read the Variety review because I’m a weak person,” Mulligan told the Times. And I objected. It felt like it basically said I wasn’t hot enough to pull off this kind of ruse.
‘It drove me so crazy. I was like, ‘Really? For this film are you going to write something that is so transparent? Now? In 2020? ‘I just couldn’t believe it. ‘
But Variety’s apology has been criticized by fellow film critic Jeffrey Wells, who said that while he disagreed with Harvey’s review, the publication should have given him an opportunity to respond.
He shouted online, “In this case they completely washed their hands off Harvey and more or less threw him under the bus.”
First released on Christmas Day in 2020, Promising Young Woman stars Mulligan as Cassie, who fights back against the men who try to sleep with her while seemingly drunk.
Mulligan has won a Best Actress award from the National Board of Review for her performance, and Oscar buzz followed her too.
Actors: She argued that personal appearance should not be considered a fair criticism for actors