Angela Lansbury said something with which people disagreed, and as is customary when celebrities express disagreeable opinions, droves of social media users smeared her character. This is a generally unimportant bit of controversy except that it seems to reflect a growing social trend among some people who believe they should sever ties with other people who express opinions that are out of step with their own.
Speaking on recent allegations on sexual misconduct against powerful men, Lansbury said in an interview, “There are two sides to this coin. We have to own up to the fact that women, since time immemorial, have gone out of their way to make themselves attractive. And unfortunately it has backfired on us — and this is where we are today,” later adding, “[w]e must sometimes take blame, women. I really do think that. Although it’s awful to say we can’t make ourselves look as attractive as possible without being knocked down and raped.”
“Should women be prepared for this?” she asked. “No, they shouldn’t have to be. There’s no excuse for that. And I think it will stop now — it will have to. I think a lot of men must be very worried at this point.”
In that context, it seems Lansbury’s take was clumsily worded and half-baked, as she argued both that women should sometimes take blame but also they “shouldn’t have to be prepared” for abuse, calling such behavior inexcusable. Either way, it’s perfectly understandable that people would take issue with her statement.
At 92 years of age, Lansbury is an entertainment industry icon. If nothing else in the entirety of her long and illustrious career but for this single objectionable statement gives you pause, why not use the opportunity to explain how you believe she’s wrong, rather than revoke your respect and admiration altogether? People are more than one bad opinion, and that applies to celebrities as much as it applies to everyone else. Unless, of course, that opinion seems reflective of a larger character flaw, which does not appear to be the case with Lansbury given that she’s gone decades without similar incident.
Disowning Angela Lansbury might make for a fun tweet, but the underlying attitude could be more dangerous.
