Johnny Depp has some explaining to do. In a new Vanity Fair interview where he says he will accept stupid amounts of money from studios for anything if they are willing to pay him for it he also says something which really kind of ticked me off. In describing a photo shoot and how it feels to him he says, “Well, you just feel like you’re being raped somehow. Raped ... It feels like a kind of weird -- just weird, man.” Really? You think a photo shoot is a rape? Do you think all the millions of women in the world who have been raped would also think it is like a photo shoot? You get paid millions of dollars for doing very little work and doing a photo shoot is part of the job. I am not sure how that equates to being raped. If Vanessa Paradis gets raped would you walk up to her in the hospital and say, "Was it like a photo shoot?" Johnny Depp really loses some major points with me here. I can't wait to hear him say how he was misquoted or that it was taken out of context.
Let's not smack on the Depp.
ReplyDeleteWe all know it was a stupid thing to say and not thought out. Move on.
i'm glad i'm not the only one who was kinda bugged by that statement. i don't think he's a bad person, just that he said something stupid.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he meant violated?
ReplyDeleteAt least he looks showered in the pictures here.
ReplyDeleteViolated would have been better. Didn't someone else say something similar last year? Can't remember who....and they were all over her for it.
ReplyDeleteagree - i think violated is what he was looking for.
ReplyDeleteviolated...a much better term.
ReplyDeleteMs Cool, I agree. Depp is generally a really nice guy.
ReplyDeleteeveryone gets the "open mouth insert foot" disease from time to time.
ReplyDeletewas it possible he was giving the interview in a different language and the intreptation was "raped" instead of "violated"? I know that sometimes languages can lose the correct meaning if it isn't translated right. He speaks french as a second language, possibly he was interviewed by a french journalist for the article and when it was being translated for the American issue it was just not given the correct meaning. Or, he's an idiot.
ReplyDeletemaybe it's "violented" he looked for but it's "rape" he used
ReplyDeletesometimes it's good of "not talk"
and "the money of stupid movies"(Burton movies???) is not only "for his kids"(another quote) and also for the private island,the private plane,the french castle,the Parisian house,the londonian house,the NY house,the LA house and his entourage (like his 4 assistants,his make-up artist,his hair artist ,his sound designer on a filming set)...;
Yes, I'm sure he meant violated. Nothing to see here. Move on.
ReplyDeleteI feel bad for laughing at the idea of JD going into a hospital and asking VP if it was like a photo shoot. It was a dumb thing to say but generally I find him well spoken.
ReplyDelete@BigMama -
ReplyDeleteI would be able to forgive that spin, absolutely. But does anyone know who the writer is?
It sounded incredibly offensive to actual rape victims, but I have to believ he didn't mean it like that. He doesn't comes off as a jerk.
writer is Nick Tosches, and is American.
ReplyDeleteIt's not like someone put a gun to his head and forced him to take those pictures, or make those movies, or give those interviews. Sorry, unless you can prove it was a language problem, he's a jerk. I don't see any way you could take that "out of context".
ReplyDeletethere seems to be an abundance of stupid celebrity comments this week. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteHe hasn't been in a really "good" film in a while...
ReplyDeletei love me some Johnny but ......UGH
ReplyDeleteHere it is, I knew a female celebrity had said the same thing recently. Kristen Stewart...and she took HEAT for it: http://www.celebitchy.com/103157/kristen_stewart_compares_being_hounded_by_paparazzi_to_being_raped/
ReplyDeleteWhat a fucking DICKBAG. Good thing I'm entirely sick of his Keith Richards impersonation and goth-y Tim Burton bullshit; it'll be easy to shun this fucker at the box office.
ReplyDeleteIf he meant to say "violated," he should have SAID that. WAY too many men (and, yes, women like K-Stew) compare irksome and annoying situations to rape. I've heard people say that certain songs "rape" their eardrums, for instance. Just stop. Just fucking STOP. A thesaurus is your friend. Sensitive synonyms are a good thing.
If there's a reader out there who believes s/he doesn't personally know a rape victim: you are dead fucking wrong.
I find that statement very ignorant. I'm surprised. He seems very smart and educated. I'm shocked, but I still like him as an actor. If he starts only taking acting jobs for the money though, no matter how stupid the role...I may lose complete respect for him.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm sure "weird" is how a rape victim would describe the experience. Yes, Johnny just lost points with me too.
ReplyDeleteThere's the word "violated" and there's also another terminology I've heard "Visually raped" or "visually assaulted" is another.
ReplyDeleteAs others have mentioned, other words were more appropriate. The word he chose was not. With this topic being close to my heart, he just went way down on my list. I don't think there is any excuse he can give here.
ReplyDeleteI won't push him in front of a moving bus just yet. JD's usually pretty articulate and isn't known for being insensitive. I can't imagine that he meant to be flippant or rude.
ReplyDeleteThe more I think about it, the more I realize that many of us are guilty of using serious words/language out of context. The casualness of society has desensitized us to certain things. Like people using THAT'S SO GAY to describe something.
ReplyDeleteIt's awful, obviously. But it's out there and IMO, we need to address it directly but thoughtfully. But that's my take and may not work for others.
@Layna -- I completely agree with you on the "that's so gay" thing. I also think that "retard" is used in a largely-cruel fashion, and that needs to stop, too, IMO.
ReplyDeleteForget being ~Politically Correct.~ Just be DECENT. Realize that certain people have experienced significant trauma, and be sensitive, you know? How fucking HARD can that be in 2011?
The comments about money were pretty audacious, too, considering how how many fans he has who could easily be labeled impoverished.
I'll admit to being guilty of using 'retarded' way too much. I wouldn't dare use it in front of a differently abled person, but I shouldn't use it at all. I do it in private, but it's not a nice thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI really don't think that Johnny Depp meant "a photo shoot is just as bad as rape." A word is just a word. And it was a bad move to use that word in ANY context for obvious reasons. Some things you just don't touch. The literal meaning of rape is an atrocious thing, but keep in mind that words are only letters strung together until you realize the intended meaning. And I really don't believe that he meant it in the most literal way. So is he really an indecent DICKBAG (?) because he said that word? I just can't get on board with that. Everything has a context, folks.
ReplyDeletemaybe thats why he defended polanski. because in his mind, rape is having your picture taken with your consent in a well lite room, with costume changes etc. not being drugged, anally violated as a child.... man, johnny is such a survivor. he has been raped by vanity fair, parade and people mag so many times.
ReplyDeletePretty sure Polanski's offense was actual rape. Johnny Depp's wasn't. That's kind of unfair to rape victims to compare the two as one and the same.
ReplyDeleteI just love how when it was KStew that said something almost everyone on this board jumped on her and how awful of a statement it is. But here, it's 'beloved' Johnny Depp and he surely must have meant something else.
ReplyDeleteI love reading here and occasionally posting, but sometimes I just have to shake my head and move on. or should it be #kayneshrug? :-)
^You said what I was thinking, amh.producer
ReplyDeleteNot to defend or take swipes at anyone, but K-Stew seems to whine quite a bit. Not saying she does, but perception can = reality with stuff like that.
ReplyDeleteWhereas JD is cordial toward fans and isn't known for being a piss ant seemingly mad at the world.
It's a matter of reputation. JD has a solid one. KW's is ongoing.
Layna, I see what you're saying to a certain degree, but to me this isn't about reputation, it's about respect.
ReplyDeleteI don't always think before I speak but you can be damn sure if I was in Vanity Fair, I sure as shit wouldn't be comparing being in a photo shoot, making a shitton of money and getting whatever I want on set as feeling as though I'm being 'raped' somehow. YOU CHOSE YOUR PROFESSION AND YOU KNOW WHAT COMES WITH IT.
I don't care if it's you (collective you - not any particular poster here), me, Enty or some pseudo-celeb, the backlash should be there for minimizing something that can be so traumatic to people. And I don't give an eff who it is (if my movie star boyfriend Matt Damon did that and I heard about it; he'd be dead to me).
Johnny lost a fan in me with this comment. I can't go apeshit when people like Kristen Stewart say things like that and not go equally ape when Depp says it. People who cry rape ENRAGE me. He's a man with a big enough vocabulary to use the word "violate" if that's the word that he meant. He used the word "rape." That's the word he meant to use.
ReplyDelete@RJ
ReplyDeleteActually one of the definitions of rape (on dictionary.com) is:
an act of plunder, violent seizure, or abuse; despoliation; violation: the rape of the countryside.
The various definitions include "an outrageous violation" from Merriam Webster.
While I agree it was an unfortunate use of words, it is not an incorrect definition the way he used it.
Can someone point me to the post about Kristen Stewart? I can't find it. I'm curious to see if I'm a big old hypocrite by not being angry with Johnny Depp. I think his reputation of kindness is what makes me defend him. I can't defend the Roman Polanski support, though.
Jamee, I don't believe that Nellie was implying that Depp was comparing his doing a photo shoot with Polanski's "rape rape" (and a big fuck you to Whoopi G. while I'm at it) of a 13 year-old girl. I believe she was saying that maybe we shouldn't be surprised about Depp's extreme insensitivity in using the word rape to describe something as mundane as a photo shoot, because he is a well-known and vocal supporter of Polanski. Remember the petition that all these big time celebrities signed a couple years ago? As if the woman who was drugged and raped by Polanski when she was THIRTEEN is a non-entity just because she was victimized by someone rich, talented, and famous.
ReplyDeleteSee for yourself how we CDaNers felt about another Johnny shame parade from early 2010:
http://www.crazydaysandnights.net/2010/02/johnny-depp-supports-roman-polanski.html
I certainly wonder how Johnny's tune would change if one of his own kids--dog forbid--were ever raped.
smdh
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ReplyDeleteYou know what? Ef it. I was raped, and I could give a rat's ass that he said this. The word rape does not always mean sexual assault. It means violation. I hate that our society is so hung up on diction and mincing of words, that a person's meaning is distorted and twisted to accommodate social hang-ups and political correctness. You can also rape soil, which means to scarify the ground in prep for seeding. OOoooh - should those farmers offend me?! Should poets who used the term in the 1700s as a synonym for desecration be banned from schools?! Geezus - the guy feels molested by photogs -OH WAIT, I mean bothered ... and he feels violated by the intrusiveness of being stalked by cameras. I get it, and I don't think he's assimilating any of it to what a person goes through with being sexually assaulted. Get a life. I have.
ReplyDeleteMs. Cool - I posted it above.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're right - that is absolutely a valid definition of rape..good point.
Thanks RocketQueen - so it wasn't posted on CDAN.
ReplyDeleteTheir statements are both pretty similar and she isn't given slack because she doesn't have the reputation that Johnny Depp has.
Language is important and though the definition is valid, it shouldn't be difficult for people to recognize that most people associate the word "rape" with a sexual violation. It was a stupid thing to say in an interview by both of them.
That said, they are obviously feeling that they are being violated by the paparazzi and intrusiveness into their personal lives.
Now I feel bad for them just a tiny bit. How much do they make again? Oh, I'm over it.
And you wonder why he chooses to live in France?
ReplyDeleteSee comments above.
Americans can be so precious.
YIKES! Very poor choice of words, Mr. Depp.
ReplyDeleteAs far as making "stupid" money, he says he's doing it all for his kids so...? I can't hate on that.
Poor JD making millions & has to wear a fancy suit to have pictures taken of him...like he doesn't have a choice. People who are raped don't have a choice. It's not the same & those are the remarks of someone who is either naive (Kristin Stewart) or someone who has lived in their own private reality for so long they are out of touch with the normal world.
ReplyDeleteI knew that photo shoot looked familiar:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.deppimpact.com/gallery/albums/photo_ritts1990/1990ritts002.jpg