The Dishmaster

I’m all for women speaking up, but the movement for equality is sometimes an excuse to justify bad behavior. Such might be the case with Zoe Saldana, who previously enraged me for her complaints about a big movie studio who refused to pay for her nanny. According to Saldana, “you’re going to make [her] work a lot more hours than [she] usually would if she was home. Therefore, [she] would have to pay for this nanny for more hours . . . ” It’s one thing to fight for a change in legislation, but at the very least, acknowledge that every other working mother in America is forced to figure it out, and you get paid far more than others for more options. She also complained about executives who thought of replacing her on a project due to her pregnancy. She was bothered that she was finally in love and starting a family and it “messed up their schedule.” Again, this is a business. If you cannot physically perform because of your pregnancy and production is delayed, that is costly. To complain about it is understandable.

In her new interview with Allure, she’s at it again. Of her difficult reputation, she said, “I was told walking into this project that they really wanted me for the part, and that any input or ideas I had to please share them. That’s what I was doing, and this producer was so bothered by the fact that he had to disrupt his vacation to call me and tell me to stop being a difficult bitch. I thought, Wow, it’s real. It really happens.” Though I can understand the blanket statements about sexism and the idea that a woman is not allowed to speak her mind, this feels more like a kind platitude from a producer that was pounced on by Saldana. Writers and producers don’t generally want their actors making notes on their script. It is annoying. In fact, Quentin Tarantino once told Howard Stern that he expects his actors to know his script word for word. Improvising is not allowed. Samuel L. Jackson confirmed this in a subsequent interview, and said his relationship with Tarantino has finally evolved to the point of making notes.

I understand gender inequality and I support change. But some people are just . . . difficult.