You guys, I’m still not sure if we’re on board with Skinny Cousin Matthew? I still associate Dan Stevens with the role which made him famous, that of Cousin Matthew in Downton Abbey. Cousin Matthew always looked a little bit soft. He had a fuller face and he really looked like a British country lawyer who just happened to be heir to a massive estate and earldom. Then Dan insisted that Cousin Matthew die and Dan moved to America and he lost a bunch of weight, most of it off his face. And I still think he looks weird. Skinny Cousin Matthew is not as hot (to me) as OG Cousin Matthew.
Anyway, Cousin Matthew is the Beast in Beauty and the Beast. Most of the questions about the story and whether or not there’s a vein of feminism in the movie have fallen on Emma Watson to answer. But as it turns out, Cousin Matthew wants us to know that he’ll answer feminism questions too! As the Daily Beast writes, “Friends, the Beast is woke.” Is that really the case though? Some highlights:
He admires Emma’s work with the HeForShe Un program: “It was really addressing a lot of things I had always seen in fairy tales, that I had always seen in literature and really believe in: that feminism is about redressing a balance, and in order to do that you need to engage boys and men. You need to engage masculine energy, and grapple with what that balance is, what that entails, what are the elements of the patriarchy that need walking down and which are just elements of masculinity that need to be balanced with femininity.”
How feminism plays into Beauty & the Beast: “All of these ideas are very much at play in Beauty and the Beast and they’re also very much in play in Emma Watson’s mind. It was getting to sit with her and discuss how this fairy tale resonates timelessly but also resonates now. Not shoehorning anything but just realizing how much of what we both believe about the gender spectrum and those masculine and feminine energies are at play in this fairy tale.”
Girl-movies & romance stories: “There’s a great piece Gloria Steinem wrote last week in The New York Times about chick flicks, and should the opposite be called pr-ck flicks. Trying to explode these traditional labels that we have….It’s like a couple who’s getting together and he discovers that she really likes The Notebook and he’s like ick, and she’s like oh what do you like, Fast and Furious? I know tons of guys who like The Notebook and tons of girls who like Fast and Furious. It’s finding the way to tell the same kind of stories.”
If Cousin Matthew wants to call himself a feminist and he wants to quote Gloria Steinem and consider himself to be “woke,” I can’t stop him. I applaud him for trying and making the effort. But I also want to sit him down and have a real conversation with him about why he thinks a prerequisite for feminism is “engaging masculine energy” and “grappling with what that balance is.” Why can’t we just call out toxic masculinity when we see it? Why does feminism have to be about engaging boys and men? Which is more of a criticism of the HeForShe program’s goals, one of which is “make basic, lukewarm feminism more palatable to potential male allies.”
… All of which is for naught because this movie is being sold to girls/women, not men. You know what I mean? This is Cousin Matthew talking to a female audience about THEY need to do to make men more woke. This isn’t a man talking to an audience of men about they can do to BE woke.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
He is the very textbook definition of “meh”.
I can’t work up the energy to care.
The movie will make a fortune but the reviews are also “meh”. 68% on rotten tomatoes. Interestingly it’s getting far inferior reviews to Cinderella.
I didn’t recognize him from “Downton Abbey”. He’s not exactly “meh”, but he isn’t a young Jude Law (who does need to be WOKE) either. His eyes are intense, though.
Give him credit, he’s trying. English sexism (as I found out when I summered over for school in the 90’s) is a trickier proposition than American Sexism. As one of my teachers told me, “You Americans are so literal”. That may be, but sexism there is so entrenched that it is quite sneaky.
Margaret Thatcher didn’t help, either…
@ravensdaughter
I agree with you. British sexism is something else. My husband is british and his dad is such a damn punk, it’s a miracle that my husband is the way he is and is with someone like me. I’m a loud outspoken feminist american/canadian woman. When I do visit England, let’s just say I stand out haha.
I generally dont read reviews anymore, I’ll watch some on youtube. But from what Ive seen most people did enjoy it. i think the main problem I came across is that it was a case of “Why did we need this though”? As most people think it didnt really add anything. Plus, I also heard the FX looked a little spotty at times. But otherwise the cast has been praised. Especially for Luke Evans.
Those eyes…
That stood out to me too: the striking blue eyes.
I think he’s super hot! He was cute as Cousin Matthew too but now I think he’s gorgeous (for further convincing: watch “The Guest”)
And even further convincing, watch legion.
Second these – immediately watch both The Guest and Legion.
Thirded; he was very yummy in The Guest. Plus, his eyes are so pretty!
ITA! He was so good in The Guest. He does intensity very well.
I once said to my daughter that I was odd because my fav movies are always sci fi, action, etc. I love F&F.
She told me that movies have no gender. I was so proud for her, to already know that at age 15. (and she woke me, in that moment).
Your daughter is awesome.
She really is. She’s got it together. I take some credit for that, but really, it’s just the way she is.
Thanks LA Elle 🙂
Yay for your daughter!!!!!
Awww this story <3 your daughter and her mom
Weeell, I think he’s not wrong. As a straight dude, that’s his perspective and it is, in fact, one aspect of feminism. Men and boys are part of it, they often struggle with certain elements of what patriarchy prescribes as masculinity. If this is his approach, I won’t poop on it. As a woman I have a different perspective. I would again have a different one if I were a woman of color. I’m fine with what he’s saying as long as that’s not the extent of it. I mean I’ve heard much worse from women.
See it read to me as if he were mansplaining why Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus should be the new feminism. He’ll be on about ladybrains if we’re not careful!
I don’t have a problem with what he said either. It sounds like he was specifically referring to the he-for-she program which *is* about engaging men in feminist causes.
I agree, his take on it is fine. maybe his wording is a bit off, but it’s true that in order to achieve equality between sexes/genders we have to address the imbalance that currently exists in so many areas of society. a point for cousin matthew. lol.
@ Sixer: Really? Huh. I didn’t read it like that at all because it was specifically with regard to Emma’s program. And that is, after all, called HeForShe. Had he been asked about feminism in general and answered like this, I’d be a bit less forgiving because if that is what comes to mind first, it’s not all that great. But I have no problem with it at all in this context.
It’s probably me! I’m in a bad, bad mood today over a terrible cut to welfare benefits that will directly affect women and particularly survivors of DV. And I think I just don’t want to hear anything men have to say about women’s rights even if it is righteous. I’ll have my head on straight tomorrow. Maybe!
Well sh*t. I’m sorry to hear that and I know those days. I will say this about most men discussing women’s issues: There’s rarely any passion behind it. Because they don’t feel the frustration and pain. They say the right thing and they mean it but it’s … limp. Because it’s not coming from the gut, so to speak.
So while I still think Cousin Matthew is right, I get why you don’t want to hear a limp statement today.
I think he was directly correlating his answer with the heforshe question as well. regardless, yes, discussing feminist issues does involve men. What do women’s health issues, pay issues, respect issues, sexuality issues, violence issues, socioeconomic issues, etc… all have in common? Men. Men are at the root of 99% of equality issues for women. Men also have their own issues and can benefit from feminism. Confronting toxic masculinity is still engaging male energy.
I don’t see an issue with what he said. Excluding men should not be our goal. Educating them to view women as equal and respectable partners in the human race is.
I do think that working to keep boys and men from swallowing certain messages sent by religion, hate groups like the MRAs and the ‘Alt-Right’, politicians, judges, and sometimes just relatives, celebrities, writers, random online commenters and bloggers, and people all across the political spectrum (whether they’re Trump-supporting conservatives or radical feminists) send about abuse, respect for other human beings, inequality, and gender is really important as a feminist goal if we want to see change. But he sort of lost me with the masculine and feminine energy stuff. Couldn’t tell if he was talking about respecting the right of both sexes to not perfectly fall in line with what things are considered masculine or feminine for them, or if it was some of that ‘men are from mars, women are from venus’ shlock that Sixer is talking about.
So to be equal (which is what most believe feminism to be)…we need to be more like the men folk?
Ok then. How about acknowledging the differences between men and women but acknowledging that we are equal without “balancing” anything
at no point does he say we need to be more like the menfolk.
You know what’s not hot? Dumb guys.
I kind of understand what he’s saying about engaging men in feminism, because part of creating gender equality is changing how men think and act about themselves and toward women. But I think he gets lost and rambles here. I think he would have a point if he articulated it better, but he doesn’t and it gets lost in a bunch of nonsense.
All I want to do is eye roll this. But if this is how even feminist liberal men think, is all hope lost?
I was ready to yell at The Beast, but now that I’ve read the quote in context, it does make sense, sort of. The wording is not perfect, but I think he gets it.
Yeah, I’m not feeling skinny Cousin Matthew, either.
“Why can’t we just call out toxic masculinity when we see it? Why does feminism have to be about engaging boys and men? Which is more of a criticism of the HeForShe program’s goals, one of which is “make basic, lukewarm feminism more palatable to potential male allies.”
God, you nailed this. So true. Apparently in order to try to re-dress the vicious imbalance of power, women have to (always) bend over backwards to accommodate the tenuous male ego. Enough coddling already.
Also, the age difference between him and Emma Watson bugs. Stop trying to make Beauty & the Beast some feminist story, if it had been changed drastically, maybe, but it was the same safe re-telling of the animated version. It might be less problematic than other Disney fare, but we need NEW stories FFS.
Now I’m gonna have to google that age difference.
It’s 8 years, which is less than the actual age difference between Belle (17) and the Beast (who on paper is almost 21, but who has been in a time loop for a decade, so is really almost 31).
Their age difference isn’t big at all?
I’m truly interested in this, what Disney fare is problematic and why?
Being a feminist means wanting/believing in equal rights for women. End of story. The rest is gender stereotypes and social construct regarding traditional roles for sexuality and gender as currently placed in society.
One more time. Being a feminist means you believe women should have every single right that all men have. That we should be paid the same and have the same rights over our bodies and enjoy the same exact freedoms that a man does. This is not rocket science. Why is this so hard to remember?
Interesting perspective. But I always thought feminism wasn’t just about equal rights… feminism to me is about equality, ending gender stereotyping, ending rape culture, etc.
I also think that different people have different definitions of what feminism is, and that’s OK too. We can agree to disagree. No negativity here!
I think you’re over simplifying it a little. Yes, feminism is about equal rights but technically, we’ve achieved many of those in the legal sense, but not in the cultural sense. The most important thing that feminism needs to do now is to change a culture and a mentality that has existed for decades. And that is very, very hard to do. Because I’m sure most would agree that everyone deserves the same rights, yet it’s the nuances that some fail to understand. And you can’t impose a mentality on someone. If we want this movement to succeed, you need to make the others understand the cause, and truly embrace it. So yes, we need to engage men, they need to see what we see. Feminism should also benefit them, everyone.
Ana, sorry nope. Technically achieving something is not the same as possessing it. We are still fighting antichoice legislation every single year. We are still paid less than male counterparts. The most important thing the feminist movement needs to do now is SECURE those rights. We are still fighting for them. The rights are still at risk.
And no most people do not agree that everyone deserves the same rights, hence the fighting for said rights.
In order for the movement to succeed you need to understand what it is in the first place. The definition is clear. It is in the dictionary. Making up new meanings for it clouds the issue. We will engage men in the way you are suggesting once our rights our secured. They can either understand from the get go that we are equal or they can get their dumb selves out of our way. Like you said, you can’t impose a mentality on others, but you can push them out of the way. Its not my job to coddle a man child and help him with his feelings on our inalienable rights.
I don’t like skinny cousin Matthew either! Have you seen him in Legion with American accent ? Mary in Good Behavior as a bad Southern girl. Both have very much deviated from DA!
I LOVE dan stevens. He’s so beautiful (those eyes! Swoon!!) And he seems so genuine and kind in interviews. The fact that’d he’s speaking up about feminism is amazing. I don’t think we should be so harshly criticizing him since there are so many male celebs out there that say d!ck all.
can yal just say “Aware”
it just comes off corny now….
To me it sounds like he started talking and didn’t know where it was going- but in the context of HeForShe, it makes a little more sense.
HeForShe is not perfect but I definitely think boys and men need to be engaged and education on feminism and equality.
Skinny cousin Matthew looks weird to me but I’ve only seen him in photos so far.
Why does feminism have to be about engaging boys and men? Seriously? He didn’t say that. He said that to achieve feminism’s goal, you need to engage men because oh gee, they are half of the population and it’s good that everyone is educated and aware? Or is now feminism just a movement that only involves women? Isn’t it supposed to be about equal rights and erradicate toxic masculinity? Something you can’t really do without men.
Not to mention, “masculine energy” is not necessarily about gender. We all have masculine and femenine energy. And it is about balance.
I don’t really have a problem with what he said. It was in the context of a question about Emma Watson’s work with the UN on HeForShe, so him bringing up the engagement of men and boys in order to really make progress. And I think that’s very true. Equal rights won’t happen in a vacuum; all people need to be engaged if things are going to change.
As far as Beauty and the Beast – I do wonder whether we really *needed* a remake of the Disney cartoon, and the Belle and The Beast dynamic has always troubled me a bit. A heroine can be spunky and love books but still get caught up in a destructive dynamic or at the very least a creepy one. If it follows the animated film, Belle is still a means to an end for The Beast (and the rest of the castle) a trophy for Gaston, and a woman who sacrifices her own independence and puts her life on hold for the good of a family member (like umpty-gazillion women throughout the course of history and in the world today).
But I can give a solid recommendation without reservations to Legion, the FX series Stevens stars in. It is a very wild ride, with fantastic visuals and music, with some strong performances from Stevens, Aubrey Plaza and others. I have no idea where it’s going, but it is an awful lot of fun while it’s on its way. And while I find red carpet photos of skinny Cousin Matthew always make Stevens look a bit off-kilter (maybe his neck seems too small or his head or his chin when he is suited up in those photos?), when he is in motion and in character on Legion, he looks fine, and mighty fine.
It’s a necessary evil to have to explain feminism to a lot of men, but I honestly appreciate male allies, as long as they’re not speaking out FOR women.
My fiance was raised in a very conservative household and never considered himself a feminist. One day asked if he saw himself as a feminist and he said no. I said ‘Of course you’re a feminist. Do you believe that men and women are equal?” and he said of course, and I asked if he believed that women should fight for equality where there’s inequity and misogyny all over the world, and he said of course and I told him “There. You’re a feminist. That’s what feminism is.” Now he proudly calls himself a feminist. My in-laws would not approve, I don’t think. I find it SO hard to shut up when they talk politics, and in some cases I can’t keep my mouth shut at all. I love them, but I don’t love their politics.
He wasn’t talking about feminism, he was talking about a very specific feminist campaign, the goal of which is to get men on board.
Reading his quotes: for some reason Virginia Woolf’s line in A Room of One’s Own came to mind –
“It is fatal to be a man or woman pure and simple; one must be woman-manly or man-womanly. … Some marriage of opposites has to be consummated.”
― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own
I wonder if that was in the back of his head somewhere.