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The article intro refers to the film Julia as a "holocaust drama". It is no such thing, and only loosely and peripherally touches on Nazi persecution of Jews before and during World War 2. It is certainly not the main thrust of the film. 86.182.173.8 ( talk) 23:20, 5 December 2021 (UTC)
Redgrave's acceptance speech was short. Should we include more of it? The following is from a Times of Israel article. "In the last few weeks you have stood firm and you have refused to be intimidated by the threat of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums, whose behavior is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world, and to their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression". She concluded the speech by pledging "to fight anti-Semitism and fascism for as long as I live". A few years ago she said "I didn’t realize pledging to fight anti-Semitism and fascism was controversial. I’m learning that it is". Burrobert ( talk) 02:43, 6 February 2022 (UTC)
I have constructed a list of topics that have been raised as part of this discussion, and which perhaps should be included in the bio. Some of this is relevant to the section on Julia and some is better suited to the section on Political activism. Have I missed anything? One approach would be to systematically go into each item, flesh it out and add references. The result could then be added to the bio at an appropriate location.
Burrobert ( talk) 14:23, 7 February 2022 (UTC)
Burrobert Hmmm, I had an idea, tell me what you think. Since this whole issue involves so much context and details, as well as a whole timeline, should it maybe be separated from both the career part and activism, and get its own section under the title "Oscars controversy?" And then under Julia just mention Redgrave's work on the movie and win, and add a referral to this new section?
In the 1977 film Julia, Redgrave starred in the title role as a woman murdered by the Nazi Germany regime in the years prior to World War II for her anti-Fascist activism. The film is based on a chapter from Lillian Hellman’s book of memoirs Pentimento. Redgrave’s co-star in the film was Jane Fonda, who played Lillian Hellman, a friend of Julia. In her 2005 autobiography, Fonda wrote that: {bquote|there is a quality about Vanessa that makes me feel as if she resides in a netherworld of mystery that eludes the rest of us mortals. Her voice seems to come from some deep place that knows all suffering and all secrets. Watching her work is like seeing through layers of glass, each layer painted in mythic watercolour images, layer after layer, until it becomes dark, but even then you know you haven't come to the bottom of it ... The only other time I had experienced this with an actor was with Marlon Brando ... Like Vanessa, he always seemed to be in another reality, working off some secret, magnetic, inner rhythm.}}
Also in 1977, Redgrave produced and starred in an anti-Israel documentary film, The Palestinian, about the activities of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The documentary is narrated by Redgrave who also interviews Palestinian refugees and leaders in Lebanon. Redgrave funded the documentary by selling her house. The Anti-Defamation League's honorary chairman criticised the film for not translating some of the Arabic language interviews, for showing children training with guns and for repeating the phrase "Kill the enemy!". Theodore Bikel, president of Actors Equity in the United States said that he had seen a transcript of the film in which the chairman of the PLO, Yasser Arafat, said that the only solution to the Middle East problem is the liquidation of the State of Israel, and Redgrave responded with, "Certainly".
While Redgrave was on tour to promote Julia she screened The Palestinian to potential distributors. The Jewish Defense League (JDL) objected to the film and threatened to boycott 20th Century Fox, the studio behind Julia, unless it promised never to employ Redgrave again and repudiated her support for the PLO. Fox refused.
Redgrave was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Julia. Members of the JDL, led by Rabbi Meir Kahane, picketed and burned effigies of Redgrave outside the Academy Awards ceremony in April 1978, while counter-protestors waved PLO flags. Redgrave was brought to the awards ceremony in an ambulance, and dropped in the underground garage so JDL protesters would not heckle her. Redgrave won the Oscar and in her acceptance speech, she thanked Hollywood for having "refused to be intimidated by the threats of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums – whose behaviour is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world and to their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression". Later in the awards ceremony, screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky, who was an ardent supporter of Israel said, {bquote|I would like to say — personal opinion of course — that I’m sick and tired of people exploiting the Academy Awards for the propagation of their own political propaganda. I would like to suggest to Miss Redgrave that her winning the Academy Award is not a pivotal moment in history, does not require a proclamation, and a simple “thank you” would have sufficed.}}
In June 1978, a bomb exploded at a theatre showing The Palestinian, causing damage to property. Screening of the film resumed the following day. Two months later, A JDL member was convicted of the bombing and sentenced to a three-month "thorough psychological examination" with the California Youth Authority.
In his biography of Redgrave, Dan Callahan wrote, "The scandal of her awards speech and the negative press it occasioned had a destructive effect on her acting opportunities that would last for years to come". The New York Times wrote in 2019, that Redgrave’s career recovered and she received further Academy Award nominations in 1984 and 1992. In her 1991 autobiography, Redgrave said that “When I referred to the "Zionist hoodlums," I meant, of course, the Jewish Defense League and their death threats". The Daily Telegraph wrote in 2012 that "It’s clear now that she was referring to the extremists of the Jewish Defense League who had offered a bounty to have her killed. Yet in the context of her support for the PLO, this was a spectacularly ill-chosen phrase, one that made it possible for Redgrave’s detractors to imply that she meant the whole state of Israel, and thus damn her as an anti-Semite for years to come". In a 2018 interview, Redgrave stood by her 1978 Academy Award acceptance speech, saying "I had to do my bit. Everybody had to do their bit, to try and change things for the better, to advocate for what’s right and not be dismayed if immediately you don’t see results". In 2019, editor Tom O’Neil said "Her career survived because of her stature in the industry, and people ultimately realised she was being pro-Palestinian and not anti-Israeli. But her speech just came across so badly". Burrobert ( talk) 16:49, 22 February 2022 (UTC)
References
This is the
talk page for discussing improvements to the
Vanessa Redgrave article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject. |
Article policies
|
Find sources: Google ( books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL |
Archives: 1Auto-archiving period: 90 days |
This article must adhere to the biographies of living persons (BLP) policy, even if it is not a biography, because it contains material about living persons. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libellous. If such material is repeatedly inserted, or if you have other concerns, please report the issue to this noticeboard.If you are a subject of this article, or acting on behalf of one, and you need help, please see this help page. |
This
level-5 vital article is rated B-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Warning: active arbitration remedies The contentious topics procedure applies to this article. This article is related to the Arab–Israeli conflict, which is a contentious topic. Furthermore, the following rules apply when editing this article:
Editors who repeatedly or seriously fail to adhere to the purpose of Wikipedia, any expected standards of behaviour, or any normal editorial process may be blocked or restricted by an administrator. Editors are advised to familiarise themselves with the contentious topics procedures before editing this page.
|
Daily pageviews of this article
A graph should have been displayed here but
graphs are temporarily disabled. Until they are enabled again, visit the interactive graph at
pageviews.wmcloud.org |
The article intro refers to the film Julia as a "holocaust drama". It is no such thing, and only loosely and peripherally touches on Nazi persecution of Jews before and during World War 2. It is certainly not the main thrust of the film. 86.182.173.8 ( talk) 23:20, 5 December 2021 (UTC)
Redgrave's acceptance speech was short. Should we include more of it? The following is from a Times of Israel article. "In the last few weeks you have stood firm and you have refused to be intimidated by the threat of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums, whose behavior is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world, and to their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression". She concluded the speech by pledging "to fight anti-Semitism and fascism for as long as I live". A few years ago she said "I didn’t realize pledging to fight anti-Semitism and fascism was controversial. I’m learning that it is". Burrobert ( talk) 02:43, 6 February 2022 (UTC)
I have constructed a list of topics that have been raised as part of this discussion, and which perhaps should be included in the bio. Some of this is relevant to the section on Julia and some is better suited to the section on Political activism. Have I missed anything? One approach would be to systematically go into each item, flesh it out and add references. The result could then be added to the bio at an appropriate location.
Burrobert ( talk) 14:23, 7 February 2022 (UTC)
Burrobert Hmmm, I had an idea, tell me what you think. Since this whole issue involves so much context and details, as well as a whole timeline, should it maybe be separated from both the career part and activism, and get its own section under the title "Oscars controversy?" And then under Julia just mention Redgrave's work on the movie and win, and add a referral to this new section?
In the 1977 film Julia, Redgrave starred in the title role as a woman murdered by the Nazi Germany regime in the years prior to World War II for her anti-Fascist activism. The film is based on a chapter from Lillian Hellman’s book of memoirs Pentimento. Redgrave’s co-star in the film was Jane Fonda, who played Lillian Hellman, a friend of Julia. In her 2005 autobiography, Fonda wrote that: {bquote|there is a quality about Vanessa that makes me feel as if she resides in a netherworld of mystery that eludes the rest of us mortals. Her voice seems to come from some deep place that knows all suffering and all secrets. Watching her work is like seeing through layers of glass, each layer painted in mythic watercolour images, layer after layer, until it becomes dark, but even then you know you haven't come to the bottom of it ... The only other time I had experienced this with an actor was with Marlon Brando ... Like Vanessa, he always seemed to be in another reality, working off some secret, magnetic, inner rhythm.}}
Also in 1977, Redgrave produced and starred in an anti-Israel documentary film, The Palestinian, about the activities of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The documentary is narrated by Redgrave who also interviews Palestinian refugees and leaders in Lebanon. Redgrave funded the documentary by selling her house. The Anti-Defamation League's honorary chairman criticised the film for not translating some of the Arabic language interviews, for showing children training with guns and for repeating the phrase "Kill the enemy!". Theodore Bikel, president of Actors Equity in the United States said that he had seen a transcript of the film in which the chairman of the PLO, Yasser Arafat, said that the only solution to the Middle East problem is the liquidation of the State of Israel, and Redgrave responded with, "Certainly".
While Redgrave was on tour to promote Julia she screened The Palestinian to potential distributors. The Jewish Defense League (JDL) objected to the film and threatened to boycott 20th Century Fox, the studio behind Julia, unless it promised never to employ Redgrave again and repudiated her support for the PLO. Fox refused.
Redgrave was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Julia. Members of the JDL, led by Rabbi Meir Kahane, picketed and burned effigies of Redgrave outside the Academy Awards ceremony in April 1978, while counter-protestors waved PLO flags. Redgrave was brought to the awards ceremony in an ambulance, and dropped in the underground garage so JDL protesters would not heckle her. Redgrave won the Oscar and in her acceptance speech, she thanked Hollywood for having "refused to be intimidated by the threats of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums – whose behaviour is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world and to their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression". Later in the awards ceremony, screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky, who was an ardent supporter of Israel said, {bquote|I would like to say — personal opinion of course — that I’m sick and tired of people exploiting the Academy Awards for the propagation of their own political propaganda. I would like to suggest to Miss Redgrave that her winning the Academy Award is not a pivotal moment in history, does not require a proclamation, and a simple “thank you” would have sufficed.}}
In June 1978, a bomb exploded at a theatre showing The Palestinian, causing damage to property. Screening of the film resumed the following day. Two months later, A JDL member was convicted of the bombing and sentenced to a three-month "thorough psychological examination" with the California Youth Authority.
In his biography of Redgrave, Dan Callahan wrote, "The scandal of her awards speech and the negative press it occasioned had a destructive effect on her acting opportunities that would last for years to come". The New York Times wrote in 2019, that Redgrave’s career recovered and she received further Academy Award nominations in 1984 and 1992. In her 1991 autobiography, Redgrave said that “When I referred to the "Zionist hoodlums," I meant, of course, the Jewish Defense League and their death threats". The Daily Telegraph wrote in 2012 that "It’s clear now that she was referring to the extremists of the Jewish Defense League who had offered a bounty to have her killed. Yet in the context of her support for the PLO, this was a spectacularly ill-chosen phrase, one that made it possible for Redgrave’s detractors to imply that she meant the whole state of Israel, and thus damn her as an anti-Semite for years to come". In a 2018 interview, Redgrave stood by her 1978 Academy Award acceptance speech, saying "I had to do my bit. Everybody had to do their bit, to try and change things for the better, to advocate for what’s right and not be dismayed if immediately you don’t see results". In 2019, editor Tom O’Neil said "Her career survived because of her stature in the industry, and people ultimately realised she was being pro-Palestinian and not anti-Israeli. But her speech just came across so badly". Burrobert ( talk) 16:49, 22 February 2022 (UTC)
References