[Image from okmagazine.com]
Earlier tonight, news broke that Kristen Stewart was dismissed from the Snow White and the Huntsman sequel, but director Rupert Sanders may be asked to return.Wait, what?
This news really is some crazy Scarlet Letter type mess, and I’m done with the media painting a red A on Stewart’s chest while the good ol’ director, who was every bit as involved as she was, gets away scot free. So his wife probably moved out and is filing for divorce? Great, but everyone’s too focused on shaming the other woman to remind him of his sins.
I haven’t really been keeping up with this scandal, but I know that Stewart and Sanders carried on an affair earlier this summer, got caught for making out in a car in the middle of broad daylight, ‘Robsten’ broke up, Rob went into hiding, and Kristen is Hollywood’s newest tramp. All this time, I’ve been saying that Kristen had no real (meaning: legal) obligation to Robert, and Sanders should be held more accountable since he cheated on his wife and the mother of his two kids, but I’ve been met with responses like, “Kristen’s more famous, therefore more deserving of backlash,” even though it takes two people to cheat. If you’re going to throw one person under the bus, you better throw both under for leading a consensual illicit relationship. They both knew what they were doing was wrong.
So I ask you this: if Kristen has more fame, why is she being dropped from the sequel and Sanders isn’t? It seems like a perfect scandal to generate revenue; Stewart’s name has been all over the place since news broke, and that alone would drive people to come see her in the sequel. Also, people would be interested in how things are on-set post-scandal, which would generate buzz and interest in the film. Even people who didn’t know who she was before would come see it because they want to know what kind of actress she is, what she looks like, among other things. From a sales standpoint, it would make more sense to keep the person who’s getting the most media because people are going to want to see their work, whether they triumph or fail.
So why is Sanders, the dude who has seen very little press and has faced almost no consequences getting to keep his job? In other words, why is Sanders not being considered a liability in the same way Stewart is? They both took part in this scandal, they both got caught, and now they both should face the consequences. If Kristen loses her starring role, then Rupert Sanders should be replaced as well. It’s not like he’s Tim Burton or anything; People saw that movie for Charlize Theron and didn’t know who he was before this scandal.
This isn’t about who’s more famous. If it was, her noteriety should be a good thing, right? Look at Charlie Sheen! You can’t turn on your TV without seeing him or hearing his name, and this guy is famous for being abrasive, abusive, an addict, and other things. This girl just cheated on her boyfriend, and she’s getting dropped from films left and right, while her paramour is still finding work. See what I mean?
This is proving that Hollywood is far from open-minded and still falls back on misogyny when it comes to who gets the axe. That’s not to say that I condone cheating, or that the blame falls with either party. It’s to point out that there are double standards at work here, and it’s to call out the studio on basically giving Sanders a free pass.
And let’s be realistic about all of this: Sanders is probably going to be signed on to this film, which is now being pitched as a spin-off, and the rest of the franchise. When Stewart finishes promoting Breaking Dawn, pt. 2, we’re probably not going to see her for a while because she’s still going to be considered a “liability”, like she’s gonna throw herself at every director she works with.
The whole thing is sad, and terrible, and I wish all parties involved all the best, but it’s unfair to tear down one person’s career to raise up another when they both got caught getting to third base in a car in broad daylight.
