The Tar controversy

You may have heard about this. So my favourite actress Cate Blanchett has performed in Tar, a musical drama about Lydia Tar, a brilliant and famous conductor who is also a sex predator and a monster. She also happens to be a lesbian. I haven't seen it, but according to a wide majority of critics the film is great, maybe even a masterpiece, and it might earn Blanchett an Oscar. Which would make up for all the Oscars she has been nominated for, but did not win (I'm still bitter about the 1999 ceremony because of it. However, it has been harshly criticised by real life female conductor Marin Alsop as an anti-woman, anti-feminist and homophobic movie, because the villain protagonist happens to be a woman and a lesbian. More on the controversy in this article. Cate Blanchett responded to the criticism and I don't think I am being a fanboy if I add that she defended her work very eloquently. Now I have not seen the film, but I found Alsop's criticism utterly unfair and frankly a tad hysterical. Making a woman the villain of a story does not make the work chauvinistic. In art, just like in real life, some women can be evil and predatory. And from all accounts, the portrait Blanchett makes of Lydia Tar is one that is subtle and nuanced, she is not a pantomyme villain. Yes, they could have made a man the badguy, but then he wouldn't have been played by Cate Blanchett. Furthermore, I doubt that a vocal feminist like Blanchett, who also has a wide lesbian fanbase, would make, even subconsciously, a chauvinistic movie. So yeah, in sum, I know I'm a fanboy, but people should get a grip. And while I have absolutely no idea when I can find the time for it, I really want to watch Tar.