Charlize Theron likens press intrusion to rape

[whitetigeress]

Yeah, perhaps "violated" would have been a better term.

ANYTHING would be a better word than rape. Rape should only be used to describe rape. Bottom line.

[CornFlakegrl]

Depp made a similar comment once and had to apologize. Stewart same. So how does Charlize not KNOW that this is something you don't say even if, in your silly little world of make believe and photoshoots, you believe it to be true?

[sluce]

I do not believe she truly believes her experience equates to rape and hopefully she, and others, will learn from this. I hear rape used way too often to describe situations. Last week I overheard a girl talking to her friend in the store saying "Man, that exam raped me!" I have heard other women and men use it to express something that cost a lot of money, "My car just cost $600 to repair. The dealership raped me." That use is not wrong.
From Meriam Webster:

Full Definition of RAPE

transitive verb
1
a archaic : to seize and take away by force
b : despoil

2
: to commit rape on
— rap·er noun
— rap·ist noun

It insensitive to now use the word for that meaning as the meaning has now shifted to be equated with sexual assault, which is another definition.

[SoCalMarie]

Off the bat, yes, it's insensitive.
Sluce also brings up a good point above with the differing definitions of the word ^

Not that I believe or condone using the term "rape" to regularly describe situations in life is "right" or "ok". But just in my humble opinion, in the "insensitive comparisons" race - Gwyneth still holds the prize (along with the being a pretentious, awful person prize).

I'd like to believe it was just a Freudian Slip on Charlize's part, made during an "off-the-cuff" interview...
Gwyneth however, wrote, and recited her offensive statements as part of a planned speech - in order to sound insightful, deep.

[sputnik]

Meh. I think, as usual, people are being oversensitive and taking shit too literally. She probably meant 'violated' more than literally raped. Poor choice of words perhaps but no reason to blow shit out of proportion, whether it's goopy or any other celeb.

[Novice]

^ I think she's always been like this, personally. I mean, just choosing Sean in the first place says a lot about her to me.

I'm glad you said it, because I've been thinking that foe a while.

You know what feels like rape? Rape. Please don't use that analogy for anything else.

But do you mean "rape" or Whoopee Goldberg's "rape rape" version which must be at least twice worse.....

[NoNoRehab]

Lipstick Alley dug up this old interview with Charlize where she says she left South Africa because there was no future for white people after apartheid ended:

Theron had little time to grieve; with the dismantling of apartheid and the creation of new affirmative action laws, she became convinced "there was no future for a white South African." One week after turning 16, she accepted an offer from an Italian model scout, and—with her mother's blessing—headed for Milan. Looking back, she says, "I just ran."

[arie_skop]

Poor choice of words, these celebrities should let their PR team write their interviews and speeches

[ChloroformCasey]

^^^^ Agreed.

[sputnik]

Lipstick Alley dug up this old interview with Charlize where she says she left South Africa because there was no future for white people after apartheid ended:

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ok, i have a lot of south african friends and they've similar things but i think you're interpreting it in the wrong way.
one example: i have a few south african diplomat friends, including one white guy. he has told me that he understands that he will in all likelihood end his career at the level he is at now, and won't get another promotion. he's about 50 by the way. not because he doesn't do great work, but because he's white, and overrepresented in the foreign ministry. whites are about 10% of the population but they are over half of civil servants in the foreign ministry, especially at the higher levels, and especially people over 40. he knows that there are no career opportunities for him in his sector in south africa, and he's ok with it. he understands that it's a necessary transition in order to give opportunities to the black south africans who were systematically discriminated against during apartheid, and also to accommodate the new and growing black south african middle class. the idea is to reach a point where the level of representation, at least in government agencies, reflects the percentages of different groups in the wider south african population. but i can't stress enough that he has no problem with this, and views it as necessary, and he's had a good career so far. he's very matter of fact about it.

however, he feels a little differently for his children. he wants them to have more opportunities than what they would have in south africa. so he's sending them to canada for university, and is pretty confident that's where they'll stay after their studies too. and maybe later when they're more established in their careers they'll return to south africa.

but essentially, it's going to take about a generation for the balance to be restored in the social fabric of south africa. and right now part of that is giving black and indian south africans the spaces they were deprived of for so long.

[whitetigeress]

"so he's sending them to canada for university"

It seems everyone is coming to Canada. Is Canada really that great???

[Kathie_Moffett]

"so he's sending them to canada for university"

It seems everyone is coming to Canada. Is Canada really that great???

[NickiDrea]

but essentially, it's going to take about a generation for the balance to be restored in the social fabric of south africa. and right now part of that is giving black and indian south africans the spaces they were deprived of for so long.

With all due respect, it is going to take a LOT more than a generation to balance the social fabric of South Africa. It took centuries to get how it was, how can that possibly be fixed in a generation?

We are really nowhere close to balancing the social fabric between whites and blacks in the States and slavery ended in 1865, Jim Crow in 1964. There have been a few generations and we're still a hot mess. In fact, I have been seeing MORE racism now than I was seeing in the 90's! Maybe people just aren't as scared to hide it because they can be anonymous on the internet? I am starting to lose faith that we will be able to unify as a country.

[AgentOrange]

I'm gonna give Theron the benefit of the doubt and assume that she meant the rape seed - a variety of mustard, and not the criminal offense. It can be used in some kind of raspberry cake. Now the rape cake is probably pretty annoying, so maybe that's what she meant. For instance it could be like saying that dealing with some people is as annoying as eating a dose of bran and then waiting for the results. It sounds far fetched, but the other alternative would be just ignorant. As for her White South African comments, she's on her own with that one. Unless she recently broke up with Selena Gomez or something, in which case Selena definitely put a hex on her. Selena can be a bitch like that.

BTW here's a picture of a tasty 'rape cake', made with raspberries - just so you know I didn't make that up, but am really really trying to give Charlize the benefit of the doubt.



Actually that looks more tasty than annoying, so maybe Charlize was just being ignorant.

[sputnik]

With all due respect, it is going to take a LOT more than a generation to balance the social fabric of South Africa. It took centuries to get how it was, how can that possibly be fixed in a generation?

Agreed. I guess I was being overly optimistic.