Kristen Stewart was in Germany for the Berlinale (Berlin Film Festival) over the weekend. She’s promoting Love Lies Bleeding, and she wore Chanel to the premiere (and I think that’s a Chanel outfit at the photocall too). I’m fine with all of this except her hair – her hair is getting worse and worse every time I see her. In general though, the premiere look was very buttoned-up for Kristen, especially given that she recently covered Rolling Stone in a jock strap. The RS cover was “risque,” according to the Hollywood Reporter, although I must have missed the outrage about it. Were people actually in their feelings about it? Anyway, Kristen talked about the RS cover and more during her Berlinale press conference:
Kristen Stewart has defended her risque’ photo shoot for the March Rolling Stone magazine cover that went viral and divided audiences on social media platforms.
“The existence of a female body thrusting any type of sexuality at you that’s not designed for exclusively straight males is something people are not super comfy with and so I’m really happy with it,” Stewart told a press conference on Sunday at the Berlin Film Festival for her latest movie, Love Lies Bleeding.
Stewart, who is bisexual, said she enjoyed breaking with traditional stereotypes about what it means to be feminine. “It’s okay to take different pictures and mix them up in a way that people aren’t used to and want to go and that’s okay, too,” she added. Stewart insisted the androgynous images taken by Collier Schorr for Rolling Stone should not be that big of a deal. “In fact, it’s pervasive and it’s everywhere and it’s being denied and it’s crazy that there aren’t more pictures like that. I loved the opportunity,” she added.
Stewart talked about making lesbian-themed films like Loves Lies Bleeding for mainstream audiences, rather than in and for an echo chamber. “We can’t keep doing that thing where we tell everyone how to feel, and where we sort of pat each other on the back and receive brownie points for providing space for marginalized voices and only in the capacity that they are allowed to speak about that alone,” Stewart told the Berlinale presser .
“The era of queer films, being so pointedly only that, is over. It’s done. Maybe they’ll happen, but I think things develop and move on. It’s just so inherent to how we’re all moving forward,” she added. Stewart pointed to Happiest Season, her LGBTQ+ Christmas romcom that was entirely commercially-driven, and yet sparked in her an interest in bringing to wider audiences other movies with diverse voices and issues. “It’s not making (movies) about the reasons that they’re sidelined, but peoples’ actual experiences, what they love, what their desires are, where they come from, where they want to go and, yeah, not feeling like you always have to stand on a f–ing soapbox and be everyone’s spokesperson.”
“Stewart insisted the androgynous images taken by Collier Schorr for Rolling Stone should not be that big of a deal” – they weren’t a big deal! They were just cool androgynous pics, plenty of people have done similar photos. I’m not negating how important it is for young LGBTQ kids to see someone like Kristen on the cover of Rolling Stone, but let’s not act as if the wheel has been reinvented. As for what Kristen said about the kinds of “queer films” she’d like to make… I agree, what she’s seeking is desperately needed. Not endless “coming out” films or films where the character’s sexuality is their defining (or sole) characteristic. The “gay best friend” trope needs to be over too.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.