Cate Blanchett responds to criticism that ‘TR’ is ‘anti-woman’

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Cate Blanchett said her film TR was not “anti-woman”.

The actor had faced a series of criticisms in an interview given by conductor Marin Alsop to The Sunday Times. Alsop called the film “anti-woman” and went so far as to say it was “heartbreaking” that Blanchett’s character was developed the way he did.

However, Blanchett responded to Alsop’s comments when speaking to BBC Radio 4 [as per The Independent] Thursday (January 12). Blanchett said that while she had “the greatest respect” for Alsop, the film was actually about the “corrupt nature of power”. She added: “I think power is a corrupting force, regardless of gender. I think it affects us all.

Cate Blanchett (CREDIT: Getty/Andreas Rentz)

The Thor: Ragnarok star’s response came after Alsop, whose name is checked in the film, slammed TR amid suggestions that Blanchett’s character Lydia Tr was inspired by her.

The conductor said: “I was offended as a woman, I was offended as a conductor, I was offended as a lesbian. There are so many real, documented men that this movie could have been based on, but instead it puts a woman in the role but gives her all the trappings of those men. This feels anti-woman.

“To have the opportunity to represent a woman in this role and make her an aggressor? For me, it was heartbreaking.

Asked about Alsop’s comments, Blanchett responded by saying, “I have the utmost respect for Marin Alsop. Shes a pioneer of a musician and a conductor. And, it’s a very provocative movie and it’s going to elicit a lot of very strong responses from people.

“What [director Todd Field] and I wanted to do was create a really lively conversation. So there are no right or wrong answers to works of art. It’s not a film about conducting, and I think the character’s circumstances are entirely fictional.

She added: “I’ve watched so many different conductors, but I’ve also watched novelists, visual artists and musicians of all stripes. It’s a very non-literal movie.

Blanchett went on to say that Alsop was “entitled to his opinion”, but defended the film against claims that it was offensive to women. She added that it was a “meditation on power and that power is genderless”.

The actor added: “I don’t think you could have spoken about the corrupting nature of power in the nuanced way that Todd Field did as a filmmaker if there was a man at the center because we understand so perfectly how it looks.

I think power is a corrupting force, regardless of gender. I think it affects us all.

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