Isla Fisher: Fairytales promote ‘negative stereotypes’ and ‘toxic masculinity’
Isla Fisher has said she hopes to encourage people to rethink the “negative stereotypes that go along with fairytales” and encourage them to consider the “toxic masculinity” often on display in male characters in children’s stories.
The Wedding Crashers actress, 44, stars in the new Disney film Godmothered, in which she plays a widowed single mother whose life is upended by a visit from a young, inexperienced fairy godmother-in-training.
Upon hearing that her chosen profession is facing extinction, the magical visitor decides to show the world that people still need fairy godmothers and is determined to give Fisher’s character a happiness makeover, however she learns they may be more to happiness than a handsome prince, a castle and elaborate gowns.
Discussing the way the movie, directed by Bridget Jones’s Diary filmmaker Sharon Maguire, dismisses the conventions of scores of older Disney fairytale films, Fisher told the PA news agency: “I think it’s completely important and about time.
“I’m really proud of Disney for making a movie like this and getting that message out.
“I really hope families sit down and watch it and rethink the pressures that we put ourselves under to conform to, and all the negative stereotypes that go along with fairy tales, whether it be princesses doing domestic chores to be good or waiting for a knight in shining armour or being kissed by a bloke when they’re unconscious and then falling in love.
“There’s a bunch of stuff that we don’t really think of, this toxic masculinity of a prince having to slay a dragon – he can’t be vulnerable either.
Continue reading Isla Fisher: Fairytales promote ‘negative stereotypes’ and ‘toxic masculinity’
Category: News & Gossip
Isla Fisher refuses to hear Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat schemes before filming: ‘That’s how I sleep at night’
Isla Fisher refuses to hear Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat schemes before filming: ‘That’s how I sleep at night’
Isla Fisher has revealed that she likes to remain oblivious to the behaviour of her husband, Sacha Baron Cohen, when he is performing as Borat.
Baron Cohen recently reprised the role of outrageous Khasakstani journalist Borat Sagdiyev in Amazon Prime’s sequel to his 2006 hit comedy.
Speaking with the Herald Sun, Fisher said: “I’m lucky in that I’m not privy to the information usually until it happens, so I don’t see that he was at a gun rally until he’s home safe.
“I think he’s learnt the hard way that if he gives me the information up front, that I put the kibosh on it.”
The actor was referring to a scene from Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm in which Baron Cohen went undercover at a Washington State gun rally.
After performing a Country song which goaded spectators into singing along with racist and offensive lyrics, Baron Cohen was identified by spectators and the stage was stormed by angry, and armed, audience members.
Baron Cohen has long been known for his elaborate on-film pranks, which have incited furious reactions from crowds and onlookers on several occasions.
“I find out what’s happened afterwards, and that’s how I can sleep at night, otherwise I’d be too worried,” said Fisher.
Isla promotes “Godmothered” on The Ellen Degeneres Show
Isla appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show on Thursday to promote Godmothered. She chatted about the movie, how long she’s known Ellen, her husband filming Borat 2, and her pets:
ET Canada: Jude Law, Isla Fisher & More Share Holiday Plans
ET Canada:The holiday season is going to look a little different this year to fans and stars alike. Jude Law, Julia Stiles, David Oyelowo, Isla Fisher, and Jillian Bell share how they are planning to make the holidays special despite the pandemic.
Isla promotes “Godmothered” on The Project
Isla and Jillian Bell made an appearance on Aussie news/talk show The Project yesterday to promote Godmothered. They chatted about the need for a feel-good Christmas movie this year, who they’d give a fairy Godmother to, and who would be their ideal fairy Godmother for themselves. Watch the interview below:
Eric Bana, Isla Fisher, Guy Pearce Voicing Netflix’s Animated ‘Back to the Outback’
Eric Bana, Isla Fisher, Guy Pearce Voicing Netflix’s Animated ‘Back to the Outback’
Eric Bana, Isla Fisher, Guy Pearce, Jacki Weaver, Tim Minchin and Keith Urban have joined the voice cast of Netflix’s animated comedy adventure “‘Back to the Outback,” which will make is global debut in the fall of 2021.
The voice cast will also include Miranda Tapsell, Angus Imrie, Rachel House, Keith Urban, Celeste Barber, Wayne Knight, Aislinn Derbez, Diesel Cash La Torraca and Lachlan Ross Power. Clare Knight (editor of “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” and the Kung Fu Panda trilogy) and Harry Cripps are the co-directors. Daniela Mazzucato produces and Weed Road Pictures’ Akiva Goldsman and Greg Lessans, who developed the story with Cripps, executive produce.
Cripps scripted the story, set in a reptile house where humans gawk at Australia’s deadliest creatures, who plot a daring escape from their zoo to the Outback. Leading the group is Maddie (Fisher), a poisonous snake with a heart of gold, who bands together with a self-assured thorny devil lizard Zoe (Tapsell), a lovelorn hairy spider named Frank (Pearce), and a sensitive scorpion called Nigel (Imrie). When their nemesis — Pretty Boy (Minchin), a cute but obnoxious koala — unexpectedly joins their escape, Maddie and the gang have no choice but to take him with them, pursued by Bana’s zookeeper.
“I have always been touched by stories of hidden beauty,” said Knight. “Maddie is both uniquely beauty and beast, and to get to present that message in comedy is the icing on the cake.”
Cripps said, “Growing up in Australia, I spent a lot of time in the Blue Mountains which has many different types of snakes and spiders, and I always preferred them to the cute cuddly animals, so it’s such a treat to make a film where the heroes are these poisonous but beautiful little creatures. This film is a love letter to Australia’s incredibly diverse and unique wildlife.”
(Variety)
Isla Fisher calls out social media for ‘threatening our planet and democracy’
Isla Fisher calls out social media for ‘threatening our planet and democracy’ in advance of ‘Godmothered’ release on Disney Plus
The new Christmas-themed film Godmothered is set to be released on Disney Plus on Dec. 4, but one of the film’s stars, Isla Fisher, feels strongly about the impacts around social media and the concept of “going viral,” one of the themes addressed in the film.
“I think social media, just as a platform, has to just be rethought in a major way,” Fisher said bluntly at a virtual press conference for the film. “It’s spreading conspiracy and hate and lies, and it’s threatening our planet and democracy, and the publishers should abide by…basic practices and standards and not be spreading nonsense, and being a platform for hate groups to join up.”
“I’m a big believer now that we’re on a precipice, we need to get in involved and…stop these big corporations changing the way we all think.”
Fisher’s character in Godmothered, Mackenzie, works at a local news station in Boston and her boss Grant, played by Utkarsh Ambudkar, loves a sensational news story. Mackenzie ends up meeting Eleanor (Jillian Bell), a young fairy godmother-in-training who is on a mission to show that there is still a place for fairy godmothers in the world. Eleanor finds a letter Mackenzie wrote as a 10-year-old and tracks her down to help bring her happiness, only to discover she is now a 40-year-old single mother who lost her husband years earlier.
Jillian Shea Spaeder and Willa Skye play Fisher’s two daughters in Godmother, but Spaeder in particular, has a bit of a different perspective on social media.
“Having grown up on social media though, I can say it is a negative space but also has this beautiful light to it where I’ve seen a lot of people my age and younger who are getting very involved in big topics they should be involved in,” the 18-year-old actor said. “It can be so negative but it also has this beautiful thing that none of us would have ever gotten to experience without it.”
Continue reading Isla Fisher calls out social media for ‘threatening our planet and democracy’
Isla on Lorraine
Isla made an appearance on UK chat show Lorraine on Tuesday. It’s a really good interview – she talks about the film, as well as how she got into comedy, how she’s managed quarantine, her Scottish accent in Burke & Hare, and the ‘Amy Adams’ thing! Isla’s gorgeous blue patterned dress is by Tory Burch.
