Reacting to the negative media coverage at home of her compatriot Nicole Kidman’s appearance on the red carpet here in Cannes, Megan Gale has launched a broadside against the tall poppy syndrome.
Speaking to The Weekly ahead of her own turn on the Cannes red-carpet, Megan said she was angered by media reports that chose to criticise Nicole’s hair instead of celebrating her selection as a juror at the famous French film festival.
“She’s an Oscar winner, she’s been invited to be a member of the jury of the most prestigious film festival in the world, and yet a newspaper article at home about her red carpet appearance was all about how her hair looked shocking,” Megan said.
“I was astonished. Instead of celebrating one of our most successful actresses, who is feted on the world stage, we feel compelled to pull her down.
“If that was happening in a school yard, it would be called bullying and there would be definite repercussions. But for some reason, because she is an international celebrity, she is fair game.”
Megan, who is in Cannes as part of her contract with L’Oreal Paris for whom she is one of several international ambassadors, noted that it was “especially sad that more often than not it seems to be women taking down other women”.
“Women have a habit of attacking other women. You never see men doing that. Men don’t sit around pulling apart Hugh Jackman. They just wouldn’t do it,” she said.
“As women we need to stop doing this to one another. We need to stop cutting one another down and being insulting and feeling as though we are competing with one another. Because no one wins.”
Nicole has been in Cannes since Tuesday, serving under Cannes jury president Steven Spielberg as part of the film festival’s eight person jury that also includes Oscar winning director Ang Lee and Oscar winning actor Christoph Waltz.
In a series of public appearances at the beginning of the week, including at the festival’s opening night in which she appeared on the red carpet in Dior couture with her hair in a fashion-forward pony tail, the Australian actress has been hailed by international media here as the style icon of this year’s Cannes film festival.
