Says Director Told a Woman She ‘Should Fuck’ Page ‘To Make Her Realize She’s Gay’
Ellen Page, star of “Inception,” “Juno,” and “X-Men” films has penned an incredibly personal, powerful and moving statement attacking the “abusers” who “make us feel powerless.”
Here’s how it begins:
“You should fuck her to make her realize she’s gay.†He said this about me during a cast and crew “meet and greet†before we began filming, X Men: The Last Stand. I was eighteen years old. He looked at a woman standing next to me, ten years my senior, pointed to me and said: “You should fuck her to make her realize she’s gay.†He was the film’s director, Brett Ratner.
Posted just an hour ago to Facebook, already it has hundreds of comments, thousands of shares, and over 10,000 reactions.
“I was a young adult who had not yet come out to myself,” Page continues. “I knew I was gay, but did not know, so to speak. I felt violated when this happened. I looked down at my feet, didn’t say a word and watched as no one else did either. This man, who had cast me in the film, started our months of filming at a work event with this horrific, unchallenged plea. He ‘outed’ me with no regard for my well-being, an act we all recognize as homophobic. I proceeded to watch him on set say degrading things to women. I remember a woman walking by the monitor as he made a comment about her ‘flappy pussy’.”
Page, an Academy Award nominated actress, goes on to reveal a director fondled her leg under a table at dinner when she was 16.
“You have to make the move, I can’t,†she says he said.
“I did not make the move and I was fortunate to get away from that situation,” Page adds.
And she repeatedly acknowledges that “As a cis, white lesbian, I have benefited and have the privileges I have” because of “extraordinary and courageous individuals” including “women of color, trans and queer and indigenous women have been leading this fight for decades” and “who have led the way and risked their lives while doing so.”
Calling it “an awful mistake,” Page goes on to say she “did a Woody Allen movie and it is the biggest regret of my career. I am ashamed I did this. I had yet to find my voice and was not who I am now and felt pressured, because ‘of course you have to say yes to this Woody Allen film.’ Ultimately, however, it is my choice what films I decide to do and I made the wrong choice.”
She says what she wants most is “healing for the victims. For Hollywood to wake up and start taking some responsibility for how we all have played a role in this. I want us to reflect on this endemic issue and how this power dynamic of abuse leads to an enormous amount of suffering. Violence against women is an epidemic in this country and around the world. How is this cascade of immorality and injustice shaping our society? One of the greatest risks to a pregnant woman’s health in the United States is murder. Trans women of color in this country have a life expectancy of thirty-five. Why are we not addressing this as a society? We must remember the consequences of such actions. Mental health issues, suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, to name a few.”
There’s much more, and her words deserve to be read by as many people as possible.
“I am grateful to anyone and everyone who speaks out against abuse and trauma they have suffered,” Page concludes. “You are breaking the silence. You are revolution.”
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