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Helen Mirren Latest Rape Comments So Whacked Out Response As Lost As She Is

November 17, 2008 By 13 Comments

Helen Mirren has apparently made some comments about women who serve on rape trial juries, and her thoughts are so ludicrous that it seems she's stymied attempts to respond.

 

 

The general idea is that Mirren threw out the notion that women who serve on rape trail juries are less likely to convict, and this is due to the fact that other women would say the victim was asking for it.  She isn't sure if this is something built in biologically that goes back billions of years... seriously, "billions of years," that's what she said... or if it's some manner of tribal jealousy, or apparently fill in whatever blank you want, but she's pretty sure women are going to go against a rape victim as a general rule.  She goes on to suggest that defense attorneys would be looking to get as many women on the jury as possible, I guess because they are hip to this fact.

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Frankly, I can see how this might take people from a variety of perspectives off guard.  In the most general sense, I might be inclined to understand a response that went something like this...

 

"Look, you can't say that women on rape trail juries are automatically going to vote to convict a rapist based purely on the fact that they are, well, opposed to rapists... err... hang on... you're saying what now?"

 

I can even understand very well a response that perhaps accidentally doesn't take the remarks very seriously.  That response then might be taken rather seriously because it makes light of such subject matter.  Something along the lines of a general and fairly dismissive, "What the hell is she basing that ridiculous statement on?  What's the anthropological trail she's following back ::snicker:: "billions of years" that gets us to "female rape victim hate?""

 

But, British politician Vera Baird took an angry shot back at Mirren with this --

 

"This is just such an ignorant thing to say, to suggest that the defense or prosecution have any involvement in the selection of a jury."

 

What?

 

Yes, uhh... such a suggestion is irksome.

 

What?

 

 

Perhaps more curious than the simple fact of Mirren making this statement is the fact that she makes it right on the heels of her press debacle over her statements about date rape. 

 

 

I don't know, Mirren's got rape on the brain, and she's slipping past someone to get out of the house if you ask me.

 

How about a better response?

 

 

Anyone?

 

 

Thanks to PopEater for being the first to feed me the Helen Mirren Rape Comments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Marc Eastman is the owner and operator of Are You Screening? and has been writing film reviews for over a decade, and several branches of the internet's film review world have seen his name. His reviews have brought him personal praise from the director of a major motion picture, and have been used as required reading in a course at a major University. These priceless rewards, along with just bags of cash, keep him from straying from freelance writing. He is also a member of The Broadcast Film Critics Association and The Broadcast Television Journalists Association.

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  • Shirley Jackson

    No response needed if you ask me.

    And, as you pointed out, the one comment published by Vera Baird is actually more ludicrous than Mirren's statement itself.

    Mirren is merely expressing her opinion to which she is completely entitled, whether we agree (personally, I don't) or not.

    LOL: Keep us posted if she starts spouting Scientology dogma or drunken anti-Semitic remarks.

  • Shirley Jackson

    No response needed if you ask me.

    And, as you pointed out, the one comment published by Vera Baird is actually more ludicrous than Mirren's statement itself.

    Mirren is merely expressing her opinion to which she is completely entitled, whether we agree (personally, I don't) or not.

    LOL: Keep us posted if she starts spouting Scientology dogma or drunken anti-Semitic remarks.

  • areyouscreening

    I wouldn't be surprised really, but I don't know, that entitled to one's opinion thing might be somewhat overrated.

    Cheers.

  • areyouscreening

    I wouldn't be surprised really, but I don't know, that entitled to one's opinion thing might be somewhat overrated.

    Cheers.

  • Shirley Jackson

    “that entitled to one's opinion thing might be somewhat overrated.”

    LOL: Believe it or not, there are times when I am strongly tempted to agree with you. ( I also think the whole notion of Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press are not only overrated but, grossly abused at that.)

    Nevertheless – right or wrong, for better or for worse – we live in a society that allows individuals to not only harbor their own opinions but, freely articulate them without prosecution or undue censure.

  • Shirley Jackson

    “that entitled to one's opinion thing might be somewhat overrated.”

    LOL: Believe it or not, there are times when I am strongly tempted to agree with you. ( I also think the whole notion of Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press are not only overrated but, grossly abused at that.)

    Nevertheless – right or wrong, for better or for worse – we live in a society that allows individuals to not only harbor their own opinions but, freely articulate them without prosecution or undue censure.

  • Winston Smith

    Overrated?! In the age of political correctness? Are you kidding?

  • Winston Smith

    You are frightening, and I'm wondering what alternate universe you live in.

  • Winston Smith

    Overrated?! In the age of political correctness? Are you kidding?

  • Winston Smith

    You are frightening, and I'm wondering what alternate universe you live in.

  • areyouscreening

    Not even a little bit.

    The problem with being entitled to one's own opinion is that while everyone will proclaim the specific… entitlement?… no one is interested in responsibility for one's opinion. The result is that famous people go about babbling complete nonsense, which gets spread by the media, and proclaim their “right to their opinion.”

    In this particular instance, the opinion is based on nothing, except being fabulously stupid, and is aimed at something rather serious.

    I'm not sure there is actually any such thing as a “right to an opinion” that is based on nothing, makes no sense, and is highly offensive. In a case like this, that is, which is the case of something that could be factually ascertained. Are women more likely to convict? Does that turn out to be a result of this reasoning? That's something that could be found out.

    I don't think she has a “right to this opinion”, in any meaningful way, any more than she has a right to think that people have existed for “billions of years.”

    If she says 2 + 2 = 5, are people allowed to say she's wrong, or is she allowed to just say, “Hey, that's my opinion.”

  • areyouscreening

    Not even a little bit.

    The problem with being entitled to one's own opinion is that while everyone will proclaim the specific… entitlement?… no one is interested in responsibility for one's opinion. The result is that famous people go about babbling complete nonsense, which gets spread by the media, and proclaim their “right to their opinion.”

    In this particular instance, the opinion is based on nothing, except being fabulously stupid, and is aimed at something rather serious.

    I'm not sure there is actually any such thing as a “right to an opinion” that is based on nothing, makes no sense, and is highly offensive. In a case like this, that is, which is the case of something that could be factually ascertained. Are women more likely to convict? Does that turn out to be a result of this reasoning? That's something that could be found out.

    I don't think she has a “right to this opinion”, in any meaningful way, any more than she has a right to think that people have existed for “billions of years.”

    If she says 2 + 2 = 5, are people allowed to say she's wrong, or is she allowed to just say, “Hey, that's my opinion.”

  • areyouscreening

    Not even a little bit.

    The problem with being entitled to one's own opinion is that while everyone will proclaim the specific… entitlement?… no one is interested in responsibility for one's opinion. The result is that famous people go about babbling complete nonsense, which gets spread by the media, and proclaim their “right to their opinion.”

    In this particular instance, the opinion is based on nothing, except being fabulously stupid, and is aimed at something rather serious.

    I'm not sure there is actually any such thing as a “right to an opinion” that is based on nothing, makes no sense, and is highly offensive. In a case like this, that is, which is the case of something that could be factually ascertained. Are women more likely to convict? Does that turn out to be a result of this reasoning? That's something that could be found out.

    I don't think she has a “right to this opinion”, in any meaningful way, any more than she has a right to think that people have existed for “billions of years.”

    If she says 2 + 2 = 5, are people allowed to say she's wrong, or is she allowed to just say, “Hey, that's my opinion.”