Entertainment
If Sharon Stone doesn’t have power over her vagina what hope do lesser-known actresses have in Hollywood?
This week it emerged Sharon Stone has no control over her vagina.
I don’t mean it’s running rampant and the poor woman is at the end of her tether and about to appear on Dr Phil in an attempt to gain some authority over her nethers by sending it to brat boot camp.
I mean, in 2021, Sharon Stone has no control over people continuing to profit from her privates despite only recently revealing the immense discomfort such a thing has caused her over the years.
To explain a little more, this week the star spoke on the director’s cut being released of her iconic 1992 film Basic Instinct – which is apparently being touted as the ‘triple X’ cut. Charming.
It comes ahead of the 30th anniversary of the film’s release, and was announced earlier this year before the actress publicly shared the behind-the-scenes details on how that scene in the film came to be and how it affected her – but it’s still incredibly icky. Because, according to Sharon, people involved with the project definitely knew her feelings about the moment.
And yet, it’s still being re-released for a bunch of people to make a lot of money from. So, my question is, if Sharon Stone isn’t able to stop this sort of exploitation, what hope do lesser-known stars have to call out moments where they’re being taken advantage of?
In the infamous scene from the film, should you need a refresher, Sharon’s character Catherine Tramell crosses and uncrosses her legs during a police interrogation, sans underwear. And while it’s become one of the most recognisable moments in Hollywood, Sharon recently claimed director Paul Verhoeven suggested to her she would not be exposed.
She wrote in her memoir The Beauty of Living Twice that she was made to watch the scene for the first time in a room full of agents and lawyers, many of who were not involved with the project.
‘That was how I saw my vagina-shot for the first time, long after I’d been told, “We can’t see anything – I just need you to remove your panties, as the white is reflecting the light, so we know you have panties on”,’ Sharon wrote.
She continued: ‘Yes, there have been many points of view on this topic, but since I’m the one with the vagina in question, let me say: The other points of view are bulls**t.
‘Now, here is the issue. It didn’t matter anymore. It was me and my parts up there. I had decisions to make. I went to the projection booth, slapped Paul [Verhoeven] across the face, left, went to my car, and called my lawyer, Marty Singer. Marty told me that they could not release this film as it was.’
Of course the film was released, and with the imminent release of the director’s cut, the star explained that she did not hold any sway over it not going ahead, saying new rules from the Screen Actors Guild for this type of circumstance were only created after Basic Instinct was made.
She added, in the wake of #MeToo ‘there’s a certain tone-deafness, when it comes to this type of behavior, that people just want to continue to push forward, and ignore the thoughts and feelings of how women in general feel about this’.
Honestly, if one of the most famous and revered actresses has absolutely no control over the re-release of a scene – now apparently more X-rated – that she has publicly shared her discomfort of, the rest of us are screwed.
You can’t fight city hall.
Now you can argue – and you probably will – that because she filmed the scenes 30 years ago there are no take-backs, and to that I call BS. Sharon no longer consents to it, so that should be enough to stop others from making new profits from a re-release that now has her bits remastered in high-definition.
This sort of behaviour and total dismissal of Sharon’s feelings not only perpetuates the abusive treatment of women in the entertainment business, but it also sends a message to those of us ‘norms’ on the outside that our body is still not ours. God, don’t even get me started on revenge porn.
It’s rage-inducing to hear the stories of those only feeling strong enough now to speak about the sexism and misogyny they’ve experienced over the decades. but it’s becoming abundantly clear that in 2021 while some chaps may think equality has finally arrived they are sorely mistaken.
Sharon went on to have a blisteringly successful career in filmmaking, and has rightly owned that scene in a powerful way after it was released. But that’s not to say to those in power that it’s OK to continue operating in this way.
While there are now guidelines and protections to make sure people aren’t taken advantage of in such ways, this was a massive scene in a massive movie with a massive cast. And Sharon certainly isn’t risking her career by speaking about it now.
So what about those who remain behind the scenes and are currently having to deal with the same horrifically unethical and harmful situations? Those who don’t yet have success and fans to support them, or funds behind them in order to risk totally obliterating their career.
While I’d love to think Sharon’s dispute will help turn the wheels of change that have been creakily shifting into gear, my basic instinct tells me we still have so far to go til we can truly, properly, control where our vaginas are projected.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk.
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