Rachel Zegler : WANTED
A Young Woman In Film
Rachel Zegler rose to fame in late 2018, when she went viral for covering a song from the film "A Star Is Born". As we now see her taking over the film industry she couldn’t have picked a better film to cover a song from. A star was most certainly born that day, and her life would never be the same- ever again. This must have been simultaneously the best and yet the scariest thing for a then 17 year old to experience; you wake up and all of a sudden most people on the internet know your name, they know you exist and they don’t shy away from creating an opinion about you. Zegler went on to become Steven Spielberg‘s Maria in the remake of the cult classic musical West Side Story. It was written in the stars that no one, from then on, should forget this young woman’s name. She even won a Golden Globe with that performance. Now that in itself is something not many people can experience, but she brought the talent so it was only right. Sadly she didn’t just get praise for her acting … She had the misfortune of having to share the screen with an actor who was, after the film had wrapped, accused of being a predator. There is lots of proof on the internet that he is in fact one, but instead of condemning him and his actions, and instead of calling out the people who had a say in casting him, the internet decided to come after the young girl who had to play his love interest in the film. Rachel managed to secure a role in a major Hollywood film, she outacted more than thirty thousand other girls and yet she has to fight comments of the utmost disturbing kind that should have been addressed to the actor who sexually assaulted an underage girl and is an absolute freak. He got cast to play along side a girl much like the one he had assaulted, and yet the girls who were his victim got the backlash. That’s Hollywood baby, protecting its abusers and making sure that victim’s voices get silenced. This should have been a wonderful experience for Rachel and it got overshadowed because Hollywood employed yet another known predator and she got the brunt of it. She was accused of being complicit, had people pretend she would be able to have a say in firing her co-star, yet no one ever asked what it must have been like for a young woman having to film intimate scenes with a man who should not be left alone with a woman- ever. Zegler has made sure to publicly denounce Elgort. She has no link to a public sex offender and she has been extremely vocal about victims of abuse so as not to let the world silence their stories.
This should have been an incredible experience for her, not even 20 and the lead in a Spielberg film. But the young woman had to battle with imposter syndrome, extreme misogyny, blatant cyber bullying, distortion of the truth, not only her but her loved ones being harassed online, lies and rumours spreading like wildfire, the double standard in Hollywood, being labelled as annoying and bratty, marked as difficult and unworthy of a career of that scale, she was accused of ungratefulness, disparaged for advocating for the equality of women, being privileged and the list goes on. Rachel Zegler was put on a hit list by all the incels on the internet; they didn’t like her being unapologetically herself. More than that, they didn't like that she was a new voice in the film industry- a voice that could potentially finally change something and create a safe space for women of all kinds in an industry that doesn’t like change in the slightest. A young woman using her platform to put other voices out there- yeah men are going to hate that.
Hollywood could not get enough of her though, rightfully so. She was new, she was good, she was talented- she was wanted.
It has been anything but easy for Rachel to try and make a name for herself in Hollywood. Even despite having been victim of racist and misogynistic hate trains, and extreme cyber bullying she has persevered.
Zegler now became topic of conversation again after commenting on Snow White. People found it annoying and bratty that she told reporters she was scared of the animation as a child and that the film about the Disney princess would stir into another direction than anticipated. Another shitstorm knocked her off her feet and people especially men decided to value a princess they simply never valued before. First the comments were about her appearance and how she wasn’t white enough to play the princess- the internet loves commenting on the way this young woman looks and yet loves flaunting that she shouldn’t celebrate her heritage- weird. We really need to ask ourselves since when Snow White has been such a beloved character- especially to men. All of a sudden she and Zegler are everything these grown men can talk about. No one ever cared for Snow but since an actress you deem unworthy was cast to play her, you have decided to become a die hard stan calling the tale the epitome of human creation. A fair share of disgusting insults and names were thrown around, but I will refrain from saying them. The internet then accused her of hating the Disney princess she has loved since she was a child because their racist remarks didn’t make a difference. Petitions were started to fire the young woman which is incredibly absurd. Disney is making a new re-imagination of an old classic, which delves into Snow White not needing to be saved by the prince. Rachel got the backlash. The thing is that a princess can absolutely be saved by the prince, but ultimately the film is putting a new spin on an old story and Rachel is merely acting and portraying a character, she did not write the script. If the internet hates the idea so much, better take it out on the people and studio who wrote the screenplay and financed a remake. Wait I forgot, your hate only extends to Rachel Zegler… What is incredibly annoying is, that if a man had said that Snow White did not need a saviour - the internet would have ate out of his hand and celebrated the fact a man was so modern. All eyes were on Rachel despite having Gal Gadot play the evil queen.
It has now become a running joke that she has been cursed with always having to star alongside problematic people but it should actually be studied how the film industry continues employing them.
She can never win, since there is always someone praying for her downfall.
You have actors like Harrison Ford, Robert Pattinson and Jacob Elordi who have all publicly stated they hated some films in their filmography and everyone found it incredibly charming and endearing. It has become a funny thing to talk about. The minute a young woman regards a new film she has made- in Rachel’s case Shazam! Fury of the Gods- as her job, and not worshipping it like women usually have to, she gets eaten alive. Comments are taken out of context, because she felt incredibly lucky to have been picked to bring Anthea to life. She adored the experience and found friends for life. The double standard is real and it is sadly the reality for women in the film industry and everyday life.
We have been witnessing time and time again, how the internet desperately tries to destroy young women’s lives. Jennifer Lawrence, Brie Larson, now Rachel Zegler and the list goes on. History repeats itself but no one ever seems to actively want to rewrite it. It has become an addiction to annihilate women’s careers. You don’t like them, you bully them in order to not look at your own life choices, because you don’t want to see them winning based on an irrational hatred fueled by whatever it is that fuels you. Women themselves aren’t exempt from speaking badly about other women.
We applaud men who take no shit from anyone but why is it when a woman does the same thing she’s labelled as difficult and too complex. It seems as if they killed a loved family member of yours the way you behave towards them. Fueling a violent and unjust hate train because you’re living out your highschool bully fantasies. Women are marked as "difficult", "loud", "bratty" etc. - an incorrect label to begin with. This could change the outlook of someone’s career even though these comments have no substance. Women who were viewed as "complex" people have been blacklisted from Hollywood simply because they wouldn’t fit a narrative that society and now the internet have put upon them. All this vile behaviour towards women who simply do not want to be put into a box or be defined by other people. Whatever you do it’s either not enough or “too much” and something no one asked for.
Comments like “One Snow destroyed her career and another Snow saved it” are just odd and totally uncalled for as it is. What an odd remark to make about a woman Hollywood is fighting over… It later got labelled as a joke but this just means that one can say the most horrible vindictive shit ever and get away with it because they label it as sarcasm.
You always retort that you want women to “girlboss” their way through life, but the minute you lure them into believing they’re allowed to showcase being autonomous and individuals you start the biggest hate train. It is simply said to have another young woman fall into a trap so that they can hate her unapologetically and without consequences.
Especially men have been vocal about their dislike for Zegler - But why should a man have any opinion on how a woman decided to live her life? She is now twenty two years old and has had nearly everyone and their mother discuss her body, her appearance, her character and her heritage in a very vindictive and twisted way. They shout from the rooftops that she is ugly to them but at the same time the World Wide Web decided that she is only evolving into a Hollywood A-lister because she is pretty- pick an insult. Having been subject to the public eye ever since she was a teenager leaves a mark. The scrutiny of hate that she has had to endure has accompanied her career since the very first day. Someone who is not a man can never just make a mistake, or say the wrong thing because they are put on a pedestal and get pushed down so they break their back to uphold an image of being perfect and without fault.
When the whole world is against you, it gets rather hard to wake up each day and tell yourself that you’re deserving of what you have. You’re a young woman in an industry that doesn’t care if you live or die whilst trying to make your dream a reality. People would much rather attack a young woman than use that energy on a known predator. Rachel has never deserved this treatment and she never will! She did not deserve to be dogpiled by incels on the internet.
You have bullied this young woman so much that she thinks twice about opening her replies on social media, she thinks twice about meeting people, she thinks twice about updating fans on what is happening in her life. Because somewhere someone on the internet is ready to tear her apart because they have an irrational dislike towards her. If you don’t like the films she’s starred in that’s alright, she doesn’t need you to make crude remarks on her as a person time and time again though, she doesn’t need you hurling misogynistic and racist comments at her.
Rachel makes sure to keep in touch with her fans, to engage with them, she speaks up for her film crews, she was on the picket line, she always credits artists- she loves art. Women in the arts are constantly bashed for wanting to create, we are bashed for trying to renew film, we are bashed for speaking up against injustice - we are simply labelled as difficult. Why is it that society does not like seeing women win? And especially young women who do not want to be defined by how others see them?
Why can a young woman in the entertainment industry and especially in the world of film not make mistakes and why are we punishing them for wanting to change an industry that has always been reluctant to being changed?
In no way would I want to absolve Rachel of all criticism, because she herself would not want that. She would not want me, or anyone for that matter, to depict her as picture perfect, because that leaves her with no room to grow. First and foremost she is a human being who is allowed to make mistakes. Whenever she made one, which was always blown out of proportion by the way, she apologised for it and made sure to not do it again. Rachel knows she has faults and she actively tries to better herself as a person as each day passes, where the internet tries to fuel the agenda that she is problematic and undeserving. Trying to better oneself- something you can’t say about most men in Hollywood who have committed heinous crimes and continue doing whatever it is they please without any consequences or anyone holding them accountable.
We have had some unfortunate instances happen but they were certainly not the end of the world. The actress has learned from them and she continues to educate herself and hold herself accountable.
Cut her some slack, it is hard being a woman in film. Rachel Zegler you’re on your way to being an A-lister, congratulations. I cannot wait for what is to come and I cannot wait to put people in their places if I have to.
Rachel can now be seen in The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes. And God is she brilliant.
“Women themselves aren’t exempt from speaking badly about other women.”
I first became aware of Rachel when the casting for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was announced. I did not know anything about her and although I was excited for the adaptation I never looked into the actors casted for the project until two months before the movie came out. The reason why I started reading about her was because of the influx of tiktoks and tweets I was seeing everyday of people saying the worst possible things about her. I initially thought that she might have done something the internet deemed “problematic”. However when i searched her name on twitter the only thing that would come up was those two clips of her interviews talking about snow white. I was baffled by the internet’s reaction to her words because even now I can’t comprehend what upset so many people. You would think from the way incels talked, and still talk, about her that she’s a criminal. But what made me furious was the way so many women were saying awful things about her. I can understand (but I can’t excuse) men being misogynistic but what happened to women supporting women, let alone supporting such a young woman who has spent years living under the public’s scrutiny? It was disappointing to watch, although it should not be surprising since, as you too mention, there are too many examples of women getting criticised simply for the way they breathe.
“All this vile behaviour towards women who simply do not want to be put into a box or be defined by other people. Whatever you do it’s either not enough or “too much” and something no one asked for.”
This makes me so sad because I can’t even imagine our world being accepting of women. Whether you are famous or not, if you are a woman you can’t exist in our society without having others trying to dictate what to do or who to be. I admire Rachel and I look up to her because it takes a lot to have the courage to be the person you want to be. She stays true to herself, both as a person and an artist, and she still manages to do that despite hearing the most vile insults about herself.
This was a great read and even though it focuses on Rachel, it still touches on bigger issues in modern society and internet culture. Lastly there are some parts I would love to share on twitter but I’d like to ask first if you are comfortable with that (I will of course credit you!!). Great writing once again, I loved it and I love miss Rachel Zegler, who deserves to only have pieces this beautiful written about her.
this is great lesley. very thought provoking, with comments on conversations that should not stop until things are corrected