Cate Blanchett is on the receiving end of ire from metalheads after she made some incredibly patronizing comments to Margot Robbie for liking heavy metal.
The two actresses were guests on a recent episode of The Graham Norton Show. Host Graham Norton asks Robbie in the clip below if she was a goth. She said she was more emo and that she, at one point, “… listened only to heavy metal music.” Blanchett then asks Robbie, “Does anyone like heavy metal music? Was that something you genuinely liked?” Robbie responds by saying, “I genuinely, and I still genuinely like it.” Blanchett then asked, “Do you like monster trucks and things like that?”
Robbie then recalled a time when she attended a Slipknot concert while she was still a regular cast member on the Australian soap opera Neighbours. She said, “I’ve never had more people come up to me ever than at a Slipknot concert. The crossover … it wasn’t monster trucks and Slipknot; it was ‘Neighbours’ and Slipknot.” Robbie added, “It was so unexpected! They were so worried about the characters … No, I genuinely like that kind of music.” Blanchett then snobbily responded, “So, it’s family listening.”
The comment section on YouTube for this clip is filled with people taking Blanchett to task for her attitude toward metal music. One person wrote, “A common misconception about punks and metalheads is that they’re largely extroverted and aggressive. In my experience, people who skew towards heavy music (myself included) are often quite reserved in other arenas of life. Monster trucks? I’d prefer a book and a cat.” Another person wrote, “That comment about heavy metal music tho… very sad that some people still don’t treat it as music…”
Meanwhile, another person added, “What an ignorance some people have and what a high horse they are on. Metal is a saviour for a lot of people. It helped me through my childhood and I am forever great full for that. It’s a culture, it’s magical, it’s a release, and it is a way more accepting community than most people.”
In other words: Cate Blanchett should get that stick out of her butt and actually attend a metal show, because they’re among the most incredible forms of entertainment ever.