Emma Stone is addressing the backlash over the graphic 𝓈ℯ𝓍 scenes in her latest film, “Poor Things.”
In the comedy fantasy film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, Stone plays Bella Baxter, a Victorian era London woman who is resurrected from the dead by a scientist who swaps out her brain with the brain of a 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦. Baxter then hooks up with a dissolute lawyer whom she becomes 𝓈ℯ𝓍ually liberated with.
In a new interview with BBC Radio 4’s Front Row this week, Stone defended the film’s risqué moments, which include masturbation visuals, after host Samira Ahmed called the scenes “quite graphic” and “unusual” to see “these days in Hollywood.”
“[Sex] is obviously a huge part of her experience and her growth, as it is, I think, for most people in life. But I see it as just one aspect of many: her discovery of food, philosophy, travel and dance. Sex is another aspect,” the Oscar winner said of her character.
She added: “One of the things that we had talked about from very early on, and I thought was extremely important, was that Bella is completely free and without shame about her body. She doesn’t know to be embarrassed by these things or to cover things up or not dive into the full experience when it comes to anything.”
Stone went on to explain that omitting controversial scenes from the film felt dishonest.
“So for the camera to sort of shy away from that, or to say, ‘OK, well, we’ll just cut all of this out because our society functions in a particular way’…felt like a lack of being honest about who Bella is,” she continued.
(Poor things) it’s been several days but this is still bothering me. Did anyone else find it weird how long the 𝓈ℯ𝓍 scene in front of the two little boys went on? If the purpose of that was to show that her job was undesirable, there were other (or shorter) ways to do that. pic.twitter.com/DDM9SseTmZ
— Dani || ᖭི༏ᖫྀ (@Dan0nat0r) January 16, 2024
Doubling down on the importance of the scenes, Stone added that she’s “not a person that just wants to be nɑƙeɗ all the time.”
“But I am someone who wants to honor the character as fully as I possibly can. That’s part of her journey, so who am I to say that should be shameful?” the actor said.
“Poor Things,” which scored Stone the Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy at this month’s Golden Globes, caused quite the stir on social media after its release.
Here’s what moviegoers on X (formerly Twitter) had to say about the film’s 𝓈ℯ𝓍 scenes.
(Poor things) loved the movie but can someone explain why its ok for her to have 𝓈ℯ𝓍 when she’s said to have the brain + consciousness of a toddler/young 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥? Not even the maturity, a literal babies brain was implanted in her mind and it couldn’t have been more than a few years pic.twitter.com/l5rlJWpVSx
— Dani || ᖭི༏ᖫྀ (@Dan0nat0r) January 15, 2024
Thought emma stone was incredible in poor things but i hated the movie so so much – a completely indulgent male fantasy wrapped up as an arthouse film also hate hate hate how it presented 𝓈ℯ𝓍 work
— sarah (@sarahmulgrewxo) January 16, 2024
I wanted to watch Poor Things but I don’t think I can get past the whole infant brain in adult woman’s body having 𝓈ℯ𝓍
— Lana Del Taco🇵🇸 (@EdithPuthie445) January 14, 2024
