There’s no denying Margot Robbie is just about everywhere at the moment, thanks in part to the stunning success of Barbie, which she produced and stars in.
Her currency has also brought renewed interest in the actress’ meteoric rise to fame, from Neighbour’s regular to blockbuster mainstay.
But as many of us look back in admiration at Robbie’s success story, an interesting profile from 2016 has also resurfaced, and the internet is not impressed by its portrayal of the actress, or Australia in general.
The Vanity Fair article, written by current contributing editor Rich Cohen, was written early on in Robbie’s career, ahead of the release of two of her hit films: The Legend of Tarzan and Suicide Squad.
Cohen opens the article with seriously backhanded description of Robbie’s beauty:
“She is 26 and beautiful, not in that otherworldly, catwalk way but in a minor knock-around key, a blue mood, a slow dance. She is blonde but dark at the roots. She is tall but only with the help of certain shoes. She can be sexy and composed even while naked but only in character.”
This opener is eerily foreboding of a debate that recently took place on Twitter, where (mostly) male users attempted to convince the rest of us that Robbie (who, by most measures, is one of the most traditionally beautiful women in the world) classifies as ‘mid.’
Cohen then goes on to describe Australia, where Robbie originally heralds from, as “America 50 years ago.”
“Australia is…sunny and slow, a throwback, which is why you go there for throwback people. They still live and die with the plot turns of soap operas in Melbourne and Perth, still dwell in a single mass market in Adelaide and Sydney.”
Unsurprisingly, Australians were quick to clap back at this description, with one Twitter user writing, “I may not have been alive 50 years ago but a lot of places I’ve been in the States straight up look like Australia 25 years ago.”
“Yeah not taking any “America 50 years ago” from a country that can’t do bank transfers or use PayPass without having to sign a receipt,” another person chimed in.
Cohen even went on to describe Robbie’s hometown of the Gold Coast as “the sleepiest part of a sleepy city at the bottom of the world,” a description that most Aussie’s would agree is entirely at odds with the city’s colourful nightlife and vibrant tourism.
As well as resurfacing the profile, the internet has also tracked down Robbie’s own thoughts on the piece, including an interview on The Project where she admitted it was “really weird”.
“I remember thinking that was a really odd interview, I don’t know how that’s going to come out,” she said at the time.
“And then when I read it I was like, ‘Yeah, the tone of this is really weird’. Like, I don’t really know what he’s trying to get at.”
And, joining the chorus of Aussies taking a stand against the article, she added, “I was like, ‘Don’t mess with the Aussies!’”
“Look what happens when you mess with Australia!”
We love to see it.
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