Despite the proliferation of online, VOD and television premieres, there’s still something about a tangible red carpet that rarely fails to make headlines. Even if your guest list peaks with that girl who was from that thing or a dog in a suit.
It’s therefore an obvious place for theatrics and those wishing to convey a message of protest. This week has seen one of the more successful examples in recent memory, at least in terms of media coverage, with the invasion of Suffragette’s London film festival premiere by feminist group Sisters Uncut. The red carpet was infiltrated by women who wanted to bring attention to recent cuts to domestic violence services. Purple and green smoke bombs were set off as stars were interviewed nearby.
It’s an unusual protest given that the activists weren’t actually in opposition to the film itself but were using it to amplify a cause that works in tandem, and it might explain why the protesters managed to gain access to the carpet itself. The reactions from the stars (Helena Bonham Carter called it the “perfect” response to the film) reflected how well the commotion worked for the film’s campaign, relying heavily on a faux-anarchist message.
But things don’t always work out so well for the film studios, for understandable reasons …
The 1992 Oscars
Inarguably Hollywood’s most visible red carpet, the Oscars has been used by many to shift the focus away from congratulating highly paid actors to highlighting more pressing issues. In 1992, there was anger from some about the representations of LGBT villains in films such as The Silence of the Lambs, JFK and Basic Instinct. A gay activist group called Queer Nation arrived in their hundreds and a chaotic confrontation ensued with police allegedly attacking protesters and ensuring they were gone before the stars arrived.
Bedazzled
There aren’t many reasons to remember the 2000 remake of Bedazzled but perhaps the most oddball factoid relates to an actors’ protest that took place at the LA premiere. Star Elizabeth Hurley was the focus after she crossed picket lines to star in an Estée Lauder commercial and it led to some entertainingly worded signs such as ‘Elizabeth Scably U make me hurl!’ and ‘The making of a SCAB: starring ‘Elizabeth Scably’”’
Fifty Shades of Grey
There was a predictably varied palette of shade thrown at the S&M blockbuster when it finally premiered earlier this year with a number of warring protests launching during its UK premiere. There was an understandably irate collective of domestic violence campaigners unhappy with the film’s troubling message but also a smaller group of passionate folk who engaged in a “spanking protest” due to anger over changes made to the laws around kink in pornography.
The Longest Ride
Rule number one for budding protesters: always ensure that you’ve done your research. Earlier this year, angry PETA placard-holders arrived at the premiere of sappy Nicholas Sparks adaptation The Longest Ride to display their fury at the film’s use of rodeo scenes which are cruel to bulls. But the film’s studio Fox snapped back at them to claim they were “misinformed” and the focus was on ethical bull riding rather than the rodeo. The Professional Bull Riders’ association, a thing, also claimed that the bulls were “treated like rock stars”, which conjures up some fantastical, borderline nightmarish, imagery.
Magic Mike XXL
An unlikely example of a protest that was entirely unrelated to the film it was rallying against, nor the content or the stars involved in Magic Mike XXL were the target here but rather Sofia Vergara. The Modern Family star was attending the premiere to support her partner Joe Mangianello and was set upon by pro-life campaigners who were enraged by the legal battle between Vergara and her ex over her frozen embryos. Placards read ‘Sofia: Unfreeze your daughters, unfreeze your heart.’
Stonewall
Anger towards Roland Emmerich’s gay riots drama Stonewall has been circulating ever since online commenters found the first trailer to focus on an overly white cisgender view of history. It continued to brew with many pushing for a boycott and the recent Toronto premiere saw a group of protesters shout the word “shame” as stars walked the red carpet. A trans activist who didn’t see the film said that it was “problematic in quite a few ways”.
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