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Radio 4 Today Programme - Miriam Margolyes

73 replies

JoodyBlue · 15/10/2022 09:36

Miriam Margolyes on Radio 4 Today programme earlier talking about Robbie Coltrane. Justin Webb says something like - he was firm in his support for JKR - MM replies - well it is a difficult area, as a gay woman, I just want everybody to do what they want -

It is an example of how so many in the entertainment industry in particular have failed to examine the subject at all. What are the consequences of everyone doing what they want Miriam? I am astounded at the lack of curiosity in general in our current culture. Did anyone else hear it?

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JanieAllen · 15/10/2022 09:41

If its any help my mother was at Cambridge with Margolies and says she was bonkers then - I'm not sure Margolies can think intelligently about anything.... and of course wanting to keep hold of her lucrative contracts. God I have this recurring fantasy that every single crappy actor who didn't support JKR is fired on the next round of filming.

heathspeedwell · 15/10/2022 09:44

When you see how cowardly so many people are on this, it really highlights how brave and thoughtful Rowling is.

TwoBlondes · 15/10/2022 09:45

But she was right about Jeremy Hunt 😬

UWhatNow · 15/10/2022 09:46

I think her finest acting is where she convinces people that she’s a charming, loveable curmudgeon.

ResisterRex · 15/10/2022 09:51

I only heard the clip but I thought she was out of order. Saying "fuck you" at what? 8am? You might have it on in the car driving your kids as I often do around that time. She's an idiot. I don't know why grown adults are lauding her on Twitter.

Same goes for whoever it was that said "bollocks" on channel 4 news before the watershed.

There are boundaries of decency and acceptability for a reason. Boundaries some people feel unashamed about trampling. And no I don't care if I sound boring and old I'm saying this.

LizzieSiddal · 15/10/2022 09:51

Yes she was right about Hunt. She said that for the nation.

Pung · 15/10/2022 09:52

She's always struck me as being thick as mince tbh

zanahoria · 15/10/2022 09:58

I used to like her but she has begun to irritate -always seems to be putting on the same act all the bloody time.

KatMcBundleFace · 15/10/2022 09:59

July 2020
"She (JKR) has a rather conservative view of transgender people. I don’t think I do.”

When we return to the subject she adds: “I can’t make it out. It’s a matter of personal happiness for people and I think that’s what you should concentrate on. If you seriously want to become a woman you should be allowed to. You can’t be fascist about it. I think it’s confusing.”

April 22
"There isn’t one answer to all these trans questions,” she told Radio Times. “We all know people who are slightly pansy or a bit butch or whatever you call it. But I think the vituperation that JK Rowling has received is misplaced. I don’t know her at all. I admire her as a human being. She’s a generous woman, she’s a brilliant writer.”

Margolyes, 80, responded to the suggestion that she could broker an understanding between Rowling and Watson: “I would if anybody asked me.”

🤔

Kendodd · 15/10/2022 10:01

TwoBlondes · 15/10/2022 09:45

But she was right about Jeremy Hunt 😬

Agreed.
She spoke for (some) of the nation on that.

DadDadDad · 15/10/2022 10:02

Just transcribed that bit of the interview with Justin Webb from Today. (I suspect this interview will be remembered for other reasons!):

JW: [Robbie Coltrane] stood by J K Rowling, didn't he, when she started to get it in the neck from some trans activists-

MM: Yes, I don't-

JW: But he stuck with her and very forcibly so.

MM: Good for him. Good for him. I... it's a difficult area, and as a gay woman, I don't know what to say about it. I just want everybody to do what they want. But, mmm, yes-

JW: But when it comes to J K Rowling, you... everyone who was involved in the Harry Potter franchise has had to make a decision, haven't they? Do we say "look, she's a wonderful woman, and it's an extraordinary thing" or do they cut her out as some have and just put her to one side? And he was very much on the side-

MM: - yes, well -

JW: - of sticking with her

MM: - I'm with him. I would absolutely not put her to one side. I think that's just silly. Let's talk it through. Anyway, the thing about Robbie... [conversation moves away from topic]

Musomama1 · 15/10/2022 10:02

Just shows the chasm between Margolis and the likes of Graham Norton...the HP stars and then class acts like Robbie Coltrane who stuck by JKR.

Winterthoughts · 15/10/2022 10:03

"ii just want everybody to do what they want": the implications of this seem so big as not to be seen in detail. What if doing what I want impinges/pushes/, ignores someone else's boundaries?!

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JoodyBlue · 15/10/2022 10:04

TwoBlondes · 15/10/2022 09:45

But she was right about Jeremy Hunt 😬

Whatever I think about Jeremy Hunt, I don't think saying "f* off" to anyone really wins any arguments. Smart people talk about issues rather than personalities.

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GlassDeli · 15/10/2022 10:05

Has she had men telling her she should sleep with them because they are 'women'? Has she been intimidated in a changing room by 'women' with penises? Has she been overlooked for work and replaced by a 'woman' with a Y chromosome? Shame on her for gleefully putting the Kingdom of Wokedom above the sisterhood.

nettie434 · 15/10/2022 10:06

UWhatNow · 15/10/2022 09:46

I think her finest acting is where she convinces people that she’s a charming, loveable curmudgeon.

That is excellent! I don't mind her being contrarian but there is usually an undercurrent of malice in what she says.

I see For Women Scotland have tweeted this link to an article in the Scottish Daily Express about the 'glad the transphobe is dead' tweets about Robbie Coltrane:

twitter.com/scotexpress/status/1581000378581409792?s=61&t=74aGelZHlzJs4_LOgKY-Wg

FlamingoSocks · 15/10/2022 10:06

Not a MM fan but I think she was articulating the tension between “be kind” and “hang on there seems to be some unintended consequences going on here…..”. Of course we all would love to live in a world where everyone could do what they wanted!

Musomama1 · 15/10/2022 10:07

PP I think that thought is the essence of this. Most people I know including myself are liberal, but it's inconvenient thinking that there are some limits and boundaries, particularly those which may be unpopular.

LizzieSiddal · 15/10/2022 10:09

Whatever I think about Jeremy Hunt, I don't think saying "f off" to anyone really wins any arguments. Smart people talk about issues rather than personalities.*

But she didn’t say that to him, she said “good luck” to him, and then added “I actually wanted to say fuck off, you bastard, but I couldn’t say that could I”.

Original poster
JoodyBlue · 15/10/2022 10:11

you can't have liberalism without boundaries because one person's freedom can be another's oppression. On this board the freedom for males to go wherever and do whatever they like oppresses women who can fall victim to that. It isn't hard to understand, one just has to be prepared to consider it. I find it astounding there are so many who don't. I know I don't need to convince people here - just letting off steam really.

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ChagSameachDoreen · 15/10/2022 10:12

I can't abide Margolyes since reading her memoir, which should be subtitled "All the men I've blown."

She's vile.

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JoodyBlue · 15/10/2022 10:12

@LizzieSiddal I was paraphrasing, but I don't really see much distinction between the two.

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GrammarTeacher · 15/10/2022 10:15

She is allowed to have a different opinion to you. Many people do.

thelionthewitchtheaudacityofTHISbitch · 15/10/2022 10:15

UWhatNow · 15/10/2022 09:46

I think her finest acting is where she convinces people that she’s a charming, loveable curmudgeon.

^^ this