I Just Don't Like Her
December 28th 2007 18:33
She has earned fame and fortune as an actor, director and producer; she has been the muse of Woody Allen, won almost every major acting award, and been in some of the most memorable movies ever made. She is Diane Keaton, a superstar and extraordinarily talented woman. But I just don’t like her.
Why? The truth is, I’m not at all sure. I know she’s a gifted actress and by all accounts she’s a lovely person. I have a sneaking suspicion it’s the ‘slacks’ and ‘blouses’ – Lord but I hate those words! – or the ties and bowler hats, but I hope I’m not that superficial.
Could it perhaps be her affair with Allen? He’s a genius, for sure, but can she be forgiven for stroking more than Woody’s ego? It’s hard to know.
I thought that maybe I’d just gone off her because of her films over the last decade. Although I feel for aging actresses, who often get the cold shoulder from Hollywood once their boobs drop below their armpits, Keaton has done remarkably poorly in recent years. Hanging Up, which she also directed, was a travesty, as was Town and Country. She did well in Something’s Gotta Give, although I wasn’t particularly fond of it, and alright again in The Family Stone, despite the movie being rather average. Her latest film, Because I Said So, was a total mistake.
But it’s not just her most recent work that puts me off her. She annoyed me in The First Wives Club and The Father of the Bride, and even though I can recognise that she was brilliant as Annie Hall, I was rather less than enraptured by her even then.
She is definitely kooky, but I love kooky. So why don’t I love her? What do you think of Diane Keaton? And why in God’s name does she have to wear the ugliest clothes in existence?
Michaelie Clark
With feminine clothes and layered hair - a whole other Diane. Image courtesy of askmen.com
Could it perhaps be her affair with Allen? He’s a genius, for sure, but can she be forgiven for stroking more than Woody’s ego? It’s hard to know.
Diane and Woody in Annie Hall - she actually pulled off the masculine look back in 1977, which is more than I can say for Woody. Image courtesy of gonemovies.com
In her tux at the premiere of The Family Stone - Image courtesy of celebritywonder.com
But it’s not just her most recent work that puts me off her. She annoyed me in The First Wives Club and The Father of the Bride, and even though I can recognise that she was brilliant as Annie Hall, I was rather less than enraptured by her even then.
Very strange indeed - Image courtesy of thebosh.com
She is definitely kooky, but I love kooky. So why don’t I love her? What do you think of Diane Keaton? And why in God’s name does she have to wear the ugliest clothes in existence?
Michaelie Clark
| 158 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
Comment by tlcorbin
Coffee Quip
Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
MS Paint Art
Good, well done, post, as usual, why am I turning green?
katyzzz
Comment by Anonymous
What about the irritating blokes? LIke Will Ferral ...
Jo
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
For me its bland actresses with no on screen personality like Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock etc that annoy and frustrate....but I know why I don't like them, can't think of any off hand that get on my nerves for no reason.
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Yeah, hard to know who is stranger - Woody because he's Woody, or Diane for voluntarily sleeping with him!
Michaelie
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
I don't expect her to be beautiful, I just expect her to wear shoes. And put away her tartan gladrags and silver gloves.
Michaelie
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Teri Hatcher and Will Ferrell are two that really annoy me as well. And Ellen Pompeo from Grey's Anatomy. She never opens her eyes or mouth enough!
Glad someone else dislikes Keaton for no apparent reason!
Michaelie
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
There are reasons, just none that would usually outweigh the fact that she is a good actress. Even in those last few substandard ones, she did better than the others, though she didn't do as well as she used to.
Maybe it is Woody and the hats after all.
Thanks,
Michaelie
Comment by Mr Nice Guy
Pop Culturist
Pop Rock Factory
Keaton falls into the biege category of mine.
Don't like her enough to defend her - but don't dislike her enough to body slam her either.
Cheers
MNG
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Great to see you MNG, hope your Christmas/New Year's is going well!
Michaelie
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Then I saw Sleeper. Wow - she looked great and turned up a great comic role.
Then I saw Tell Me Again, Sam, and she was sublime.
Upon rewatching Annie Hall in the cinema, I was hypnotized, finally seeing what those 70s audiences were seeing...
I haven't seen anything with her recently, though...
Comment by Mike Crowl
Webitz
Work Report
Comment by Annie M
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Adore is a strong word.
Don't watch any of her recent stuff or look at pics of her traipsing about barefoot with silver gloves on, or you might change your mind.
I think Mike is right (I feel for you, trapped in an aeroplane with that movie playing) those are her better films, but it is like she has just gotten stuck fashion wise and become a bit desperate with her acting, and it has definitely gone against her. It has become really annoying.
I hope you can keep loving her. I can't even watch her objectively in Annie Hall now, and I think that's where she was at her best!
Thank you both.
Michaelie
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Thank you
Mich
Comment by Ash
Australian Traveller
Flashes of memories
I have to go with the majority here - she`s one of those actresses who fall into the 'doesn`t really bother me' category.
But anything to do with woody Allen??? YUK! I`m SOOOO glad to see that I`m not the only one who despises the little man. I used to think I was odd for not falling into the category ofthose who think him a cinema genius!
She certainly does have a weird style doesn`t she????
Ash
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Weird is an understatement. She gallavants about in top hats and tartan suits, looking like a complete nutter, making movies like Hanging Up and Because I Said So, and she wonders why no one can take her seriously anymore!
The 'masculine look' worked well back in Annie Hall, but she's taken it on for too long and lost the plot with it and the simplicity it's supposed to have - looking feminine in contrast with the basic lines of men's clothing.
And yeah, Woody Allen. Enough said really!
Thanks Ash!
Michaelie
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Comment by Mike Crowl
Webitz
Work Report
Comment by Tracy
Movies and Life
I think you were brave to do such indepth research on someone you can't bear
Tracy
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
But in every other way - even as an actor - I find him to be really repulsive. This is weird for me since I usually find talent extremely appealing (not that this is (necessarily) about shagability), even against the odds, as you may recall from my QT post, lol.
But he is your favourite director? I didn't know that, wouldn't have guessed it, and find it very interesting. Have you done any posts on him?
Michaelie
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
The independent rental stores are usually worth a go.
Michaelie
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Haha, I think I am intrigued by my own aversion to her!
Mich
Comment by Mike Crowl
Webitz
Work Report
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Comment by What's Your Story?
What's Your Story?
Big Day Plunge
I wish she'd move on from all that masculine get-ups though!
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Myself, I find the best way to watch old Allen films is get them at the Library. The Woollahra library has his entire body of work, up till the 90s, I think.
Michaelie, yeah, he's my favourite. Very well-read, very consistent. Sure, he's gotten a little annoying trying to play the same character, over and over, but he seems like he's trying to be Groucho Marx in films of his favourite directors.
While he's had ups and downs, I don't think I've ever watched an Allen movie that was bad enough that I didn't want to finish it. The worst one would have to be Hollywood Ending, I suppose.
And I've reviewed quite a few of his movies:
Play it again, Sam
The Purple Rose of Cairo
Husbands and Wives
Manhattan Murder Mystery
He's made 38 movies in 40 years, and they've all been watchable. Can you imagine?
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Yeah, it's been over thirty years since Annie Hall - time to let the man pants go! I don't mind eccentricity, but not when it feels cultivated.
Thanks!
Michaelie
Comment by What's Your Story?
What's Your Story?
Big Day Plunge
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Yeah, it's amazing he's been able to keep it up and keep evolving. Sometimes he gets a bit too heavy on the Freudian stuff, like he's trying to sort out his own neuroses through film - but then so many people do this in some way.
Mostly I find him to be very clever and quite relevant. But I find it very hard to reconcile that with my other feelings about him!
Mich
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Mich
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
More on Allen - perhaps to your dismay - I believe you read a post I did on "Knocked Up", and how a New Yorker reviewer liked it, but denigrated it for portraying women so poorly.
In the same article, Denby commends Allen for his postmodern take on the romantic comedy... in both "Manhattan" and "Annie Hall", he loses the girl, due to his own faults. Allen loves to write roles for women; though he may not write them very realistically, I think he's a great admirer of the female intellect.
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Hah! That doesn't surprise me too much - but it's quite funny I think, in light of some of his own personal life! I can recognise the slant he puts on his female protagonists, and I do find it rather refreshing. He does deconstruct a lot, to his credit mostly, and I do think he can be pretty realistic with it, just not from a really general angle.
Bloody hell - now you have me making allowances for him! He's still ugly and annoying.
Mich
Comment by Patricia 7
Inside my Mind
Free Speech
She is pretty talented to boot and she seems down to earth.
I think she's just one of those people that get under your skin and you will never know why. For me, that person is Tyra Banks. Much like you, I have no idea why she annoys me because she seems like a lovely person, but she does...
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
Thanks Patricia!
Michaelie
Comment by Patricia 7
Inside my Mind
Free Speech
Or a Tyra Banks
Comment by Anonymous
I don't know how Allen ever had sex with anyone other than himself. We have a rule in my family that the male lover has to be taller than the female lover so he'd never get with the women of my family on that basis. However, the fact that he's butt ugly wouldn't hinder him at all - in fact it's a prerequisite to joining our family. If you saw some of us you'd know what I mean!
Love your work
Pamela
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit
I'm quite sure at least some of your family members are quite beautiful! Surely not Woody-worthy, at any rate.
I know someone who announces their disinterest in a conversation midway if it is not to their liking. At least your microsleeps and mini-musings aren't that rude!
Michaelie
Comment by Anonymous
I also know and love someone who announces their disinterest as soon as it becomes apparent to them.
I don't actually see it as rude - more as a time saving mechanism!
Keep up the good work.
Pamela
Comment by Michaelie
Flick Wit