# Do People Hate Anne Hathaway? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 25, 2013, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376 "2013-02-25T21:33:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/121 "2013-03-01T18:07:28Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > To address the OP, I really hadn’t seen anyone hating on her until the media came out saying “Why Does Everybody Hate Anne Hathaway?” It does make me raise an eyebrow. I think sometimes the media leans a little on the side of creating news rather than reporting news. There was this general “we love Jennifer! We hate Anne!” thing happening on Reddit anyway, a day or two before the media picked up on it. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/122 "2013-03-01T21:47:04Z")
She named herself after [Shakespeare’s wife](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Hathaway_%28Shakespeare%29). (Or at any rate, is willing to use that name for a stage name.) What’s not to hate? ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/123 "2013-03-01T21:53:46Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > She named herself after [Shakespeare’s wife](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Hathaway_%28Shakespeare%29). (Or at any rate, is willing to use that name for a stage name.) What’s not to hate? She didn’t name herself that, her parents did… ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/124 "2013-03-01T21:54:12Z")
I feel 99.99% sure that she is not trying to usurp Anne Hathaway I’s place in our collective memory. Among other things, she has a much higher profile as an actress. Secondly, it’s her name, jesus, if we’re going to excoriate people for daring to have the same name as other people, then I want off the planet. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/125 "2013-03-01T21:57:02Z")
I gotta start watching the Academy Awards shows - I was going to suggest that people hated her for dumping Ellen DeGeneres. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/126 "2013-03-01T21:57:35Z")
I think \*\*Merneith \*\*was making a joke - throwing out an intentionally dumb reason to dislike Anne Hathaway. I think it takes guts to keep your real name when it’s synonymous with being a whore who lied about being on the pill to trap a guy into wedlock. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/127 "2013-03-01T22:04:45Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I think \*\*Merneith \*\*was making a joke - throwing out an intentionally dumb reason to dislike Anne Hathaway. I think it takes guts to keep your real name when it’s synonymous with being a whore who lied about being on the pill to trap a guy into wedlock. Funny, but Mrs. Shakespeare is the other Anne Hathaway as far as the general public is concerned and has been for years. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/128 "2013-03-01T22:06:52Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I think it takes guts to keep your real name when it’s synonymous with being a whore who lied about being on the pill to trap a guy into wedlock. Ouch. Mrs. Shakespeare didn’t do anything to deserve that. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/129 "2013-03-01T23:15:52Z")
How do we know she’s not the same person, and immortal? ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2013, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/130 "2013-03-02T10:19:49Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > She didn’t name herself that, her parents did… Hence: (Or at any rate, is willing to use that name for a stage name.) She could have renamed herself something else if she wanted to. People do it all the time in theater. She chooses to work as “Anne Hathaway”. It’s certainly silly but it really does piss me off. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2013, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/131 "2013-03-02T10:32:32Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Hence: (Or at any rate, is willing to use that name for a stage name.) She could have renamed herself something else if she wanted to. People do it all the time in theater. She chooses to work as “Anne Hathaway”. It’s certainly silly but it really does piss me off. It’s her given name. Being offended that she uses it as her “stage name” isn’t _silly_, it’s moronic. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2013, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/132 "2013-03-02T10:47:43Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Hence: (Or at any rate, is willing to use that name for a stage name.) She could have renamed herself something else if she wanted to. People do it all the time in theater. She chooses to work as “Anne Hathaway”. It’s certainly silly but it really does piss me off. It’s not a stage name, it’s her fucking name. Yes, actors sometimes change their names to avoid confusion with others, but I doubt anyone - even you - actually think she’s Shakespeare’s wife. The idea that someone shouldn’t use _their own name_ because you don’t like it is the height of narcissistic obnoxiousness. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2013, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/133 "2013-03-02T12:24:09Z")
Was going to make a Jane Seymour reference, but turns out that is her stage name. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2013, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/134 "2013-03-02T13:03:27Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > It’s not a stage name, it’s her fucking name. Yes, actors sometimes change their names to avoid confusion with others, but I doubt anyone - even you - actually think she’s Shakespeare’s wife. The idea that someone shouldn’t use _their own name_ because you don’t like it is the height of narcissistic obnoxiousness. The fact that her parents started her on this presumptuous path doesn’t give her a pass for deliberately continuing down it. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/135 "2013-03-02T13:37:52Z")
I’m not sure you’re being entirely serious, but if you are, you’re simply blatantly wrong. Each person has a right to use the name their parents gave them, regardless of your or anyone else’s opinion of that name. We might have judgments on the practical implications of some names (for example the proverbial kid named Shithead) but morally speaking, anyone who uses their own given name is in the clear. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/136 "2013-03-02T14:11:55Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > The fact that her parents started her on this presumptuous path doesn’t give her a pass for deliberately continuing down it. What is presumptuous about using ones own name? Even assuming her parents had heard of Shakespeare’s wife when they named her, it’s not like it’s that well know a factoid, Anne is an entirely normal name. I really hope this is a joke gone wrong on your part, and you’re not really this judgemental and, frankly, silly. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2013, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/137 "2013-03-02T15:54:26Z")
Call me cynical, but I doubt if even 50% of the movie-going public knows that Shakespeare’s wife was named Anne Hathaway. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/138 "2013-03-02T16:05:48Z")
> [@lisacurl](#): > > Call me cynical, but I doubt if even 50% of the movie-going public knows that Shakespeare’s wife was named Anne Hathaway. Oh, I’d put it at 85%. Hell, I know it, and there’s days I’d probably draw a blank. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/139 "2013-03-02T18:11:57Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > The fact that her parents started her on this presumptuous path doesn’t give her a pass for deliberately continuing down it. Right. The family’s last name was already Hathaway, but they shoulda steered clear of name Anne, someone already used that 400yrs ago. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376/140 "2013-03-02T20:29:18Z")
> [@the lone cashew](#): > > Right. The family’s last name was already Hathaway, but they shoulda steered clear of name Anne, someone already used that 400yrs ago. Woosh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-hate-anne-hathaway/651376.md?page=8)