# Natalie Portman doesn't like Star Wars!? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 10, 2002, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natalie-portman-doesnt-like-star-wars/108323 "2002-05-10T17:58:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![king\_of\_spain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7cd45c/32.png) [@king\_of\_spain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/king_of_spain)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natalie-portman-doesnt-like-star-wars/108323/21 "2002-05-12T15:04:07Z")
I’m a 19-year-old girl, and I am _dreading_ the AOTC love story bits. I do enjoy a good love story, but Anakin and Amidala don’t particularly interest me as characters and I really don’t have a lot of faith that they’re going to change that. On the other hand, I enjoyed the original series love story a lot - yeah, it wasn’ t all that complex or anything, but I cared about Han and Leia and that makes all the difference. I’m still really excited about AOTC, though. You know why? Because it has lightsaber fights! Who doesn’t like lightsaber fights? Lightsabers! So, yeah, if Portman was being serious she’s full of crap. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natalie-portman-doesnt-like-star-wars/108323/22 "2002-05-12T15:16:01Z")
Why is she full of crap? Why does she have to like the film? ---
**Author:** ![king\_of\_spain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7cd45c/32.png) [@king\_of\_spain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/king_of_spain)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natalie-portman-doesnt-like-star-wars/108323/23 "2002-05-12T15:39:53Z")
She doesn’t - did you read my whole post? I was referring to the “I mean, I’m a girl” part, where she implies that girls only care about beefcake & romance and not adventure. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natalie-portman-doesnt-like-star-wars/108323/24 "2002-05-12T15:58:36Z")
Ah. Your last post didn’t specifically say you were referring to the “I’m a girl” part of her comments. Re-reading the OP, though, that makes sense. Apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natalie-portman-doesnt-like-star-wars/108323/25 "2002-05-12T19:24:38Z")
“I didn’t have this undying need to be an actress. I didn’t have that fire in me ever – at any point. And still, I don’t think I have that within me.” ([imdb.com](http://imdb.com)) Hey, SHE said it. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natalie-portman-doesnt-like-star-wars/108323/26 "2002-05-12T20:25:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lamia \* > \*\*I still can’t believe that anyone thinks that any girl, or boy for that matter, who wouldn’t have otherwise watched the movie is going to be lured into the theater to see it because of the romance angle. If somone is only looking to watch a love story, they sure as hell aren’t going to go see _Star Wars_. \*\* It might be true or at least the studios think that advertising the romance angle will bring more girls in. That’s the only reason I can think movies like Pearl Harbor have romance sub plots. Marc ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natalie-portman-doesnt-like-star-wars/108323/27 "2002-05-12T21:41:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Legomancer \* > \*\*Tee hee! Math is hard! \*\* Why does not liking a sci-fi franchise equal being stupid? Natalie Portman is sooo not stupid. She’s a junior at Harvard and speaks three languages besides English fluently. _Legally Blond_ she ain’t. jayjay ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natalie-portman-doesnt-like-star-wars/108323/28 "2002-05-12T22:07:18Z")
From what I read about Neeson, it was more he wasn’t excited about the whole fanboy base. Other than that, every article seemed like he LOVED playing a Jedi. He loved having a lightsaber, and all that. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2002, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natalie-portman-doesnt-like-star-wars/108323/29 "2002-05-12T23:02:02Z")
Maybe I should take back my earlier post. There was an interview with Portman in a Swedish newspaper. She said exactly the same thing. I still have the impression that she’s not stupid (then again _I_ speak three languages, and I’m not all that smart, just good att BS). So my new line of thought is that she’s been prepped for pressjunket with rehearsed answers that the studio think is appropriate ---
**Author:** ![Abe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f1d935/32.png) [@Abe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natalie-portman-doesnt-like-star-wars/108323/30 "2002-05-13T05:26:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jayjay \* > Why does not liking a sci-fi franchise equal being stupid? I think Legomancer was referring not just to Portman’s apparent disdain of _Star Wars_ and science fiction in general (which, like it or not, is a seminal part of literature and film) but to her comment as quoted by Zebra. That was not a very intelligent comment. > [@](#): > > Natalie Portman is sooo not stupid. She’s a junior at Harvard and speaks three languages besides English fluently. _Legally Blond_ she ain’t. It seems that every time someone’s intelligence is questioned it turns out that they went to Harvard and speak three languages, facts that ought to demonstrate somehow that the person in question can’t be stupid. Not so: what such cases actually demonstrate is that trilingual Harvard alumni are morons. But seriously. Studying at Harvard is no indication of intelligence; speaking three languages is perhaps a slightly better indicator, but not necessarily much. In the case of actors speaking to the public, it is words that ultimately indicate apparent intelligence, and Portman’s words fall short of being terribly bright. Perhaps those lines were fed to her, perhaps they are her own words, but in this business appearance is everything. Anyway, I’m sure she raved about the insipid romance in _Titanic_ and _Pearl Harbor_ too… By the way, on an interview a few days ago I heard Ewan McGregor explain how he was surprised and disappointed by the title “Attack of the Clones”. I have to agree with him, that is a sorry and uninspired title indeed. Months before the release of Episode 2, the Cartoon Network was running ads for the following _I Am Weasel_ special feature: I.R. Strikes Back: ATTACK OF THE KLOWNS I didn’t see the special, but the ad, which had I.R. Baboon ominously sniffing his finger to the soundtrack of heavy Darth Vader breathing, cracked me up. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natalie-portman-doesnt-like-star-wars/108323/31 "2002-05-13T05:40:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jayjay \* > \*\* > > Why does not liking a sci-fi franchise equal being stupid? > > Natalie Portman is sooo not stupid.\*\* “Math is hard” is a reference to a notorious talking Barbie which said that (amongst other things.) Legomancer wasn’t deriding Ms. “Portman”'s intelligence, but (I believe) making a comment about arbitrary cultural ideas about what girls should or shouldn’t like. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natalie-portman-doesnt-like-star-wars/108323/32 "2002-05-13T20:19:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjtm \* > \*\* > > I respectfully disagree… I’m 20 and I gotta say, lightsabers are cool no matter how young you are. So say my friends as well. > > **msmith537** : A love triangle between a space pirate, a naive dirt-farmer and his spoiled sister is cool. Blowing up planets with super-lasers is cool. Yodaisms are cool. \*\* Yeah, but since when does “most kids” or “many people” really apply to the folks on this message board or the people they hang out with? ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2002, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natalie-portman-doesnt-like-star-wars/108323/33 "2002-05-13T21:24:19Z")
[slight hi-jack] Then again, She’s from Isreal. And people from smaller countries/speaking weirder languages/ have to learn more forreign languages. In Sweden we start with English at 9 (and I think you can start at 7) third language at 13 and the 4th at 16. Add to that a large influx of immigrants with kids who speak yet another of 78 languages… It’s not all that strange. [/slight hijack] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/natalie-portman-doesnt-like-star-wars/108323.md?page=1)