Remember that painfully cringeworthy "Imagine" video that circulated in the beginning of quarantine? The one you've tried to scrub from your memory over the past six months? Well, unlike us, who've tried to deny its existence, Gal Gadot remembers: and she's not sorry about it.
In March, the Wonder Woman actress posted a video to her Instagram saying that spending a whole six days in quarantine had her feeling "a bit philosophical," and basically made the kind of "COVID-19 Is The Great Equalizer" argument that has been criticized and disproven (given the virus disproportionately infects and kills black Americans). She then recruited a slew of A-listers — from Natalie Portman to Norah Jones — to (awkwardly and off-key) sing John Lennon's "Imagine" for three minutes from the comfort of their cushy homes and lush backyards.
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It obviously received a ton of backlash, as people (including us) called it tone-deaf, privileged, and a prime example of what celebrities shouldn't be doing with their platforms. New York Times writer Jon Caramanica wrote: “Their genial naïveté is blinding them to the grossest sin here: the smug self-satisfaction, the hubris of the alleged good deed. The presumption that an empty and profoundly awkward gesture from a passel of celebrities has any meaning whatsoever borders on delusion — what you see in this video is nothing more than perspective-fogged stars singing into a mirror."
However, in an interview with Vanity Fair, for which Gadot is the November cover star, the Israeli actress replied with "a smile and a shrug" when asked about the video. “Sometimes, you know, you try and do a good deed and it’s just not the right good deed. I had nothing but good intentions and it came from the best place, and I just wanted to send light and love to the world."
"I started with a few friends, and then I spoke to Kristen [Wiig]," she continued. "Kristen is like the mayor of Hollywood. Everyone loves her, and she brought a bunch of people to the game. But yeah, I started it, and I can only say that I meant to do something good and pure, and it didn’t transcend. [...]. I just came to the conclusion: I do me, you do you. I’d rather have you not liking me at this moment than not saying my truth.”
It's OK, you can go back to repressing it again.
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