An old Vanity Fair profile of Margot Robbie has resurfaced online containing the ‘unhinged’ claim that Australia is a country full of ‘throwback people’ 50 years behind the USA.
The 2016 interview with the Barbie star, 33, which was penned by American author Rich Cohen, asserting that all Australians still ‘live and die with the plot turns of soap operas in Melbourne and Perth’.
Australian writer and critic Alexander Wells, shared the article’s opening passage on Saturday sparking uproar by almost a million commenters.
‘With Margot Robbie all over the news again, I cannot stop thinking about the 2016 Vanity Fair profile of her that my country will never forget,’ he said.
To understand Robbie, you need to understand Australia, Mr Cohen claims.
‘Australia is America 50 years ago, sunny and slow, a throwback, which is why you go there for throwback people,’ he writes.
The piece was met with howls of derision, with some branding it ‘insane’ and ‘unhinged’.
The author also provoked mockery when he referenced Robbie’s ‘isolated’ home on the Gold Coast – a bustling metropolitan region which attracts millions of tourists each year.
Others criticised the article’s patronising tone and its alleged sexism.
‘I can’t believe this article was written in this century, the levels of sexism are medieval,’ wrote one.
It was met with a similar reaction when it was first published in 2016.
In fact, the criticism reached such a fever pitch back then that the Wolf of Wall Street star was forced to comment on it herself.
Robbie told Network Ten’s The Project that she found the interview ‘really weird’ but was proud to see her fellow countrymen defend Australia’s reputation.
‘I remember thinking that was a really odd interview, I don’t know how that’s going to come out,’ said Robbie.
‘And then when I read it I was like, ‘Yeah, the tone of this is really weird’. Like, I don’t really know what he’s trying to get at,’ she added.
Robbie said she was surprised by the reaction because she had read ‘far more offensive, far more sexist, insulting, derogatory, disgusting things on a daily basis’.
The Oscar nominee decided not to publicly respond to article or the controversy but claimed she was happy to see fans criticise her portrayal
‘I didn’t say anything and I had like bit of Aussie pride where I was like, ‘Don’t mess with the Aussies! Look what happens when you mess with Australia!’
However, there were some recent commenters who appeared to agree with the author’s out-of-touch assessment of Australia.
‘A lot of angry Australians in the comments section but this author is right,’ wrote one.
‘He’s not talking about aesthetics he’s talking about spiritually and vibes wise it is 50 years behind America. Australia is a right wing hellhole.’
