- Tuesday 21 May 2013
- My Account
- Logout
- Register
- Login
- News
-
Voices
-
Find by writer
- Yasmin Alibhai-Brown
- Rebecca Armstrong
- Memphis Barker
- Terence Blacker
- Chris Blackhurst
- David Blanchflower
- Archie Bland
- Ian Burrell
- Andrew Buncombe
- Ben Chu
- Patrick Cockburn
- Laura Davis
- Mary Dejevsky
- Grace Dent
- Robert Fisk
- Andrew Grice
- Stefano Hatfield
- Philip Hensher
- Ian Herbert
- Howard Jacobson
- Ellen E Jones
- Alice Jones
- Owen Jones
- Simon Kelner
- Dominic Lawson
- Donald Macintyre
- Lisa Markwell
- Comment
- Campaigns
- Debate
- Editorials
- Letters
- IV Drip
- Archive
- Our Voices
- Commentators
- Columnists
- Democracy 2015
- IV Drip Archive
-
Find by writer
- Sport
- Tech
- Life
- Property
- Arts & Ents
- Travel
- Money
- IndyBest
- Blogs
- Student
Thursday 5 April 2012
Laurie Penny: The tweet that had Ryan Gosling fans in a spin
Notebook
I appear to have been rescued from minor peril by an A-list celebrity. I assumed that this sort of thing happened regularly in New York, because every day here feels a bit like living on a film set. At least one Hollywood actor is a regular face in anti-police demonstrations at Union Square – a nice man who once gave me a cigarette and who probably doesn't want his political affiliations revealed without his permission. Actors are working people too, and deserve a little privacy.
So when I tweeted on Tuesday that silver-screen dreamboat Ryan Gosling had just stopped me from walking in front of a speeding taxi, I didn't quite expect the reaction that followed. I was rushing to a meeting in a pink wig, and I am a bit of a walking catastrophe at the best of times. I regularly forget that cars come in the opposite direction in America, so this is far from the first time that a passing Samaritan has had to prevent me from ambling into the traffic. This time, it happened to be Ryan Gosling, star of Drive, The Notebook and The Ides of March and moistener of millions of fans across the moviegoing universe. I am 99 per cent sure that it was Ryan Gosling, unless he has an identical twin brother with a penchant for natty denim jackets. This, my lady friends tell me, is proof that America loves me and wants me to be happy.
I am informed that there are lots of women and not a few men who would gladly walk into traffic in order to be rescued by Ryan Gosling. I am not one of them, and I would like to take this opportunity to encourage road safety on the streets of New York: statistically speaking, if you toss yourself in front of a taxi today there's a good chance Ryan Gosling won't be there to save you. Personally, the only celebrities I really go weak at the knees for are major science-fiction authors, Rachel Maddow and Ellen DeGeneres.
As a feminist, it is rather irritating that I have finally become tabloid-famous in the guise of a simpering damsel in distress. But my mobile phone and email went mad, and I woke up to stories about Gosling the "lifesaver" in The New York Observer, The Huffington Post and even The Washington Post. This is final proof that America has gone mad, lost all sense of perspective, and badly needs to be rescued from itself – possibly not by Ryan Gosling, decent and upstanding chap though he undoubtedly is. I was determined not to play at all, but among the reams of interview requests was one from the Ellen DeGeneres Show. Now there's a woman I'd leap in front of a taxi to meet...
The backlash is spreading
Back in the real world, women in America have bigger problems than the occasional speeding cab. In Nebraska they will soon be forced to carry dead or dying foetuses to term. And now those who see the political capital to be made by stoking a cultural backlash against women's liberation are coming for contraception.
The strategy seems to have been noted in Britain, where Andrew Lansley has criticised abortion doctors for prioritising women's right to choose – just days after completing his attack on the NHS. If it's a coincidence, it's one that follows a familiar pattern: divide and rule.
-
Austerity has hardened the nation's heart
Yasmin Alibhai Brown -
Voices in Danger: In Pakistan, state brutality makes journalism a dangerous business
Voices in Danger -
The chasm that could swallow Cameron alive
Donald Macintyre -
The Daily Cartoon
-
The moral case on tax avoidance is overwhelming - and we all know Google wants to do the right thing
Owen Jones
-
Letters: Of course big business loves the EU
-
The so-called 'Robin Hood Tax' will rob pensioners and small businesses not just bankers
-
Ed Miliband is staring at an open goal and I know just the pair of strikers to win it for him
-
Never fall ill at a weekend - our out-of-hours health service is a disgrace
-
Poll: Does the fact that Boris Johnson has a love child change your opinion of the Mayor?
-
Internet porn is no kind of education, but LOLcats and Tumblr (almost) make up for it
Get your summer started with British Military Fitness
BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes
Visit York
Find out what The Independent's resident travel expert has to say about one of the most beautiful small cities in the world
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Laurie Penny
-
It’s too late for Amanda Todd, but we must out the cyber-bullies
-
The Golden Dawn: A love of power and a hatred of difference on the rise in the cradle of democracy
-
The right time to debate abortion limits, or just the right time for a diversion?
-
The right time to debate abortion limits, or just the right time for a diversion?
-
Why do we care about Megan Stammers from Eastbourne but not "Suzie" from Rochdale?
Related Articles
Get the best in opinion from Independent Voices, straight to your inbox every Thursday lunchtime.
Subscribe
Amol Rajan
A weekly update from the Editor
iJobs General
Senior IP Associate / Partner - Manchester
Excellent Salary Package - £60K to £120K: Austen Lloyd: We have an exciting op...
Java Developer
£200 - £250 per day: Progressive Recruitment: Java Developer - Urgent Requirem...
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE ARCHITECT, SAP
£70000 - £95000 per annum + Bonus, flexible working hours, remote work: Progre...
SAP BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE SENIOR CONSULTANT
£50000 - £56000 per annum + Benefits package, flexible working hours: Progress...
Day In a Page
Why clubs are keen to take a stand
In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City
