Our love of Anne Hathaway has grown deeper now that she's shown her gamine side. She's got a soft butch haircut, a uniform, and, apparently, some sword skills—making her irresistible. The L.A. Times said of her debut this summer in the cross-dressing role of Viola in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night in Central Park: "Hathaway has gone from Prada dresses to unflattering menswear." If you repeat the phrase "unflattering menswear" to yourself in the manner of Beavis and Butthead, it sort of captures the gay fear implicit in the promotion of paradigmatic female beauty. Unflattering menswear, heh, heh. The New Yorker published this sensual photograph (above) of Hathaway with fellow cast members, but nonetheless said, "There is something frozen and frightened at the core of her work."
But everyone else seems to be falling for Hathaway-as-boy the way housewives across America have developed a crush on Rachel Maddow. Critics raved about her performance in the production, which closed yesterday. The New York Daily News said Hathaway is "at ease on the stage and with iambic pentameter" and "brings sweet charm and deep poignancy" to the role. Newsday said her costume looked "dashing." The New York Times' Charles Isherwood, in a review titled "I Love You, You're Perfect. You're a Girl?" said, "Hathaway looks like a young duke who has stepped boldly forth from a classic British portrait of the era, a bright pink bloom on his pallid cheek."
Settle down, ladies. The New York Times said she looked like a young duke, not a young dyke. Then again, you can decide for yourself.
