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USC students pushed back against comments made by actor Timothée Chalamet after the 30 year old claimed that nobody cares about ballet or opera last month.
The comments were made during an interview between Chalamet and Matthew McConaughey, and was posted to the Variety YouTube channel, in collaboration with CNN Town Hall.
“I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, or you know, things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive,” Chalamet said. “Even though, it’s like no one cares about this thing anymore.”
“We don’t need someone within the humanities to be shedding on other humanities areas,” said Catherine Lee, a senior majoring in film and tv production.
The online backlash to the comments made by the the Actor Award and Golden Globe-winning actor was swift, with criticism coming from not just the public, but also other celebrities and performers from the ballet and opera community.
“I think opera and ballet deserve respect,” Lee said. “It’s a very old performing art genre and they deserve a lot of respect and admiration.”
Kiera Hugmeyer, a freshman student studying business administration, echoed Lee’s sentiments.
“It’s more of a privilege to be able to go see the opera or ballet, because it does usually cost more than maybe just watching a movie at home or something,” Hugmeyer said. “But I don’t think that means that it’s a dying art, and I think that it should still be appreciated.”
Ethan Hanzlik, a sophomore studying popular music, however, said he found merit in Chalamet’s stance.
“The same way that I work as an instrumentalist for a band or some sort of recording project, it’s not my duty as an individual to try and keep the music system alive on my own,” Hanzlik said. “So I would agree with that.”
Others, like first year master’s student Rhea Dudani, questioned why people even care what Chalamet said.
“I kind of have a hot take on this,” Dudani said. “I went to undergrad with Timothée Chalamet at Tisch, and — yes, he’s a phenomenal actor — but I just don’t think he’s the voice we should be looking for to have these opinions.”
“Timothée Chalamet isn’t an opera, ballet connoisseur, so I don’t think we should give him any weight in general,” Dudani continued. “To me, he’s just like any other guy in undergrad.”