Editorial: Hollywood actress is out of touch

Published 11:04 am Thursday, April 3, 2014

What does globetrotting superstar actress Gwyneth Paltrow know? Not much about the real world apparently.

She is going through a divorce and makes about one movie a year while raising her children. She told E! News this: “I think it’s different when you have an office job, because it’s routine and, you know, you can do all the stuff in the morning and then you come home in the evening. When you’re shooting a movie, they’re like, ‘We need you to go to Wisconsin for two weeks,’ and then you work 14 hours a day and that part of it is very difficult. I think to have a regular job and be a mom is not as — of course there are challenges — but it’s not like being on set.”

Her comments set off a firestorm among working mothers across the country. We agree with them that Paltrow shows a lack of empathy and reveals how far inside the Hollywood bubble she really is.

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Working moms with regular jobs don’t have their own personal trailer, with people paid to do their nails, hair and makeup. They don’t have a new $14 million home in Malibu. Some working moms have to worry about high crime in their neighborhood. Moms with regular jobs often get showered and dressed while also waking babies and kids, feeding them and getting them on to a school bus or dropping them off at day care. A big chunk of their checks go to that child care. The millionaire actress no doubt can afford nannies at her house for the supervision of her children. She even has her own personal driver and chef, along with a designer wardrobe. Many working moms struggle to afford food, clothes, diapers, wipes and health care for their kids.

No one in the world wants to hear the wealthy — whether it is a Hollywood actress or a billionaire financier — complain about the difficulties of their lives. Ever.

We liked the letter Mackenzie Dawson wrote to the New York Post. Here is an excerpt:

“So, Gwyneth, you’ve figured out the secret of working parents everywhere: Livin’ la vida desk job is a breeze compared to the 14-hour days of a film set. Fourteen hours? Who in New York — especially those in the finance, law and tech professions — could possibly work 14 whole hours? Luckily, those 9-to-5 “ordinary job” hours grow on trees here.”