Isabella Rossellini understands the importance of the #MeToo movement, but that doesn’t mean she feels the need to tell her story.
“I do understand the value for some people to talk about their experiences, but for me, there is no value,” the actress told Vulture. “The person that raped me — I was 15 or 16, he was a year older than I, why would I dig out this story 48 years later? What if people start to say, ‘No, you have to say the person’s name?’ I don’t know what happened to him. He might be married. He might have children. I am a superstar in Italy. If I said who did this, I would destroy him.”
Part of the reason the “Blue Velvet” star, 65, feels this way is because how different things used to be — for example, Rossellini’s mother, the actress Ingrid Bergman, was blacklisted because she had an affair.
“This man hurt me in the context of a culture that we are all trying to change,” she continued. “I don’t think that pinpointing one person and destroying their life because they made a sin in the context of that culture — I don’t have the heart for it.”
Despite not wanting to go after the man who raped her, Rossellini made clear how valuable the movement is.
“Yes, for me, the interesting thing is how the #MeToo movement has shown us all the subtle ways women can be diminished,” she explained. “Rape is a way of being hurt that everyone can recognize. There are other ways. It could be your boss saying, ‘I like your skirt on you.’ It’s a compliment, but it makes you feel diminished. It’s like when people say to me, ‘You look so good for your age.’ To hear other women express their stories and to show how devious some men can be — that is what has been so helpful to see.”
This stance is in stark contrast to some of her peers — most notably Catherine Deneuve — but Rossellini’s never been one to follow the lead of others. She knows that difficult conversations that have arisen because of the #MeToo movement lead to difficult conversations, but feels that these are exactly the sort of things that men and women need to talk about.
“It’s so complicated. I’m happy that we are talking about these issues because all women have been harassed, but it was never discussed before,” she said. “We just lived with it. Even if you didn’t have anything violent happen to you, there was always a way for a man to belittle you. This is changing, I think. Men have to see they can’t behave in these ways.”