Scene in Cate Blanchett's film 'Tár' praised for being 'anti-woke'

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Actress Cate Blanchett's character Lydia Tár may be portrayed as a villain in "Tár," but one scene in which she challenges a music student's use of identity politics is earning her praise from conservative Twitter. 

In a clip from the Oscar buzz worthy film that went viral in recent days, Tár, a fictional world-famous maestro and a rare EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) winner, is sitting at a piano with one of her students and asking for his opinion of the piece she just played from German composer Johann Sebastian Bach, Prelude in C major, BWV 846 from The Well-Tempered Clavier.

"You play really well," the student, Max, replied. "But nowadays, White, male, cis composers, just not my thing."

Cate Blanchett, goodwill ambassador, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, and Nicholas D. Kristof, columnist at New York Times, speak during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 23, 2018. (Reuters/Denis Balibouse)

"Don't be so eager to be offended," Tar snapped back. "The narcissism of small differences leads to the most boring conformity."

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Earlier, Max tells Tár that as a BIPOC, or a Black, Indigenous and people of color, and as a pansexual person, Bach's "misogynistic life" makes it "hard for him to take his music seriously."

Tár challenges Max's reservations with Bach, and asked him to consider how those kinds of ideals could affect the young man's own career.

"But you see, the problem with enrolling yourself as an ultrasonic epistemic dissident is that if Bach's talent can be reduced to his gender, birth country, religion, and so on, then so can yours," she said, pacing and addressing the entire class.

"Now some day, Max, when you go out into the world, and you guest conduct for a major or minor orchestra, you may notice that the players have more than light bulbs and music on their stands," Tár continued. "They will also have been handed rating sheets, the purpose of which is to rate you. Now, what kind of criteria would you hope that they use to do this? Your score reading and stick technique, or something else?" 

Blanchett at the 2014 Academy Awards. (Reuters)

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Before Tár finishes her point, Max gets up, grabs his things and storms out, but not before calling Tar a "f---ing b----."

"And you are a robot," Tár responded.

"Has Hollywood gone anti-woke???" former Mumford & Sons banjoist Winston Marshall tweeted. "I can’t believe what I’ve just seen."

"3 brilliant minutes," The UK's New Culture Forum tweeted. "It's hard to believe such a scene was filmed in this day and age. Indeed, we're so familiar with Hollywood's milquetoast wokery, that watching this is a decidedly strange experience."

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U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Goodwill Ambassador Cate Blanchett speaks during a Security Council meeting, Aug. 28, 2018, at the United Nations. (AP)

Others were equally impressed and surprised.

"I never in a million years would have predicted that the most SAVAGE takedown of woke gender/identity politics would come from a Hollywood actress, yet here we are," conservative author Jason Howerton said. "Cate Blanchett, you dropped this."

Several others called the clip "based," a compliment toward someone who is being themselves without caring what others may think.

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"Props to Todd Field for writing this little monologue," the Babylon Bee's Joel Berry said, tipping his hat off to the "Tár" writer, director, and producer. 

Tár is, however, largely painted as the film's antagonist - one with an outsized ego who preys on her favorite young female students. More than one critic has even suggested she's the female Harvey Weinstein. But the social media users impressed by her retort to her Julliard student appeared to agree that the scene in which she defends Bach stands on its own.

Cancel culture has been pervasive both in academia and Hollywood in recent years, with several celebrities finding themselves "canceled" for holding certain unpopular opinions.