give Maggie Gyllenhaal a round of applause

From the Bible (see left for translation, if needed)'s industry news:

Gyllenhaal Website Shut Down by Protesters

Maggie Gyllenhaal's fan website, maggie-gyllenhaal.net, was inundated with angry messages and had to be shut down Wednesday following Gyllenhaal's remarks during an interview promoting her new film, which concerns people living in New York in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks. Appearing on the all-news channel NY1 on Friday following a screening of The Great New Wonderful at the Tribeca Film Festival, Gyllenhaal commented enigmatically: "I think America has done reprehensible things and is responsible in some way and so I think the delicacy with which it's dealt allows that to sort of creep in." News reports quoted her as saying that she believed America was "responsible in some way" for the attacks. The webmaster on the fan site said that it became overloaded with hate messages and crashed. Gyllenhaal issued a statement saying she grieved with every other American for those who died in the attacks, "but for those of us who were spared, it was also an occasion to be brave enough to ask some serious questions about America's role in the world."

It's absolutely ridiculous--but of course I'm not surprised--that there should be such an outcry and blasting of her. I support her 100%, and I think she made the point more delicately than I ever could with my blunt, no bullshit mouth. This ridiculous pigheadedness and "pride" is what got us in the mess in the first place. So no surprise there.