In July, James Franco announced his plans to expand Shades of Cool — the poetic tribute he penned to pal Lana del Rey in V Magazine’s January 2015 issue — into a new book, Flip-Side: Real And Imaginary Conversations With Lana Del Rey. A few of those conversations might be imagined, but Franco and Del Rey have spoken for the magazine’s forthcoming fall issue. One particularly meta topic of conversation: interviews. Specifically, why some put the singer in “a bad fucking mood.”
Last year, the neo-noir gloom goddess came under criticism for her controversial comments regarding feminism in her Fader cover interview. “The issue of feminism is just not an interesting concept,” Del Rey told the magazine. “I’m more interested in, you know, SpaceX and Tesla, what’s going to happen with our intergalactic possibilities. Whenever people bring up feminism, I’m like, ‘God.’ I’m just not really that interested…My idea of a true feminist is a woman who feels free enough to do whatever she wants.”
In the new interview with Franco, Del Rey — somewhat opaquely — defended these comments on the grounds that in this day and age, feminist principles should be ‘obvious’: “The luxury we have as a younger generation is being able to figure out where we want to go from here, which is why I’ve said things like, ‘I don’t focus on feminism, I focus on the future,'” the singer told the actor. “It’s not to say that there’s not more to do in that area. I’ve gotten to witness through history the evolution of so many movements and now I’m standing at the forefront of new technological movements,” adding: “I’m not undermining other issues. But I feel like that’s obvious, like I shouldn’t even have to bring that up.”
Kim Gordon wasn’t really down with Del Rey’s initial comments; the former Sonic Youth frontwoman and fierce feminist hit out at the LA singer’s stance in her memoir, Girl in a Band. We’ll see if this interview leaves Del Rey’s feminist critics in a bad mood.
Credits
Text Emily Manning
Photography Scott Trindle
Styling Caroline Newell
[i-D The Winter Warm Up Issue, No. 316, 2011]