Gwyneth Paltrow, noted wan actress turned snotty self-involved guru, was touting her Citizen of the World credentials to the AP yesterday, and praising Spain at the expense of her home country:
Paltrow said Spain "became a second home."
"It is so different from the United States. It seemed to have a history, and the buildings are years and years and years old. Here in the United States an old building is about 17 (years old), and over there it's from 500 B.C., it's incredible," she said.
"Also, the way people live over there. They seem to enjoy life a little bit more. They aren't running around as much as in New York. They enjoy time with the family. They don't always have their Blackberries on."
It made me wonder about what other things Gwyneth might love about Spain, that make it so superior to the U.S.
Presumably good progressive Gwyneth is a fan of some of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe.
In Spain abortion was decriminalised in 1985 but it is offered only under restricted circumstances and rarely in a public hospital. Terminations are only allowed until the 12th week of pregnancy in cases of rape or until the 22nd week in cases of severe fetal malformation.
In early 2008, some 25 women and doctors were arrested in raids on abortion clinics in Madrid accused of falsifying doctors' certificates.
To think, she left one country with a Neanderthal need to restrict women's rights due to its dominance by religious wackos and ended up in a country with some serious sanctity-of-life issues. Wow, she must be appalled, unless Paltrow's a secret-pro-lifer.
Another thing she probably loves about Spain is the prevalence of blackface at sporting events. Nothing says enlightenment like "monkey-chanting" at black players on the football field, right?
Or, maybe it's Spain's relaxed approach to racial stereotypes of all kinds. Remember when the Olympic basketball teams got caught making slant-eyes to celebrate their trip to China? Cute!
I have a friend who left the United States for Spain to escape the alleged backslide of her home country into hillbilly hell during the Bush years. I wonder what she thinks of these stories, too. Probably nothing. Just like Gwyneth, her preference for enlightened Europe over America is likely unencumbered by consideration of such contradictions. After all, it's not like her Blackberry's on all the time. This is Spain!
Gwynnie is no stranger to America-bashing, as it has been the source of most of her press for the last five years. In 2006, she was accused of having called the British more "intelligent and civilized" than Americans, but she later denied it. Gwyneth, who raises her children Apple and Moses part-time in Britain, also worried in 2004 about raising children in America because it is gun-riddled, "weird," and "over-patriotic."
