Reese Witherspoon Says ‘Wild’ Is About Female Sexual Liberation


These days, Reese Witherspoon is gearing up for a career overhaul. Much like Matthew McConaughey, Witherspoon got stuck in a series of bad romcoms, except that they all came after she won her Oscar for Walk The Line. Now, Witherspoon’s new film Wild, which sees her in a tour-de-force performance, is creating a huge buzz at the Toronto Film Festival. That alone is probably enough to push her into Oscar season.

However, Witherspoon’s thoughts on the film itself are what’s grabbing the headlines. In Wild, which is based on the novel of the same name, Reese plays Cheryl Strayed, a sexually free addict who goes on a 1,100-mile journey with no prior backpacking experience. This has pushed the actress to speak more about the sexual shame women experience because of what society expects of them.

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, for Witherspoon, this movie says a lot about the sexual liberation of women by being explicit about sex.

“It’s such an important message about female sexuality,” she said.

Witherspoon continued, “We kissed that guy or we had sex with that dude in college. We’re totally ashamed of so many things. I think this movie says, ‘That’s OK. Maybe I was meant to sleep with all those guys. Maybe I wanted to. Maybe if I could go back and do it all again, I’d do the same thing.’ It’s a total liberation, especially for young women.”

As for other women leading the way in sexual liberation, Reese has noted Lena Dunham as someone she respects.

“I think she’s changing cultural attitudes with her honestly and willingness to bare all.”

Her film Wild is currently receiving uneven reviews from the screening at Toronto Film Festival, but Witherspoon is getting straight A’s across the board for her honest and vulnerable performance.

While we won’t be bold in saying that it’s a lock for Witherspoon yet, we will acknowledge that in previous years, it didn’t take a great movie to earn an actress a golden statue. Also, a comeback story never hurt either.

[Image via Fox Searchlight]

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