Kristen Stewart is starring in a new film called Equals , which casts her opposite Nicholas Hoult in a futuristic love story in a society that has done away with all emotion. Stewart and Hoult’s characters suffer from SOS, Switched-on-Syndrome, allowing each of them to fully experience human emotions for the first time. Kristen is concerned that we are all becoming desensitized and conditioned to become just as emotionless as the characters in Equals .
“I don’t think that everyone is necessarily affected by or appreciates physical beauty, and I think we have been desensitized to physical beauty because of the movies that we watch, and all the images that are thrust in our faces all the time. We don’t really appreciate the body, nature, a f—— sunrise.”
Ms. Stewart thinks this desensitization stems from the medical field with doctors over-prescribing medications, mostly to teenagers, according to People magazine.
“‘Oh, do you feel something? We can help you with that.’ Self-exploration goes out the door with medication… You go, ‘Oh God, I have a little stomachache,’ and they say, ‘Here, we can help you with that.’ Well, why do you have that stomachache? Maybe it’s because your head’s in your stomach, so maybe there’s something you’re ignoring that you can work out.”
Stewart adds that she knows people in her own life that are needlessly medicated.
“The medication aspect I find most interesting. I know a lot of people on meds who don’t have mental health issues. Not all emotional issues are ‘mental health issues.’ They do not all hold hands.”
In her own life, Ms. Stewart says she wants to be fully aware and able to experience all life has to offer.
“As far as we know, you have one shot at this and it can be so f—— beautiful, so why lessen the feeling of anything? Why numb yourself? I’m not on antidepressants,” said Ms. Stewart. “I think it’s bizarre.”
Another aspect of experiencing emotions is explored in Equals , when Stewart and Hoult share their first kiss, an experience that Kristen says didn’t go so well in her own personal life.
“It was horrible! It was so bad. It was f—— repulsive,” Ms. Stewart told The Daily Beast . “I was 14 and it was gross. It was not good.”
Giving it some thought, Kristen reconsiders her entirely negative view of that first experience.
“But the first time something in you opens up and affects your entire body and has this control over you, it’s scary because there’s this chemical that’s released that you become addicted to,” Kristen said. “It literally feels like you don’t have free will anymore.”
Equals is scheduled for a December 31 theatrical release.
[Featured image: Kristen Stewart courtesy of Jason Merritt/Getty Images]
