Why one country banned almost all of Claire Danes' films

Claire Danes took a permanent place in the hearts of many television viewers back in 1993 when, at the age of 14, she played Angela Chase in Wicked screenwriter (and book writer for the stage musical) Winnie Holtzman's short-lived ABC drama Mine. So-Called Life.” It was rare to see a teenage character portrayed by an actor the same age (Danish was actually a year younger than 15-year-old Angela), and what a surprise it was. Danes effortlessly conveyed the terror and exhilaration of being a high school freshman in America , which meant she could go from heartbreakingly cute to downright annoying. That's how teenagers are we were once

Some of us also had the opportunity to leave the communities in which we grew up and visit other cultures and countries during our teenage years. In retrospect, these were important experiences that broadened our understanding of the world and taught us the importance of empathy. This is how we grow and hopefully become more enlightened people.

It's one thing to visit another country as an exchange student, but it's quite another to do it as an up-and-coming movie star shooting a major studio film. So when Claire Danes was sent to the Philippines in the late 1990s to shoot Jonathan Kaplan's Brokedown Palace (riff on “Midnight Express” by Alan Parker), she had the privilege; however, given that the film was shot in poverty-stricken areas of the country (doubled in Thailand), she was exposed to conditions that were troubling to her.

It had an effect on him. And when she shared her honest reaction to it all with the US media, she drew the ire of the Philippine government.

In a 1998 interview with Premiere journalist Christina Spines, the Danes revealed what she felt was a hellish ordeal. Here's an excerpt as it appeared in a former film magazine:

“Photo was ravaged by outbreaks of malaria and hepatitis, and had to shut down for several sick days. “It was so hard,” Danes says, now comfortably ensconced in a Beverly Hills lunch spot where she eats a plate so rare, it just smelled like cockroaches, and the people there there's nothing. people with, like, no arms, no eyes, no teeth. We shot in a real (psychiatric) hospital, so the shoot would stop wailing women – like “Screaming Man.'' Rats were everywhere.''

When the country's then president, Joseph Estrada, caught wind of the Danes' comments, he brought down the old ban hammer. “She shouldn't be allowed to come here,” he told CBS. “She shouldn't even be allowed to set foot here. Her statements were baseless.” (It's worth noting that the 1998 CBS story preceded the Danish quote, “(We saw),” so her comment sounds much worse than it was.)

Since the Danes went 90,210 wild in the Philippines, she is persona non grata in this country and her films cannot be shown. There is no readily available evidence that the ban has been lifted, so Filipinos have not been able to see Denmark's Primetime Emmy Award-winning performances in HBO's “Temple Grandin” and Showtime series “Homeland”. Meanwhile, the Danes are still being roasted for having once sheltered a 19-year-old who spoke without empathy and whose worst career choice was possibly turning down Kate Winslet's role in Titanic. The world is a deeply stupid place.