Over the weekend, a clip of Saoirse Ronan silencing Paul Mescal and Eddie Redmayne during a recent episode of The Graham Norton Show went viral on social media.
In the full episode of the British talk show, Eddie discussed how, while doing stunt work for his upcoming series, The Day of the Jackal, he was taught that he could use his phone as a self-defense weapon if attacked. This context is omitted from the viral social media clip, which begins with Paul joking about how silly he finds this method of defense.
“Who’s actually gonna think about that, though? If someone attacked me, I’m not gonna go, ‘Phone,’” Paul quipped while miming himself reaching for his phone.
Saoirse then tried to say something, but the audience had already burst into laughter. Host Graham chimed in with the jokes, while Eddie and fellow guest actor Denzel Washington laughed along as well.
Paul jokingly continued, “Sorry mom, one second — bang,” while pretending to talk on the phone. Eddie then said to Paul, “That's a very good point.”
However, Saoirse then jumped in to remind the men, “That's what girls have to think about all the time.”
Perhaps expectedly, the men fell silent while the audience applauded. Saoirse added, “Am I right, ladies?”
The clip has since sparked heaps of discourse about male privilege, with several people suggesting that the interaction perfectly encapsulates “how differently men and women are able to go through life.”
Amid the growing discourse, however, some people have blasted Paul and Eddie, suggesting that they were intentionally joking about the subject. It’s important to point out that they were not discussing violence against women before Saoirse mentioned it — which is precisely why the clip so perfectly demonstrates male privilege.
The men present in the video likely hadn’t even considered the reality of using a phone as a weapon of self-defense in a potential attack — because that’s not something that men often have to worry about in the same way that women do. The very fact that this reality didn’t even cross their minds showcases their privilege.
What’s more, Paul, Eddie, and Denzel are — as far as the public is concerned — unproblematic men. As one X user put it, “this encapsulates men being ignorant of male privilege in a nutshell. the fact that these guys-- nice guys, mind-- are just so unaware is almost terrifying.”
“these two are arguably some of the least toxically masculine actors… and yet they are men, so they will never live in a woman’s skin and truly understand the violence we live with,” one user wrote.
Someone else rightfully pointed out, “they werent making fun of women, they were joking about a self defense tip without realizing that its something women have to take seriously.”
One more person echoed, “think it’s disingenuous to portray that clip from the Graham Norton show of the men + Saoirse Ronan as ‘men laughing at issue’s women face’ bc they’re not. The whole point is that they weren’t even thinking about it from the perspective of women bc they’re ignorant about that.”