A joke by Amy Poehler about James Cameron and his ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow, at the Golden Globes has left a lasting impression and is bothering Cameron a great deal.
Years later, Cameron is finally opening up about that moment and explaining why the joke crossed a line for him and why the reaction to it bothered him even more.
The Amy Poehler Joke That Dragged James Cameron’s Marriage Into The Spotlight
At the 2013 Golden Globes, Amy Poehler made the comment while addressing the controversy surrounding ‘Zero Dark Thirty,’ which had sparked debate over its depiction of torture. Instead of keeping the focus on the film itself, the joke took a personal turn. Poehler said that when it came to torture, she trusted the woman who had spent three years married to James Cameron.
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That line directly referenced his past marriage to Kathryn Bigelow, who was nominated that night. Cameron and Bigelow were married from 1989 to 1991, and the joke tied that relationship to the film’s controversial subject. The audience laughed, and the show moved on. But Cameron didn’t. With his new ‘Avatar‘ sequel now in cinemas, he has gone back to that moment and shared how it actually made him feel.
James Cameron’s Blunt Response To The Infamous Joke
In a new interview with The New York Times, the 71-year-old director said the joke felt like an ignorant dig. He explained that the Golden Globes are meant to celebrate cinema and filmmakers, not turn into a roast that uses people’s personal lives for laughs. Cameron said he’s generally thick-skinned and doesn’t mind being the butt of a good-natured joke. However, he felt this one went too far.
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What upset him most, he said, was the fact that people found it funny. According to Cameron, that reaction showed exactly what many people thought of him. However, they had no real idea who he was or how he worked. So far, Poehler hasn’t responded publicly.
Cameron has long had a reputation for being intense and demanding on set. Over the years, actors have openly spoken about it. Kate Winslet, who worked with him on ‘Titanic‘, once said he had a temper like nothing she had ever seen. Meanwhile, Sam Worthington said that if a mobile phone rang on set, Cameron would nail it to the wall.
However, Cameron has admitted that he’s changed. He said that early in his career, short budgets and pressure gave him a short temper. And he sometimes played into what he thought a filmmaker was supposed to be. He added that his character has evolved and that there’s no room for that kind of behaviour anymore.
