Why Beth Ditto thinks Trump is an idiot
6 Aug 2018Ten years ago, to the very month, LOVE interviewed Beth Ditto. She graced the front of our inaugural cover, photographed by Mert and Marcus, with tomato-coloured hair and wearing nothing bar a few cover lines. The shoot took place in 2008, and it was one of those years you just don’t forget.
‘Donald Trump is such an idiot. I’ve never seen failing up work out so well for anybody, ever. This is the most iconic, exceptional case of failing up. They say the bullies always lose, but in real life they don’t.’ Regimes happen right under people’s noses, which is what Beth says makes her really nervous. ‘I think that one thing we’re dealing with is we have a racist, sexist, homophobic... golfer [as President],’ she continues. ‘Capitalism is the patriarchy at work.
It’s that youth – which is still there in Beth, slightly matured but still young – she used to captivate audiences on Standing in the Way of Control and its namesake lead single, which had become infamous, not just as part of the soundtrack of the Channel 4 TV series Skins, but for its middle-finger attitude to coming out, queer rights and teen angst. It became not just a queer anthem but a serene hymn for confused, angry teens in general – a song more relevant today than ever.
They both came from the same queer pub scene back home. It’s here that Beth found her love of punk music. Discovering the likes of Bikini Kill and the riot grrrl genre for Beth was life- changing. ‘I like that it had its own idea of beauty and this palatability and acceptability, so punk really was my saving grace. ’Cause I think when I discovered punk then I discovered feminism. So when I discovered riot grrrl it was like the two things that really made sense to me.
But it’s acting that seems to have turned Beth’s head. You can see her in Gus Van Sant’s new film Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot, which follows the trials and tribulations of illustrator and alcoholic John Callahan, played by Joaquin Phoenix. Ditto plays Reba, one of the first characters we meet at an AA meeting. She’s brilliantly hilarious, offering up some of the biggest laughs via anecdotes in the group circle at their weekly meets.
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