It never disappoints. Wherever Kate Winslet appears to utter a few words, spectacle, truth and emotion are assured. The actress, winner of Oscars, Golden Globes and Emmys, added to her extensive career and her long list of awards two more Bafta awards – those given by the British industry – on Sunday night. They were both for the Channel 4 film I Am Ruth, in which she plays a mother distraught over her teenage daughter's immersion in social media. A film in which, in addition, Winslet's fictional daughter is played by her own daughter, Mia Threapleton, 22, the result of her relationship with her first husband, director Jim Threapleton. And it was to her that he dedicated the award in an emotional speech closely related to the theme of his film.
Upon arrival on the red carpet, the actress posed with her daughter and, once the awards were collected, they repeated the display before the photographers. An unusual gesture in Winslet, who keeps her private life and that of her three children away from the spotlight —Mia; Joe, 19, from her marriage to fellow director Sam Mendes; and Bear, nine, who she has with her current husband, Ned Rocknroll, nephew of Richard Branson. However, that double facet of being co-stars and at the same time mother and daughter placed them in that position. And, therefore, the powerful speech of the interpreter regarding motherhood and social networks was also clearly understood.
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When she went up to collect her award, between her tears and those of her emotional daughter, the protagonist of Titanic and The Reader thanked her producers and its director, Dominic Savage, for their "delicate handling of the painful stories that really happen to women." "It's not only powerful, but brave, and necessary. We need this, we want to be heard, thank you for giving us this space and for creating it for us." But above all he turned to the thanks with his daughter.
Actresses Mia Threapleton and Kate Winslet, star of 'I am Ruth', at the Bafta Awards, held on May 14, 2023 in London.TOLGA AKMEN (EFE)
"If I could cut this award in half, I would give it to my daughter, Mia Threapleton. We have achieved this together, baby," he said on the verge of tears, while the young woman cried in the stalls and sent her kisses and more kisses. "There were days when it was an agony for her to dig so deep, to reach emotional territories that were so scary. It cut my breath away. I am Ruth is made for parents and their children, for families who feel held hostage by the dangers of the internet world. For parents who want to be able to communicate with their teens, but can no longer do so. And for young people who have become addicted to social media and its darker facets: your lives don't have to be this."
Winslet also appealed directly to those who, according to her, have the ability to make everything different. "To the people who are in power and the people who can make changes: please penalize harmful content. Please eradicate harmful content. We don't want it. We want our children back. We don't want our fears for our children's mental health to be revealed. And for any young people who are listening, who feel they are trapped in an unhealthy world, please ask for help. There is no shame in admitting that support is needed, it is there, just ask for it. Thank you very much," he finished his applauded speech.
This is not the first time Winslet has spoken about the issue of social networks, but one of the most powerful in terms of the pulpit from which she does it, at an awards ceremony with a global audience. In an interview with the British network BBC in December 2022, she already explained that she does not live locked in a bubble. "I don't have a magic formula or a manual," he said then. "I'm like any other parent who has to get by." But then she claimed that her children "neither have nor have had" social media accounts. "There are many false profiles of me and my children, strangely, they tell me. But it's possible to say, 'No, you can't have a profile. You can't because I want you to enjoy life. I want you to be a child, I want you to look at the clouds, not to take pictures of them and upload them to an Instagram page and then decide if they are worth looking at or not because someone has thought they are garbage, "argued the actress. "There is often a very simple manipulation of self-esteem but, on a larger and darker scale, the manipulation in young people's self-esteem comes until they completely lose the sense of who they are, and they don't know how to communicate with their friends, even with their families, and that makes them depressed. It's obviously a serious problem. No, don't let your kids have a phone if they're too young to know what to do with it."
