Miriam Margolyes on Graham Norton

Miriam Margolyes on Graham Norton

MUST WATCH video. See outspoken actress Miriam Margolyes deflate the balloons of gender prejudice, homophobia and ageism on the Graham Norton show. Funniest thing ever.

Have you just watched Miriam Margolyes on the Graham Norton chat show? Wonderful! You’ll know, then, that in three joyous minutes Miriam Margolyes manages to (a) silence Jimmy Carr and Graham Norton (not easy) and (b) prick and deflate the gassy balloons of ageism, misogyny and homophobia in one fell swoop. Amazing. We want to be her so much right now.

LAUGH! As Miriam Margolyes confesses to public farting, showing her love-pillows on-set and mooning at Warren Beatty. CACKLE! As she expresses her honest opinion of the great, the late and the good and pokes fun at the awards-driven film industry (poor Winona Ryder, but hilarious nevertheless). GASP! As Miriam gleefully reveals how she once offered (and then proceeded) to suck off an American she’d just cycled by in the street. Oh, Miriam. We do love you so.

A LGBT person herself, Miriam also admits (that’s such a passive, mealy-mouthed word, isn’t it? Admits. It also suggests an unnecessarily negative connotation of shame / guilt / penance) that she loathes playing LGBT on-stage as she’d hate any co-actresses to think she fancied them. Truth, truth, and nothing but the truth. Miriam Margolyes is a person who knows exactly who she is, and isn’t afraid to be it.

It’s a little frustrating that this life-affirming footage has been referred to on the internet as “Miriam Margolyes goes crazy”. Even though the phrase is intended as a compliment, it shows how far we are from ridding ourselves of outdated taboos. After all, Miriam is just being outspoken in a way that older women are not meant to be, think or show. We all loved Miriam’s performance, of course, but we all loved it for its cathartic qualities (and also because she’s a natural wit and bloody funny). In daring to say the unsayable (in such a mischievous way, with such a pixie glint in her eye), Miriam Margolyes perhaps unintentionally raised the question that this stuff shouldn’t be unsayable. It shouldn’t be social suicide to express opinions, or to talk about bodily functions or gender preferences. Miriam Margolyes does more than merely chip away at the outdated notion that women who have passed their menopause (a) don’t think about sex and (b) can’t and shouldn’t remember that they used to have any. She takes the notion and puts glitter-sprinkled dynamite under it.

In fact, in just three minutes award-winning actress Miriam Margolyes (currently well-known as Professor Pomona Sprout in the Harry Potter films) blows all seven seasons of The Golden Girls – praiseworthy though they are – out of the water. Whatever box society tries to put you in – whether it’s your gender, sexuality, age or ANYTHING else – you owe it to yourself to get on with what you do best. Namely, carrying on as a human being.

And now we’re off to make some badges saying “What would Miriam Margolyes do”. If you make some before us, send us a picture to editor @ mookychick.co.uk and we’ll tweet it!

 


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