Grandma Smurf Puts a Hit Out on Anne's Oscar Chances?

"Randall ... we do what we have to do, we do what we must."

Since this is Anne-related, I feel compelled to blog about a "story" from Star Magazine (the print version, I guess) that perpetuated the rumor that Ms. Hathaway hired a team of writers and built a temporary stage in her NYC apartment to practice her Oscar speech.  Several blogs including Rumor Fix (never mind that they don't even have their facts straight on Anne's Oscar history) and Celebitchy picked it up, and reported additionally that her rep squashed the rumors, starting with the fact that she hasn't been in New York for weeks, nor will be there before the Oscar ceremony.  While I don't believe most of this is true (I could see her hiring a writer to help her, though), I find the fabrication hilarious.  Everyone expects Anne to win.  She has made it clear we should expect it since cameras started rolling that she's even more can't-lose than Daniel Day-Lewis (although that may be up for debate).  It has gotten to a point on the internet where it has turned into kind of a joke.  Her people may have wanted to reign her back a little, although I'm not sure exactly how that could have been done while communicating the sacrifices she made for the role.  (Although, it should be said that many people were floored enough by her performance that she might have considered allowing her work to speak for itself.)  Her Golden Globes speech, which was her first time in front of a national audience, did not go over well at all.  Jessica Chastain talked about how gratifying it was to be validated after years and years of hard work and rejection.  Jennifer Lawrence haphazardly tried to make a 1990s reference, though I applaud her nonetheless for her impressive trove of movie trivia.  Adele made some comment about the friend she traveled with and the airplane ride over the pond (I don't remember).  But, Anne.  No, Anne basically said, "I am in a room full of great people and thank you for telling me I am great too.  I will never ever again think I'm not great.  Shedding my child star persona was so hard.  Wah."  Anne's kind of setting herself up to fail.  But, she doesn't have a history of failing, so I don't foresee her falling on her face like Joaquin Phoenix (who went the complete opposite direction).

How does something like this get started?  Well, one must ask who stands to gain, right?  Namely Sally Field, Helen Hunt, Amy Adams, Jacki Weaver, and the studios who back their film.  So, how does this work?  The PR team (or whatever they're called) behind Lincoln or Jacki Weaver (who got nominated for playing the mob matriarch in 2010's Animal Kingdom), for example, are talking and trying to think of ways to add more Academy Awards to their chest on Oscar night.  So, somebody gets ballsy and thinks that maybe they can take down Fantine.  She has become a source of ridicule and appears to be a vulnerable target out of her own volition.  And once a fire starts, all it needs are the right conditions to spread, right?  So, they call up Star Magazine and tell this ridiculous story to see if they can get it to stick.  Anne's reps immediately nip it in the bud, but it doesn't hurt to try, right?  Really.  I have zero idea how this works, but find it all very fascinating.