Top five reasons to love Anne Hathaway

On Oscar Sunday, Anne Hathaway took home the award for Best Supporting Actress, prompting basically everyone to erupt in flames of rage. Twitter tore apart her acceptance speech, she appeared on a number of worst dressed lists and gossip columns are now claiming she threw a fit because co-star Amanda Seyfried’s dress was too similar to hers. I can’t imagine how loud the hatred would have been if Jennifer Lawrence hadn’t fallen up the stairs when winning Best Actress or if “The Onion” hadn’t insulted Quvenzhane Wallis. Hathaway’s speech would have been the major talking point of the night. I find the hatred for Oscar winner Anne Hathaway to be largely misguided, so here are five reasons you should love, not loathe, her.

She’s incredibly smart and poised

A lot of people tweeted snarky things about Hathaway’s Oscar acceptance speech, in which she hoped that the plights of her prostitute character Fantine would one day just be fictional rather than an actual reality. That criticism is incredibly insensitive to those suffering in the sex trafficking industry, and Hathaway had made shedding light on this issue a central part of her media appearances. She has shown herself to be incredibly educated on other issues as well, such as refusing to characterize her extreme weight loss for “Les Miz” as a positive thing, knowing that many young girls look up to her and might try to copy her. Unlike many other celebrities, she recognizes she’s a role model and acts the part, too.

She’s just really enthusiastic

Much of the hatred for Hathaway first surfaced after her co-hosting gig at the Oscars with James Franco. She tried too hard or had too much energy, according to the critics. But Tina Fey put it best at the Golden Globes when describing her performance in “Les Miz”: “I haven’t seen someone so totally alone and abandoned like that since when you were onstage with James Franco at the Oscars.” Why blame Hathaway for trying to save a show that wannabe poet Franco was sinking? Her exuberance is part of her charm.

She’s actually talented

There’s a reason Hathaway is halfway to an EGOT (winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) already, and it’s not because of some vast conspiracy against Hathaway haters. She can act just as well as any actress of her generation, and she’s got an amazing voice to boot. People seem to have forgotten that she completely deserved all the accolades she received for playing Fantine. Even the reviewers who hated the musical seemed to love her. And to do that in the same year she played Catwoman in “The Dark Knight Rises” to almost as much acclaim? Those who attack Hathaway forget her vast array of talents—musical, comedic and dramatic.

“The Princess Diaries”

We were first exposed to Hathaway in the film “The Princess Diaries,” which came out in August 2001. Along with “Mean Girls,” it was one of the most influential movies of our generation. Who didn’t love the fictional country of Genovia or want Julie Andrews to be his/her grandmother after seeing the movie? And Hathaway was the lead in that movie, meaning our fond memories are directly connected to her portrayal of Princess Mia. If you still hate Anne Hathaway after re-watching “Princess Diaries” and remembering how much you loved the film as a kid, you ought to get your hair straightened and your glasses removed.

Everybody campaigns

It seems that every year, one actress is singled out by the media for campaigning too hard for the Oscars. Before Hathaway, Kate Winslet and Natalie Portman both have come under attack for wanting it too much. First, why only single out actresses? It reeks of sexism, and actors campaign just as much as actresses. This year, Robert De Niro worked the circuit hard for the Best Supporting Actor award for his performance in “Silver Linings Playbook,” but nobody even thought of accusing him of being too thirsty for award recognition. More importantly, campaigning is the nature of the game, and if Hathaway thought she deserved recognition for her part in “Les Miz,” props to her for playing the game.