Cara Delevigne is the newest slashie: a model slash actor, who's been actively courting Hollywood. Lately, she's been eschewing runway for the the camera, having most recently appeared in Suicide Squad.
The haute couture model just found herself dealing with a bit of backlash from her fans. She posted a photo to her Instagram that is a stock photo of an old-timey woman reading a book. Text superimposed on the photo reads "one girl loved reading so much/she forgot to how to take a selfie."
Yes, we understand that it's meant to be a cheeky reflection on pop culture, but fans were understandably pissed. After all, it purports that selfies are a form of anti-intellectualism.
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Later, she updated the post to include the caption "wow! The backlash on this picture is heavy!! I am not trying to say that I am better than anyone. It's a nice reminder to me and to anyone. The power of getting lost in a book."
Here at R29, we are very pro-selfie. Selfies are a great way to celebrate your on-point contouring, document a seriously slaying outfit, or capture a sexy moment for a sexy person in your life. For this reason, we're happy to see that Delevigne isn't condemning the selfie as a form of anti-intellectualism. Because reading books and taking selfies are not mutually exclusive. In a comment, user madi_young__ makes a great point: "Why can’t ya be both ?"
We should also not that Cara didn't actually apologize — she offered a version of the "sorry if you're offended" non-apology.
If you're interested in the power of "getting lost in a book," may we suggest Roxane Gay's incredibly, brave, and honest book Hunger? It's absolutely one of the best reads of the year.