News

Editorial: No, Jordan Peele Isn’t a Racist for Not Wanting to Cast White Leads

Published

5 years ago

April 3, 2019

In a recent speaking engagement with the Upright Citizens Brigade, writer/director Jordan Peele, while addressing a group of students, was quoted as saying, “I don’t see myself casting a white dude as the lead in my movie. Not that I don’t like white dudes, but I’ve seen that movie.”

Naturally, a vocal portion of the white internet blew up, proclaiming the statement was racist and that the director of US and Get Out, himself, was obviously a racist for his remarks.

Sigh…

It’s hard to believe that in 2019, we have to have this discussion. You’d think, by now, that diversity would be the rule instead of the exception. Instead, every time a director, writer, author, actor, politician, fill-in-the-blank, speaks about diversifying the landscape, people get angry, loud, and mean while simultaneously contradicting statements they’ve previously made themselves.

What do I mean?

As a gay man, I have spent a great deal of time writing about the need for more diverse characters and portrayals in genre filmmaking. Not only does this give us new stories, but it also serves the wider audience, allowing fans to see themselves more clearly included in their favorite genre.

Seemingly every time I do this, however, I’m met with the pushback of straight, white, cis, (predominantly) male voices commenting that the very idea is anything from “gross” to “unnecessary” to “a political agenda.” These are the same people, by the way, who whine about nothing new or original ever being made.

The other point they make is “If you want to see it, go make your own movies.”

Peele won an Oscar for his debut horror film, Get Out. The film was lauded for its story and earned more than $250 million worldwide.

This is, in essence, what Jordan Peele is doing. As he said, he has “seen that movie” and so he is making something different.

But let’s look at some statistics. According to a diversity report by UCLA in 2018, it was estimated that white leads were cast three times more often than any other ethnicity in film and the same number holds true for white directors over directors of other ethnic groups.

Last Sunday, I posted a review of the new iteration of The Twilight Zone, which Peele is hosting, and the comments immediately began to fill about Peele being a racist. They defended their point of view by saying, “If a white man had said he was only casting white leads, he would be called a racist.”

The point is, looking back at the numbers above, white men don’t have to say it. They don’t have to say it because they’ve been actively doing it since cinema began.

Peele spoke to this and the privileged place he has found himself in since the release of Get Out after his statement about casting black leads in his films.

“The way I look at it, I get to cast black people in my films,” he said. “I feel fortunate to be in this position where I can say to Universal, ‘I want to make a $20 million horror movie with a black family’ and they say yes.”

It’s a position in which few black filmmakers in the studio system have found themselves, but most people didn’t read this portion of the statement because they never got past the “not hiring white dudes” quote which was included in almost every single headline from media covering the event that night.

Peele’s followup film, Us, opened to record sales for its first weekend.

Do I think if the headline read “Jordan Peele Discusses Diversity at Event” would have appeased those who are determined to be angry about it? No, but I do think most of them would have rolled their eyes and kept scrolling instead of jumping to the conclusion that the man was a racist.

I’ve spoken to numerous screenwriters and directors over the years who have bemoaned the fact that they’ve been told that they can’t get a film make with non-white leads in Hollywood because studios tell them they can’t sell and “urban” film overseas.

“Urban” is one of those fun little catchwords used to denote that the lead isn’t white, if you’re wondering.

Take, for instance, Lucy Cruell.

The award-winning screenwriter has a fantastic award-winning script for a film called 7 Magpies which she has been shopping for years. Despite the accolades the script has received, she simply cannot get the funding to move ahead in production, and predominantly because she’s been told that the studios just don’t know how to sell it.

Why?

It’s a horror anthology script based on stories by black authors, written by a black screenwriter, to be directed by black female directors, starring a predominantly black cast.

That, white folks, is racism. It is systemic. It is a part of the DNA of what goes on in Hollywood, and while things are changing, they are hardly equal.

Movies with big screen releases are still predominantly white and about straight white characters. Jordan Peele making films with black leads isn’t going to take away from that dominance, but it does add color to the landscape. It adds diversity to the conversation.

But most importantly, the appearance of more films featuring people of color, queer people, etc. is not going to slow down the production of predominantly white led films.

As a wise man said, this isn’t pie, so what are you really worried about?

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Related Topics:Diversity Editorial Jordan Peele Waylon Jordan

Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

Published

1 hour ago

April 19, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

Published

23 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

^Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Movies

Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2024

Timothy Rawles

In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'