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?

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Related Topics:Diversity Editorial Jordan Peele Waylon Jordan

Movies

‘The Strangers’ Invaded Coachella in Instagramable PR Stunt

Published

13 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Renny Harlin’s reboot of The Strangers isn’t coming out until May 17, but those murderous home invaders are making a pit stop at Coachella first.

In the latest Instagramable PR stunt, the studio behind the film decided to have the trio of masked intruders crash Coachella, a music festival that takes place for two weekends in Southern California.

This type of publicity began when Paramount did the same thing with their horror movie Smile in 2022. Their version had seemingly ordinary people in populated places look directly into a camera with an evil grin.

Harlin’s reboot is actually a trilogy with a more expansive world than that of the original.

“When setting out to remake The Strangers, we felt there was a bigger story to be told, which could be as powerful, chilling, and terrifying as the original and could really expand that world,” said producer Courtney Solomon. “Shooting this story as a trilogy allows us to create a hyperreal and terrifying character study. We’re fortunate to be joining forces with Madelaine Petsch, an amazing talent whose character is the driving force of this story.”

The movie follows a young couple (Madelaine Petsch and Froy Gutierrez) who “after their car breaks down in an eerie small town, are forced to spend the night in a remote cabin. Panic ensues as they are terrorized by three masked strangers who strike with no mercy and seemingly no motive in The Strangers: Chapter 1 the chilling first entry of this upcoming horror feature film series.”

The Strangers: Chapter 1 opens in theaters on May 17.

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Movies

‘Alien’ Returning to Theaters For a Limited Time

Published

15 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Timothy Rawles

It’s been 45 years since Ridley Scott’s Alien hit theaters and in celebration of that milestone, it is headed back to the big screen for a limited time. And what better day to do that than Alien Day on April 26?

It also works as a primer for the upcoming Fede Alvarez sequel Alien: Romulus opening on August 16. A special feature in which both Alvarez and Scott discuss the original sci-fi classic will be shown as a part of your theater admission. Take a look at the preview of that conversation below.

^{Fede Alvarez and Ridley Scott}

Back in 1979, the original trailer for Alien was kind of terrifying. Imagine sitting in front of a CRT TV (Cathode Ray Tube) at night and suddenly Jerry Goldsmith’s haunting score begins to play as a giant chicken egg starts to crack with beams of light bursting through the shell and the word “Alien” slowly forms in slanted all caps across the screen. To a twelve-year-old, it was a scary pre-bedtime experience, especially Goldsmith’s screaming electronic musical flourishes playing over scenes of the actual movie. Let the “Is it horror or sci-fi?” debate begin.

Alien became a pop culture phenomenon, complete with kid’s toys, a graphic novel, and an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. It also inspired dioramas in wax museums and even a frightening setpiece at Walt Disney World in the now-defunct Great Movie Ride attraction.

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The film stars Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, and John Hurt. It tells the tale of a futuristic crew of blue-collar workers suddenly awakened out of stasis to investigate an undecipherable distress signal coming from a nearby moon. They investigate the source of the signal and discover it’s a warning and not a cry for help. Unbeknownst to the crew, they have brought a giant space creature back on board which they find out in one of the most iconic scenes in cinema history.

It is said that Alvarez’s sequel will pay homage to the original film’s storytelling and set design.

_{Alien Romulus}

^{Alien (1979)}

The Alien theatrical re-release will take place on April 26. Pre-order your tickets and find out where Alien will screen at a theater near you.

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News

Home Depot’s 12-Foot Skeleton Returns with a New Friend, Plus New Life-Size Prop from Spirit Halloween

Published

17 hours ago

April 17, 2024

Cameron McFarland

Halloween is the greatest holiday of them all. However, every great holiday needs amazing props to go with it. Luckily for you, there are two new amazing props that have been released, which are sure to impress your neighbors and frighten any neighborhood children who are unfortunate enough to wander past your yard.

The first entry is the return of the Home Depot 12-foot skeleton prop. Home Depot has outdone themselves in the past. But this year the company is bringing bigger and better things to their Halloween prop lineup.

This year, the company unveiled its new and improved Skelly. But what is a giant skeleton without a loyal friend? Home Depot has also announced that they will release a five-foot tall skeleton dog prop to eternally keep Skelly company as he haunts your yard this spooky season.

This bony pooch will be five feet tall and seven feet long. The prop will also feature a posable mouth and LCD eyes with eight variable settings. Lance Allen, Home Depot’s merchant of decorative Holliday gear, had the following to say about this year’s lineup.

“This year we increased our realism within the animatronics category, created some impressive, licensed characters and even brought back some fan favorites. Overall, we are most proud of the quality and value we are able to bring to our customers with these pieces so they can continue to grow their collections.”

But what if giant skeletons just aren’t your thing? Well, Spirit Halloween has you covered with their giant life size Terror Dog replica. This massive prop has been ripped out of your nightmares to appear frighteningly on your lawn.

This prop weighs in at almost fifty pounds and features glowing red eyes that are sure to keep your yard safe from any toilet paper throwing hooligans. This iconic Ghostbusters nightmare is a must have for any fan of 80s horror. Or, anyone who loves all things spooky.