apio:

Why are there so few female and non-white directors?

Steve McQueen asking a lineup of six white male directors why they so rarely cast minorities in movies.  Also, how about that telling list of only three female directors at the beginning?

Steve McQueen’s bewilderment at the difference between “movie reality” and “real reality” re: the total imbalance of race representation onscreen is a beautiful thing…especially when pit against the arms-crossed, refusal to answer the question of WHY directors never cast minorities in their films from a selection of white directors who never cast minorities in their films.

Not only is the silence after the interviewer asks them directly is the most uncomfortable I’ve ever seen (and I watched Gervais’ Extras religiously, soooo), but Reitman breaks it with, “I’m not gonna step in that” when “stepping in” the problem of whitewashing onscreen is EXACTLY what he and everyone else needs to do.

This is so incredibly disheartening to me, I can’t even begin to express it.  McQueen withstanding, the fact that this entire group—a group of powerful, privileged, educated, talented men who command the attention of millions—can’t even speak one sentence, one word to address the grossest shortcomings of the industry that is their lifeblood is just tragic.  It’s a fucking tragedy, really.

You don’t need a soapbox or agenda or soundbite or cue to just say, “Yeah bro.  It sucks.  It shouldn’t be this way.”  You just need a sliver of integrity, which I guess is what’s absent here.

This doesn’t feature Chiwetel Ejiofor, but I think it’s a fascinating watch and, as Steve McQueen is directing 12 Years A Slave, I thought it appropriate to post here.