+2
When Jordan Peele says such a thing as "I don't see myself casting a white lead", he is speaking about his obligation to the black community which he believes (correctly) has not had equal opportunity to tell their stories. We are in the process of this issue being less lopsided, but we certainly are not at the point where we should be confused why one of the only A list black directors in Hollywood is being upfront about who he is going to cast in his films. Whose stories he's going to tell. Because if he doesn't tell them, who the **** else is going to? Zack Snyder?
The reason a white director claiming what seems on the surface to be the exact same thing ("I don't see myself ever casting a minority in a film") will be treated differently is because....it actually is. A comment like this does not live inside a historical vaccuum. Do we honestly think a white director has the exact same responsibility and obligation to their community? That all white movie goers are looking at them as the only hope that finally someone will tell a story about their particular struggle? Because I think it should be fairly obvious when looking at the last 100 plus years of film, that films that deal with white characters and white stories with white perspectives are already what has predominantly been made, are still being made, and will continue to be made. The responsibility for their existence doesn't rest on two or three directors who have made it into the system and actually have clout.
So what Jordan Peele says and what a white director says about casting have different meaning. Because they are responding to different conditions. Let's not get confused by surface similarities.
Now in defence of those who balk at these kinds of distinctions, or are skeptical towards the notion of equal representation, this isn't to take those on the other side of the debate completely off the hook. A lot of people in the supposedly 'woke' crowd are frequently stupid and inarticulate and reactionary and hypocritical and respond to these issues with inflammatory rhetoric that only obscures how we talk about these things. They are very much a part of the problem too. As stupid ****s always are.
But were always going to have to deal with a stupid **** problem in this world. Because many many people have zero idea what they are talking about, and often don't even know why they think the things they think. They mostly just operate on their notions of who they think is 'bad' or 'wrong' and let that guide them, instead of any kind of integrity or nuance or attempt at understanding a situation beyond the most superficial nonsense. And, sadly, these people always seem to be the angriest and the loudest and are always going to make sure their opinions are heard first.
Reply to Topic
I watched Nope and Us, as well. For some reason his films just don't do it for me, although the creepy fairground sequence at the beginning of the film Us was masterfully directed and gave me the creeps. Almost as much as my profile picture does
