Tagged: HBO

“Kerry Washington will hang up her white hat temporarily when she stars as Anita Hill in HBO’s upcoming film Confirmation. The film centers on the explosive 1991 Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination hearings, at which Anita Hill, his former assistant, testified about his repeated sexual harassment. The hearings brought the country to a standstill and forever changed the way people think about sexual harassment, victims’ rights and modern-day race relations….Confirmation debuts this April on HBO.”

They replaced Thurgood Marshall with this man?!? No wonder he typically votes with the white conservative, Republican appointed majority!! Thomas needs to be IMPEACHED!

Source: Kate Stanhope. “Kerry Washington Reveals Why She Was ‘Terrified’ to Play Anita Hill in HBO’s ‘Confirmation.'” The Hollywood Reporter. January 7, 2016. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/kerry-washington-reveals-why-she-853108.

“Racism and sexism in Hollywood remain so pervasive not because of men like Damon, who benefit from the system whether they like it or not, but from the gatekeepers responsible for clinging to a faulty system of judging talent. There are fewer women and persons of color involved in searches like this because their opportunities are reduced. It’s the same principle that necessitated the adoption of affirmative action, an attempt to even the playing field that is inherently unbalanced. The burden shouldn’t be placed on marginalized individuals to try and overcome the broken system, but on gatekeepers to prioritize hearing and supporting marginalized individuals. The problem, then, with Damon’s words is that on “Project Greenlight” he is not just an actor, he’s a gatekeeper. And that by trying to silence Effie Brown, he dismisses the voice of someone worth listening to, not only for her experience, but because she was saying, in essence, ‘There is value to seeking out the voices of those different from us.'”

I got the same dismissive reaction from WME’s all-white senior management when I suggested that the company’s lack of diversity [zero African American Agents in the NY office and I was the ONLY black Agent Trainee when I started] played a significant role in my inability to advance and be promoted to Agent. We are tired of having these conversations about diversity and any company in the United States of America that maintains an all-white workforce in 2015 is clearly violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 INTENTIONALLY.

Source: Libby Hill. “Commentary: Matt Damon Isn’t Racist, The System Is; ‘Project Greenlight’ Proves It.” Los Angeles Times. September 15, 2015. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-matt-damon-project-greenlight-diversity-20150914-story.html.

Complex: “White Bro Matt Damon Talks Over a Black Woman to Explain Diversity to Her.”

It’s been 10 years since we last saw Project Greenlight, HBO’s behind-the-scenes movie-making reality series from Hollywood’s favorite bromantic duo, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Last night the two brought the show back for its fourth season, replacing former producer Chris Moore with Effie Brown, a film producer who has more than a handful credits under her belt (her most recent and notable one being last year’s Dear White People). In the show Brown pointed out that one of the films on the show features only one black character, who is also a prostitute, so it would be helpful to see diversity from the director’s chair as well. Her point is valid: Diversity from behind the camera helps with both visibility and representation of POC characters. (Plus, God knows Hollywood has more than enough white dudes already.)

But then Matt Damon decided to interrupt Brown mid-sentence and whitemansplain diversity to her (let me just take a moment to point out that Effie Brown is a BLACK WOMAN). But like, what does she know about diversity, right? Matt Damon well-actually’s the convo with: “When we talk about diversity, you do it in the casting of the film, not the casting of the show.”

Brown, naturally, lets out a near-speechless “WHOO, WOW,” because how do you articulate to Matt Damon that he is talking completely out of his ass?

I love Kristen’s sarcastic write up! There’s nothing worse than a white person trying to deny or downplay a black or person of color’s reality dealing with racism. Click the link below to see the video. Smdh.

Source: Kristen Yoonsoon Kim. Complex. “White Bro Matt Damon Talks Over a Black Woman to Explain Diversity to Her.” September 14, 2015. http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2015/09/matt-damon-interrupts-effie-brown-diversity-project-greenlight.

“Bill Maher recently declared on Jimmy Kimmel Live that ‘to be a liberal, you have to stand up for liberal principles…All my life I’ve been for people who have been the downtrodden, the oppressed, the minorities. I’ve been for blacks, gays, women, Mexicans….’ But a review of Maher’s crew roster for Real Time With Bill Maher, his HBO series shot in L.A., reveals only a single Hispanic or Asian surname. Maher was not made available for an interview, but a rep says, ‘I know his script supervisor is Latin.’ In contemporary Los Angeles, people still use the word ‘Latin’?”

Source: Dennis Romero. “How Hollywood Keeps Minorities Out.” LA Weekly. February 25, 2015. http://www.laweekly.com/news/how-hollywood-keeps-minorities-out-5402815.