Film people talk about racism and sexism in film, anonymously
by Jennifer Kesler
Karen Healey highlighted this link on her LiveJournal, and I encourage everyone to check it out. It’s just what I’ve been talking about for years, the faux-liberalism of Hollywood.
“Hollywood is anything but liberal. I call them liberal bigots. Hollywood is filled with liberal bigots, and they use the thing of being liberal as a reason for being bigoted, for if they’d listen to themselves talk, and listen to their friends talk, they would find that they tell way too many black jokes, ethnic jokes.”
Yeah… listening is not really a skill required of the Hollywood elite. Talking super-loud in restaurants so everyone will know I’m A Somebody? That’s more on their level.
“I went to a meeting at Warner Bros., with a producer and a director and an exec. I’m sitting there, and I’m a black writer going to write about this black guy. I won’t say what he did, because that’d give away who it was. So before the meeting started, the three white guys started telling towelhead jokes: ‘This towelhead this, this towelhead that.’ And I’m sitting there listening to them tell these towelhead jokes. The Warner Bros. exec started it, and then the producer and this director chimed in on it. I couldn’t believe this was taking place. I didn’t say a word; you know I’m not going to say an N-word joke or tell a towelhead joke because I’m next. So I’m listening to this. Then, afterwards, they then start talking about this black project, which I had no interest in pitching, because I thought, ‘You’re some of the most insincere sons of bitches I ever met in my life’ – motherfuckers is the better word. I had another life before I became a writer, and I’d never heard any shit like this before. I probably gave them one of the most insincere pitches I ever gave in my life because I didn’t want to be a part of [anything with] these three assholes. I couldn’t believe they were doing it. It was totally unnecessary.”
I’m sure this writer was just being oversensitive. Right? /sarcasm
“I remember when I produced my very first movie. I was sitting in a room with a very famous director and his development staff. I was the only female in the room, and I kept making suggestions to cut different scenes, [like] one too many funerals. And I was completely ignored. Cut to this very famous director. He would say the same exact thing that I had said, not even a minute after I said it. And everyone at the meeting would be like, ‘Oh, yes. Good idea. That’s what we should do!’ It was like I never said it. I was invisible. I don’t know if that was sexism, but it sure felt like it. My opinion didn’t matter. Why was I talking?
Sadly, this happens to women outside of film a whole lot, too. The scary thing is, it proves they actually are listening and our opinions actually do matter, except they must be appropriated and reissued by The Man. This is pretty much the apex of narcissistic entitlement.
The sad thing about them is that you’ve experienced bigotry all of your life, and you know bigotry when you see it. But some of them actually feel that they know more about being black than you do. That’s happened on more than one occasion. I was in a meeting, and a question came up about being black and about dealing with racism, and I said, ‘Well, that was always important to me.’ Then one of the execs in the meeting zoomed in, and this is a child of privilege, to try to presume to tell me what it was like to be black: ‘Well, some of my African-American friends…’ which I always find totally amusing, because we’re black. You’re white, we’re black, but they always try to preface it with ‘Some of my African-American friends…’ or ‘Maybe the African-American feels…’ Or the real cheap shot is to try to trivialize it with, ‘Well, I know what it’s like, because I was discriminated against because I had long hair,’ or because of this or that, which is totally different. They can tell what I am two blocks away. If I’m just walking toward people, if I get on the elevator, I don’t have to say a word. Everybody cringes before I can even open my mouth.
But Mr. Honky knows more than anyone about everything! He has demographics and spreadsheets about What It’s Like To Be You.
I can’t tell you how many times Mr. Honky has patiently explained to me how my interpretation of my own life is incorrect, and no one had ever actually been sexist toward me – I was just being all negative and defensive when I imagined that. In truth, the men I thought were being sexist? Probably loved me and admired me, and just didn’t know how to express it! Thanks, Mr. Honky, that makes it all better. And you know what? Those stubs where your legs used to be? I didn’t really just chop them off with a meat cleaver. You’re just looking at life through a fog of defensiveness, like you boys tend to do. I hope you’ll feel better now you realize you were just imagining that I maimed you. Here, take this mop and clean up that blood you got on the floor – it’s kind of disgusting.
When you practice it, when you turn down a meeting about any black project, you’re practicing racism. But you’ll take some stupid black project, and you’re practicing racism, because it fits your stereotype of what we are as a people. But anything that shows us as human, oh, my God: ‘No, this doesn’t ring true to me.’”
This is very like a story an African-American woman once recounted to Gategrrl and me: she had pitched a semi-autobiographical story to an exec, but he didn’t think that sort of thing happened to real people. Because only people he relates to are “real.”
“An African-American executive was interested in doing a project with an African-American writer and an African-American director. She mentioned the project to her boss. She and her boss proceeded to get on a conference call with the African-American director’s agent. The agent answered the phone with such zest, she began talking prior to letting the agent know that there was somebody else on the phone, and proceeded to talk about a high-profile project at the studio, and then he went into mentioning the African-American project and said, ‘We’re not even worried about n—– films.’ Shortly thereafter, the African-American executive resigned. There’s so much racism going on that we’re just used to it. It’s hard to pick out a moment when you’re not discriminated against.”
Had to include that one just in case we still have some Marcia Clarks floating around going, “Like, gosh, wow, I didn’t think people were racist anymore! I’ve never heard that word in my life!”
There is a ton more to read in that article – I’ve only highlighted a few tales.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Was it worse than you expected? About what you expected? Did you find the “Gosh, I don’t think things are bad at all, must just be women don’t like directing” stories that I did not quote here sensible and well-informed, or did you dismiss them as privileged ignorance like I did?
Related posts:
- Why people flip out when you talk about gender in kids stories
- Why film schools teach screenwriters not to pass the Bechdel test
- What These People Need is a Honky… Taco
- Link roundup: more on film industry’s reluctance to promote female characters
- Slimfast using normal size people
Posted in Featured Articles, Industry Buzz on April 23, 2009 Tags: Movies
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April 23rd, 2009 at 12:11 pm
I’m surprised to hear about the jokes and the slurs. I’m guessing they just weren’t paying attention to less powerful people around them and so considered themselves to be just in private or something.
I wasn’t at all surprised by the person who had their ideas ignored while the famous director was listened to. That’s a long recognized bit of human behavior. Often in a comedic story where a villain has an advisor, the advisor will suggest a course of action, have it rejected, and then have the villain suggest the exact same course of action.
I think racism/sexism comes into that example more when people are perceived as having lower status because they’re a racial minority or female. I think that comes into play more not when dealing with famous directors but with people closer in the totem pole grab credit for ideas.
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Shoot, I think I’ve mentioned it happening to me on this very blog, and how frustrating it is to be this invisible person.
Sadly, I find none of the stories surprising. Disappointing, yes, but not surprising. People: the more privileged we are, the more we seem to suck.
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:28 pm
I think racism/sexism comes into that example more when people are perceived as having lower status because they’re a racial minority or female.
Yeah, because it suggests that the ruling class believes it is entitled to the intellectual products of the “lower status” people. When an unmixed group of white straight men do this to each other, making seniority the determinant of status, that’s different because the guys currently low on the totem pole can expect to eventually become the ones purloining everyone else’s ideas. People from other demographics are not necessarily in line for those privileges.
SBG, yes, you have mentioned that in a comment around here somewhere. Wasn’t long ago, either. It’s a painfully common experience.
April 23rd, 2009 at 3:55 pm
I’ve often wondered what causes people to dismiss others’ experiences because those experiences don’t jibe with their own preconceptions. (Heck, I’m a straight white Christian man, and I’ve experienced it myself.) Is it a sort of arrested development – being locked into the know-it-all attitude of the teenager?
April 24th, 2009 at 3:40 am
At the risk of drifting slightly offtopic here, this does not match with my experience. In many industries there is no realistic path of progression for rank and file workers to the upper levels of management. Managers in large firms have previous careers which consist mainly of managing smaller firms. Contacts and educational background get you your first post or two.
I mention this not to somehow diminish the very serious problems described above, but rather to highlight that power structures which abuse employees are a problem in whatever form they appear. Hopefully recognising the common patterns will help us to identify and oppose bad practice more effectively.
April 24th, 2009 at 8:19 am
Is it a sort of arrested development – being locked into the know-it-all attitude of the teenager?
I think so. That’s essentially narcissism, and it’s a normal stage in juvenile development, during which you don’t really get that anyone other than you is real and considers themselves the star of their life the way you are the star in yours. Our culture encourages the people at the top of the social status ladder to maintain this view forever. Many don’t – many choose to grow up and consider others – but plenty don’t.
I mention this not to somehow diminish the very serious problems described above, but rather to highlight that power structures which abuse employees are a problem in whatever form they appear.
Good point. I was thinking strictly of film – where today’s white mailroom dude really might become tomorrow’s studio exec, but the path of progression is far less clear for women of all races and men of races other than white.
But I absolutely agree with you that even if you might someday be The Purloiner Of Ideas, this does not justify the purloining system. That sort of internal competition is not only amoral – it’s a less effective way to run a business than is a team atmosphere in which the group benefits from its ideas instead of an atmosphere in which individuals have incentives to backstab each other when they could be putting their time and talent (if they have any) to better use.
April 24th, 2009 at 11:31 am
I’m not sure if this is a blinding irony or just incredibly sad, but this hideously racist/sexist behavior that is apparently typical of those in power is incredibly atypical of the normal, non-powerful people I spend my days and internet-surfing around. Even the most diehard WASP conservatives I know would be repulsed by the stories in that article — the same people that are supposedly the target demographic for the execs’ spreadsheets.
These execs not only can’t relate to the minority viewpoint, they can’t even relate to the average American viewpoint.
DragonLady
April 27th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
You know what’s really crazy? How white heterosexual males actually feel as if their “rights” are being violated, if they cannot openly engage in racist/sexist banter.
I’m sure everyone knows what I’m talking about; all of those gripes about being “politically correct”. I see it all over the internet… mostly young white males who think these types of comments are some sort of rebellion against “teh evil feminazis”.
This privileged demographic is actually blind and/or stupid enough to believe that women & other minorities are taking over, or have already taken over. I guess they’ve had one too many sips from the bigot Kool-Aid pitcher, huh?
April 27th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Oh, a little more I’d like to add to my previous post….
Regarding the “free speech” whine of The Man: How pathetic must a person be, if they cannot have an enjoyable conversation without disparaging another human being’s race, gender or sexual orientation?
This is, essentially, what white heterosexual males are saying; they cannot exchange thoughts & ideas in an intelligent fashion without dragging a minority through the mud, in the process. And if anybody has a problem with it, they just need to “get a sense of humor”.
Oddly, when this demographic is under fire, they are the first ones to cry about it. Gee… looks like they can dish it out, but they certainly can’t take it.
April 27th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
DragonLadyK, yes. And the attitudes film people ascribed to the average viewer in my presence bore no resemblance to the attitudes of the actual viewer. I mean, for just one example, we mustn’t make mainstream movies with female leads because that will repulse young men, right? Except I grew up in an area where people had some really sick ideas about women, but that hadn’t stopped all the guys I knew from seeing all the Aliens movies many times each. Even the guys who claimed to believe women were just inherently silly and uncool and could never kick ass.
It just doesn’t jive.
AVBG, that’s a pretty amazing example of privilege, for sure. I’ve heard young white guys complain that people won’t let them tell jokes about rape, and they can’t understand this great unfairness since it’s not like they’re advocating rape or saying it’s okay. Well, you know, duh, (1) someone who’s been raped (female or otherwise) might be re-traumatized by hearing it and (2) actual abusers of women are often the type to interpret jokes like that as tacit approval of the behavior they assume goes on secretly in everyone else’s life just as it goes on secretly in theirs.
BTW, I’ve yet to hear a rape joke that would have been funny even if you weren’t offended by the subject matter. All of these jokes structurally seem to rely on the idea that people being harmed is funny all by itself, which it’s just not.
April 27th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
From what I can tell (according to the justifications I’ve read in various forums, newsgroups, etc.), guys like that think rape jokes are not a big deal because “women secretly fantasize about being raped”.
Now, I can only speak for myself here, but yes, I’ve thought about it. HOWEVER… (A) Fantasy & reality are two entirely alternate universes. (B) Lots of people fantasize about things they would never actually engage in, in real life & (C) If a woman is having horny thoughts about getting “taken by force”, the perpetrator in said fantasy is usually somebody hot… NOT the bum down the street who smells like old cheese. And let’s face it, most rapists don’t look like *Fabio. LOL
Anyhow, I’ve never personally been disturbed by rape jokes (despite the fact that I once came very close to being assaulted in that way). What I do find creepy, however, is the likelihood that some of those guys probably aren’t joking.
*I don’t particularly care for Fabio, that was just random.
July 23rd, 2009 at 8:42 pm
There was one screenwriter talking about blacks on that page, and I thought that you could substitute Canadian for black and it would be just as true.
I go to a script reading series in Vancouver and I’ve seen some sexist joking about female characters, though most people are more respectful. It isn’t any worse than the sexualized content of a lot of female roles (which would be blatant sexual harassment in most fields), but still. Overall, both joking and sexist scripts create a hostile work environment that prevents women from joining in more. When one panelist criticized the presence of a rape in a script, a lot of us thanked her fervently after.
I don’t know what’s happening, but I see very few Asians at events, too, when they should be highly visible here. They have their own script reading series. I hope it helps.
Disabled people are just plain invisible.