ANDREW MORAN Economics Correspondent
In Hollywood, you can’t please everybody, and that reality is becoming more and more ubiquitous with each passing day. Even if you make the town a lot of money but hold contrarian political viewpoints then you’ll be cast out. Just ask Tim Allen, whose successful TV show appealing directly to Trump voters was summarily cancelled in favor of a show with half as many viewers.
Soon, the entertainment industry may need to adopt a quota system to please audiences and critics everywhere. To appease the sensitive social justice keyboard combatants, producers of motion pictures and plays, television shows and commercials, will need to have a buffet of ethnicities and sexual orientations in their productions.
That is the only way you will be able to avoid backlash on social media and perhaps win awards.
Filmmaker Sofia Coppola became the first woman since 1961 to win the Cannes Film Festival’s Directing Prize for her movie “The Beguiled.” It is a female-centric civil war drama that’s a remake of Clint Eastwood’s 1971 film. The film has received rave reviews, but not everyone is happy about the award.
Coppola’s picture is getting blasted for apparently being all about rich white women.
Despite Coppola being an outspoken feminist and the movie showcasing feminist women, you would think that all the special snowflake moviegoers would be pleased. Nope. They’re angry and they’re out for unchallenged political correctness on the silver screen.
Here is just one tweet that perfectly sums up the conversation:
A win for Sofia Coppola is a win for white supremacy.
A win for Sofia Coppola is a win for white supremacy
— Francisco Javier (@FrankieAram) May 24, 2017
Throughout her career, Coppola has been accused of racism in her films, including the smash hit “Lost in Translation.” Suffice to say, Coppola isn’t racist but, like any other director, has her own artistic vision.
But this demand for social justice isn’t just confined to the big screen. It is also being found on the stage.
Last week, a revival of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” made headlines after the late Albee was accused of being a racist.
Michael Streeter, the director of a proposed revival of the play in Portland, wrote on Facebook that he wanted to cast the role of Nick as a black man:
I am furious and dumbfounded. The Edward Albee Estate needs to join the 21st Century. I cast a black actor in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The Albee Estate called and said I need to fire the black actor and replace him with a white one. I refused, of course. They have withdrawn the rights.
If you have never read the play or seen the stupendous 1966 film adaptation then you may deduce that it’s racism. However, if you have perused Albee’s play or watched the Richard Burton-Elizabeth Taylor tour de force then you know it has nothing to do with racism but instead is about the story.
First, the Nick character is white, has blonde hair and has blue eyes. His appearance is regularly alluded to by the lead characters. They even make a joke that Nick looks like a member of the Aryan race.
Second, Albee was one of those writers who wanted everything that was written to remain that way. Albee’s estate even alluded to this:
Furthermore, Mr. Albee himself said on numerous occasions when approached with requests for non-traditional casting in productions of …Virginia Woolf? that a mixed-race marriage between a Caucasian and an African-American would not have gone unacknowledged in conversations in that time and place and under the circumstances in which the play is expressly set by textual references in the 1960’s.
This provides clear evidence that productions must, indeed, continue to be cast per Mr. Albee’s intention, and according to the legal rights held by his estate, which works with great care to ensure that the author’s intent is upheld as closely as possible and with great consideration given to his stage directions and dialogue.
Heat St reported that when casting was started for his “Three Tall Women” revival, Albee had to approve the height of each woman who was cast in the play.
Once again, the Twitterverse was lit up and everyone was outraged by the reports.
In today’s hypersensitive society, you can’t be victorious unless you adapt. The entire entertainment industry, as a way to shield itself from the constant accusations of racism, homophobia, sexism and even Islamophobia, must establish a quota system of skin color and genders similar to what the British Film Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announced late last year.
But you can’t stop there.
Each ethnicity and gender must be given a role that serves as reparations for their victimhood. For example, a gay black woman must have the starring role of a perfect, flawless character. A straight white male must be given a secondary character named Donald who fits all the odious clichés: racist and homophobic, conservative and free speech defender.
Here is a story: a poor gay black woman, Hillary, is pregnant because she was sexually assaulted by a straight white man, Donald. Here’s the grab: she is transitioning into a man. Oscar!
And if you don’t like the play, film or TV show then you are a bigot.
