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Women and Hollywood: Michelle Rodriguez recently made some fans unhappy when she spoke out against race-blind casting in superhero movies. "It's so stupid," she said. "Stop stealing all the white people's superheroes. Make up your own."
This article makes me pretty angry because Michelle Rodriguez really does have her life and morals together. She knows that being an activist means letting go of some success she could have come into, and proving her point instead. I really like the idea of only acting and accepting the roles you believe in, and I think in the film industry, that doesn’t happen enough. I mean, if it did, I think all the white washing and racial bias could be eliminated if actors thought “I couldn’t portray this role correctly, I’m not that kind of person”. And even that sounds a little bit racist as I write it because it could be used in the same direction if a black actress didn’t think she could be Belle from Beauty and the Beast because the part is originally written as a white woman. I like her standards, though, and it’s kind of a shame that the article is overall negative towards her.
I can understand why here comments would put some people on edge, but all in all I really don’t think she was too far off the mark? “Stop stealing white people’s superheroes”? Why not, as ethnic people we have our own heresies from our own histories, this isn’t to say I’m against race blind casting: the improvement has made amazing strides in the industry for people of all backgrounds. But she is correct, the Latina doesn’t always have to be the hot belly dancer or the tough, war torn drug dealer. And the minority doesn’t always have to die! Once Hollywood gets past the need carry the women’s empowerment flag, I really believe a difference will be made in the diversity of women’s roles in films. But she was also right in another point, we can’t automatically expect men to make these changes if they are the ones who benefit from it, the more female directors and scriptwriters we get, the more representation positively in films there will be.
I'm conflicted in multiple ways. One part of me tells me that I shouldn't be able to forgive Michelle Rodriguez for her previous statement, but the other part of me admires her ability to turn down jobs that go against her personal morals. I think however, that while her actions are admirable, that they attempt to resolve an issue that should really be addressed from the other side of the spectrum here. In most cases, the most effective way to bring down an industry standard that may not sit well with the consumers is to attack from the consumer standpoint in the first place. If the consumer doesn't want to go see racist/sexist content in the first place, and movies that don't fall into that particular standard begin to not do as well, Hollywood will follow suit. However, big budget films with this kind of content continue to be produced in the first place simply because they're going to make money regardless of whether or not they attempt to appease the more socially aware consumer, because at the moment those concerns are not being voiced by the majority.
Wow. This is a terrible statement made by Michelle Rodriguez. I understand she has morals and she's taking a "stand" for the females in the film industry, particularly women of color, but it's very frustrating for her to have this particular viewpoints that come across as selfish. And anyone should be taking a stand it should be the writers, designers, and producers of this production. And I also made a comment on another actors getting parts and have morals about it. But he was doing it to have a purpose and to take a stand in what he believes in, but Rodriguez was basically saying "make this role for me because I'm special and I'm important and I matter." I bet she does matter, but she need to watch what she says because she's taking it way out of proportion. I totally understand why she hasn't taken a lead role since that one movie. She doesn't deserve it with this attitude.
As a black actress, I find this extremely offending. "stop stealing white people's superheroes?" Wow. Its already hard enough for black performers to even find jobs anymore because most available jobs that are out there are mainly for white actors which is okay but someone stressful for me. I get a fire in my belly when I hear things like this being said. we are in a community we shouldn't be bring ing each other down. I get that this field is competitive but I mean... isn't there room to build each other up and to help EACH OTHER become successful. 54102 <54-102> <54102>
I don’t understand why people are getting so up in arms about Michelle. Yes, she probably shouldn’t have said that statement, but she is amazing in her will to turn down jobs that go against her morals. I mean, she has committed herself to make her own archetype even if she was going to go broke doing is amazing. What sucks is that because she believes this, she doesn't often get to star in her own movie and she did almost go broke twice. I think the more women actresses there are that are like Michelle Rodriguez, the closer we will get to having a more diverse and unsexist film industry. Though there is a lot that needs to change. Like the article said at the end, even if strong women write their own scripts that are fully encompassing, they often will be just put to the side and not used because they were written by a woman. If only we could get all actresses to refuse rolls that are sexist. But that would be incredibly unfair to the women because none of them would be getting jobs. There just needs to be something big to jolt the men in the industry to realize that women will not take their shit anymore.
I can understand the controversy behind some of these comments, but I think we might be reading too much into Michelle Rodriguez's first comment than she wants us to. At the end of the article she makes an intelligent observation -- that the characters she wants to play will not come to her in scripts only if she writes them herself -- and I think that applies heavily to her first comment about making your own superheroes instead of 'stealing' white people's. I am extremely impressed by her steel and her willingness to stick to her guns even at the fear of going broke and unemployed for years -- and that she doesn't mind she hasn't starred in her own film for years. It takes a very secure person (an EXTREMELY secure woman, indeed) to do that to herself. As a girl in the entertainment industry, I sort of feel pressured to take whatever job comes my way because I'm scared that it may be the only job I'll get for a while. And you've got to decide if you want to suffer in silence in a job you don't enjoy, or stick to your guns and be strong in an industry that only wants to kick you out. Kudos to Michelle Rodriguez. Hopefully she'll be an example to a lot of other diverse women burgeoning in the industry, and hopefully they will take her advice and write the POC superheroes we so desperately need represented.
I’m not going to touch her views on race and superheroes, because I just don’t even want to get into that. It would probably have been better if that weren’t in the article (since it really didn’t add anything to it and only served to conflict readers). I appreciate how she knows what she doesn’t want to do and how she has these strong standards. She refuses to play certain parts because those aren’t the roles that she wants to fill, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. I think it makes her look kinda bad that she refuses the roles because it makes it seem as though she’s above them, but I really admire how she has these strong views and how dedicated she is to them. The fact that she would give up work and go hungry for them is really impressive. With all of her complaints about scripts though, I would be curious to see if she tries to write one and how good it would actually be.
I don't personally find her comments to be so horrible. What is wrong with not wanting to identify with another race's superheroes? Why shouldn't she want to find roles that make her feel powerful, that represent the way she thinks her gender and her race should be represented? I don't find anything racist about this at all. She is taking a stand for what she believes in, not offending anyone. If you ask me, people have become incredibly sensitive to things that aren't very strictly politically correct. Says one thing about how she doesn't want to be involved with white people's superheroes and all of a sudden she's cut down black, latin, asian, etc. women's chance to play traditionally white roles. No, of course not, that's just her opinion and there's nothing wrong with it. I absolutely can see this from the other side, which is that there aren't many jobs on the market for people (especially women) of color in Hollywood, but I think that issue lies with the movies being produced right now. Honestly, I applaud Michelle for being able to speak her mind about something that absolutely affects her and her livelihood, and not letting anyone take her down for it.
Eh, good for Michelle that she is wealthy enough that she can turn down roles that offends her or she thinks reinforces stereotypes she disagrees with, but I don't really think she is changing any industry standards or norms by abstaining from "type-cast" roles. There's just another actress ready to fill her slot. I think a lot of the articles that get posted here that talk about such and such person/organization either supporting/fighting discrimination in any form really don't get to the heart of the matter. I feel that the real question one should is ask is WHY do directors and producers feel the need to create such typecast and stereotypical roles, racial or otherwise. I think that these kinds of things will only be fixed with a social/cultural shift in audience members, not in the people who produce this kind of work. It kind of feels like a chicken or egg type of problem, and it seems like people often look at the effect, not the cause.
While I am glad that Michelle Rodriguez's comments stirred up enough controversy to generate discussion, I do not think her comments were fully thought out, or articulated in the best manner. But at the same time, if the same problem had been brought up in a more robust, realized manner, would they have been heard as loudly? The fact of the matter is that our culture flocks to scandal. But I worry that every time something tricky needs to be discussed or brought to the public's conscious attention, it will have to ride on the back of a controversy. Sure, being abrasive helps you be heard, but it also alienates just a quickly.
More particularly, I think people need to understand that some stories have race as a central pillar of the story, and others do not. That does not make either kind of story more or less worth telling. We should be focusing on making sure all stories have an equal chance to be heard.
Wow. This statement made by Michelle Rodrigues, a rather successful and bright actress has really done a lot to how people, including myself, perceive her. However, her following comment that she made when confronted with all of the bad media from her first statement actually managed to intrigue me. She doesn’t want to place herself into any particular archetype, she wants to defy the limits and stereotypes and create her own no matter whether or not she is going to go broke doing it. She is also right in saying that she has no right to complain about the scripts that are made until she starts producing them herself. I feel like a lot of her statements could have been less racist and less sexist. A lot of characters are stereotyped and it’s wrong but that’s entertainment, not very many ideas are original. I’m sorry that this is happening, I would be upset as an actor always being stereotyped as well.
1. There's difference between glorifying the tragedies women face, and honoring the strength of women in spite of the struggles they face. She was right to be confused about the arbitrarily added rape scene. 2. Black superhero's are readily turned into sidekicks/ and or secondary heroes. Frozone. Its easy to say get your own when you don't acknowledge many attempts to do just that and have not been picked up, expanded, edited, etc. 3. Rodriguez is chalking her lack of work up to her agency when it may indeed by her lack of versatility. Rather than assuming that she is not being asked to accept roles because she is known to be selective, she probably is not asked to accept roles because she usually plays roughly the same character and from the transcripts of this interview sounds ungrateful and hard to work with. 54-102 :: A
13 comments:
This article makes me pretty angry because Michelle Rodriguez really does have her life and morals together. She knows that being an activist means letting go of some success she could have come into, and proving her point instead. I really like the idea of only acting and accepting the roles you believe in, and I think in the film industry, that doesn’t happen enough. I mean, if it did, I think all the white washing and racial bias could be eliminated if actors thought “I couldn’t portray this role correctly, I’m not that kind of person”. And even that sounds a little bit racist as I write it because it could be used in the same direction if a black actress didn’t think she could be Belle from Beauty and the Beast because the part is originally written as a white woman. I like her standards, though, and it’s kind of a shame that the article is overall negative towards her.
I can understand why here comments would put some people on edge, but all in all I really don’t think she was too far off the mark? “Stop stealing white people’s superheroes”? Why not, as ethnic people we have our own heresies from our own histories, this isn’t to say I’m against race blind casting: the improvement has made amazing strides in the industry for people of all backgrounds. But she is correct, the Latina doesn’t always have to be the hot belly dancer or the tough, war torn drug dealer. And the minority doesn’t always have to die! Once Hollywood gets past the need carry the women’s empowerment flag, I really believe a difference will be made in the diversity of women’s roles in films. But she was also right in another point, we can’t automatically expect men to make these changes if they are the ones who benefit from it, the more female directors and scriptwriters we get, the more representation positively in films there will be.
I'm conflicted in multiple ways. One part of me tells me that I shouldn't be able to forgive Michelle Rodriguez for her previous statement, but the other part of me admires her ability to turn down jobs that go against her personal morals. I think however, that while her actions are admirable, that they attempt to resolve an issue that should really be addressed from the other side of the spectrum here. In most cases, the most effective way to bring down an industry standard that may not sit well with the consumers is to attack from the consumer standpoint in the first place. If the consumer doesn't want to go see racist/sexist content in the first place, and movies that don't fall into that particular standard begin to not do as well, Hollywood will follow suit. However, big budget films with this kind of content continue to be produced in the first place simply because they're going to make money regardless of whether or not they attempt to appease the more socially aware consumer, because at the moment those concerns are not being voiced by the majority.
Wow. This is a terrible statement made by Michelle Rodriguez. I understand she has morals and she's taking a "stand" for the females in the film industry, particularly women of color, but it's very frustrating for her to have this particular viewpoints that come across as selfish. And anyone should be taking a stand it should be the writers, designers, and producers of this production. And I also made a comment on another actors getting parts and have morals about it. But he was doing it to have a purpose and to take a stand in what he believes in, but Rodriguez was basically saying "make this role for me because I'm special and I'm important and I matter." I bet she does matter, but she need to watch what she says because she's taking it way out of proportion. I totally understand why she hasn't taken a lead role since that one movie. She doesn't deserve it with this attitude.
As a black actress, I find this extremely offending. "stop stealing white people's superheroes?" Wow. Its already hard enough for black performers to even find jobs anymore because most available jobs that are out there are mainly for white actors which is okay but someone stressful for me. I get a fire in my belly when I hear things like this being said. we are in a community we shouldn't be bring ing each other down. I get that this field is competitive but I mean... isn't there room to build each other up and to help EACH OTHER become successful. 54102 <54-102> <54102>
I don’t understand why people are getting so up in arms about Michelle. Yes, she probably shouldn’t have said that statement, but she is amazing in her will to turn down jobs that go against her morals. I mean, she has committed herself to make her own archetype even if she was going to go broke doing is amazing. What sucks is that because she believes this, she doesn't often get to star in her own movie and she did almost go broke twice. I think the more women actresses there are that are like Michelle Rodriguez, the closer we will get to having a more diverse and unsexist film industry. Though there is a lot that needs to change. Like the article said at the end, even if strong women write their own scripts that are fully encompassing, they often will be just put to the side and not used because they were written by a woman. If only we could get all actresses to refuse rolls that are sexist. But that would be incredibly unfair to the women because none of them would be getting jobs. There just needs to be something big to jolt the men in the industry to realize that women will not take their shit anymore.
I can understand the controversy behind some of these comments, but I think we might be reading too much into Michelle Rodriguez's first comment than she wants us to. At the end of the article she makes an intelligent observation -- that the characters she wants to play will not come to her in scripts only if she writes them herself -- and I think that applies heavily to her first comment about making your own superheroes instead of 'stealing' white people's. I am extremely impressed by her steel and her willingness to stick to her guns even at the fear of going broke and unemployed for years -- and that she doesn't mind she hasn't starred in her own film for years. It takes a very secure person (an EXTREMELY secure woman, indeed) to do that to herself. As a girl in the entertainment industry, I sort of feel pressured to take whatever job comes my way because I'm scared that it may be the only job I'll get for a while. And you've got to decide if you want to suffer in silence in a job you don't enjoy, or stick to your guns and be strong in an industry that only wants to kick you out. Kudos to Michelle Rodriguez. Hopefully she'll be an example to a lot of other diverse women burgeoning in the industry, and hopefully they will take her advice and write the POC superheroes we so desperately need represented.
I’m not going to touch her views on race and superheroes, because I just don’t even want to get into that. It would probably have been better if that weren’t in the article (since it really didn’t add anything to it and only served to conflict readers). I appreciate how she knows what she doesn’t want to do and how she has these strong standards. She refuses to play certain parts because those aren’t the roles that she wants to fill, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. I think it makes her look kinda bad that she refuses the roles because it makes it seem as though she’s above them, but I really admire how she has these strong views and how dedicated she is to them. The fact that she would give up work and go hungry for them is really impressive. With all of her complaints about scripts though, I would be curious to see if she tries to write one and how good it would actually be.
I don't personally find her comments to be so horrible. What is wrong with not wanting to identify with another race's superheroes? Why shouldn't she want to find roles that make her feel powerful, that represent the way she thinks her gender and her race should be represented? I don't find anything racist about this at all. She is taking a stand for what she believes in, not offending anyone. If you ask me, people have become incredibly sensitive to things that aren't very strictly politically correct. Says one thing about how she doesn't want to be involved with white people's superheroes and all of a sudden she's cut down black, latin, asian, etc. women's chance to play traditionally white roles. No, of course not, that's just her opinion and there's nothing wrong with it. I absolutely can see this from the other side, which is that there aren't many jobs on the market for people (especially women) of color in Hollywood, but I think that issue lies with the movies being produced right now. Honestly, I applaud Michelle for being able to speak her mind about something that absolutely affects her and her livelihood, and not letting anyone take her down for it.
Eh, good for Michelle that she is wealthy enough that she can turn down roles that offends her or she thinks reinforces stereotypes she disagrees with, but I don't really think she is changing any industry standards or norms by abstaining from "type-cast" roles. There's just another actress ready to fill her slot. I think a lot of the articles that get posted here that talk about such and such person/organization either supporting/fighting discrimination in any form really don't get to the heart of the matter. I feel that the real question one should is ask is WHY do directors and producers feel the need to create such typecast and stereotypical roles, racial or otherwise. I think that these kinds of things will only be fixed with a social/cultural shift in audience members, not in the people who produce this kind of work. It kind of feels like a chicken or egg type of problem, and it seems like people often look at the effect, not the cause.
While I am glad that Michelle Rodriguez's comments stirred up enough controversy to generate discussion, I do not think her comments were fully thought out, or articulated in the best manner. But at the same time, if the same problem had been brought up in a more robust, realized manner, would they have been heard as loudly? The fact of the matter is that our culture flocks to scandal. But I worry that every time something tricky needs to be discussed or brought to the public's conscious attention, it will have to ride on the back of a controversy. Sure, being abrasive helps you be heard, but it also alienates just a quickly.
More particularly, I think people need to understand that some stories have race as a central pillar of the story, and others do not. That does not make either kind of story more or less worth telling. We should be focusing on making sure all stories have an equal chance to be heard.
Wow. This statement made by Michelle Rodrigues, a rather successful and bright actress has really done a lot to how people, including myself, perceive her. However, her following comment that she made when confronted with all of the bad media from her first statement actually managed to intrigue me. She doesn’t want to place herself into any particular archetype, she wants to defy the limits and stereotypes and create her own no matter whether or not she is going to go broke doing it. She is also right in saying that she has no right to complain about the scripts that are made until she starts producing them herself. I feel like a lot of her statements could have been less racist and less sexist. A lot of characters are stereotyped and it’s wrong but that’s entertainment, not very many ideas are original. I’m sorry that this is happening, I would be upset as an actor always being stereotyped as well.
1. There's difference between glorifying the tragedies women face, and honoring the strength of women in spite of the struggles they face. She was right to be confused about the arbitrarily added rape scene.
2. Black superhero's are readily turned into sidekicks/ and or secondary heroes. Frozone. Its easy to say get your own when you don't acknowledge many attempts to do just that and have not been picked up, expanded, edited, etc.
3. Rodriguez is chalking her lack of work up to her agency when it may indeed by her lack of versatility. Rather than assuming that she is not being asked to accept roles because she is known to be selective, she probably is not asked to accept roles because she usually plays roughly the same character and from the transcripts of this interview sounds ungrateful and hard to work with. 54-102 :: A
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