Jessica Chastain Comments On Barrage Of Abuse She Received After Her “Diversity In Movies” Speech
Welcome to the Internet, Ms. Chastain! Yes, it’s always like this. We’re sorry.
After giving a knockout speech on the important of diversity in the film industry after being honored as an MVP at the Critics Choice Awards last week, the Interstellar actress said she was surprised by the level of vitriol she faced for having the audacity to think maybe movies should hire more than just white dudes.
“I’ve had really terrible people who are racists comment on the speech and say really terrible things. I’m understanding that some people in this world, how much hate they can have,” she told the Associated Press, calling the reaction “strange.” That’s how you can tell she doesn’t spend a whole lot of time online, because at a certain point if you’re an opinionated woman with a progressive outlook on dismantling systematic oppression, you kind of get used to the haters. Sigh.
During her speech on Thursday, she invited other members of her industry to “stand together against homophobic, sexist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic and racist agendas.”
Many cited her words the next day when the Oscars nominations were announced with nary a black performer among them—but Chastain says that the problem, which she herself is a part of as an industry elite, amounts to something bigger than who wins what:
“Some people had taken my speech and then made it about awards—like SAG Awards or Oscars. That’s not what my speech was about.[…] To me awards are just a reflection. It’s just a symptom of the disease and the disease is in the industry. If we had more diversity in our films it would be reflected in diversity in the nominees.”
Hear that, trolls? She’s not going to stop talking about it until media representation and diversity changes for the better, so whine all you want about how white guys are just better at acting than other people, or whatever bullshit you use to justify your dumb opinions . We’ll all be over here railing against the machine without you.
(via CBS News)
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