No need to spend one more moment of your time wondering when the Coen brothers will offer their invaluable insight into the #OscarsSoWhite discussion.
In an interview with the Daily Beast to promote their all-white film, Hail, Ceasar!, the filmmaking brothers—who have been nominated and won several Academy Awards—talked diversity.
“It’s an absolute, absurd misunderstanding of how things get made to single out any particular story and say, ‘Why aren’t there this, that, or the other thing?” Joel added. “It’s a fundamental misunderstanding of how stories are written. So you have to start there and say, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.’”
“You don’t sit down and write a story and say, ‘I’m going to write a story that involves four black people, three Jews, and a dog’ — right?” Joel continued. “That’s not how stories get written. If you don’t understand that, you don’t understand anything about how stories get written and you don’t realize that the question you’re asking is idiotic. It’s not an illegitimate thing to say there should be more diversity in an industry. But that’s not what that question is about. That question is about something else.”
Wow. Insightful. A lot to unpack there.
They also argued that, “Diversity’s important. The Oscars are not that important.” This is true. Great point, guys! Speaking of diversity and its importance, here’s a look at some of your biggest films:
Hail, Cesar!
Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Stars:
- Josh Brolin
- George Clooney
- Alden Ehrenreich
- Ralph Fiennes
- Jonah Hill
- Scarlett Johansson
- Frances McDormand
- Tilda Swinton
- Channing Tatum
Bridge of Spies
Directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Joel and Ethan Coen
Stars:
- Tom Hanks
- Mark Rylance
- Amy Ryan
- Alan Alda
Inside Llewyn Davis
Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Stars:
- Oscar Isaac*
- Carey Mulligan
- John Goodman
- Garrett Hedlund
- F. Murray Abraham
- Justin Timberlake
True Grit
Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Stars:
- Jeff Bridges
- Matt Damon
- Josh Brolin
- Barry Pepper
- Hailee Steinfeld
Burn After Reading
Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Stars:
- George Clooney
- Frances McDormand
- John Malkovich
- Tilda Swinton
- Richard Jenkins
- Brad Pitt
No Country For Old Men
Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Stars:
- Tommy Lee Jones
- Javier Bardem
- Josh Brolin
- Woody Harrelson
- Kelly Macdonald
- Garret Dillahunt
- Tess Harper
The Ladykillers
Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Stars:
- Tom Hanks
- Irma P. Hall*
- Marlon Wayans*
- J. K. Simmons
- Tzi Ma*
- Ryan Hurst
Intolerable Cruelty
Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Stars:
- George Clooney
- Catherine Zeta-Jones
- Geoffrey Rush
- Cedric the Entertainer*
- Edward Herrmann
- Paul Adelstein
- Richard Jenkins
- Billy Bob Thornton
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Stars:
- George Clooney
- John Turturro
- Tim Blake Nelson
- Charles Durning
- Michael Badalucco
- John Goodman
- Holly Hunter
The Big Lebowski
Written by Joel and Ethan Coen, directed by Joel Coen
Stars:
- Jeff Bridges
- John Goodman
- Julianne Moore
- Steve Buscemi
- David Huddleston
- John Turturro
Fargo
Written by Joel and Ethan Coen, directed by Joel Coen
Stars:
- Frances McDormand
- William H. Macy
- Steve Buscemi
- Harve Presnell
- Peter Stormare
Hey Ethan and Joel, next time it’ll be much easier and quicker to just say: We don’t give a shit about diversity.
*there’s one!
Contact the author at kara.brown@jezebel.com .
Image via Kevin Winter/Getty.
DISCUSSION
My take-away from this whole thing is that a bunch of white people are just really into white people. Given their explanations for the lack of diversity, I’m not sure I want them tackling any issues but white people issues.