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[Tom Nook Sawyer]

For fans of Ransom Riggs' 2011 bestseller Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, one of the things that made the news of its big-screen adaptation so intriguing was imagining which actors would make up the ensemble. The book features a large cast of characters, from the eponymous children to the many adults who throw them into peril. The idea of seeing them portrayed on-screen thrilled readers of Riggs' book hoping to see a diverse group of actors take on the challenge. Yet in reality, the few dozen characters that make up the movie version of Miss Peregrine's are predominantly white, with Samuel L. Jackson's Barron being the only notable exception. Sitting down at New York's McKittrick Hotel to discuss the film, director Tim Burton tells me why that's the case.

"Nowadays, people are talking about it more," he says regarding film diversity. But "things either call for things, or they don’t. I remember back when I was a child watching The Brady Bunch and they started to get all politically correct. Like, OK, let’s have an Asian child and a black. I used to get more offended by that than just... I grew up watching blaxploitation movies, right? And I said, that’s great. I didn’t go like, OK, there should be more white people in these movies."

https://www.bustle.com/articles/186...-children-features-a-predominantly-white-cast

 

[MadLaughter]

Been done with Burton/Depp for a while, this is another thing making that stick.

Edit: And yes, this answer is shameful as hell.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

Didn't even know it was an adaptation of a diverse work, and I still thought the trailer looked super white

 

[sans_pants]

oh boy

 

[Krejlooc]

Like, OK, let’s have an Asian child and a black. I used to get more offended by that than just... I grew up watching blaxploitation movies, right? And I said, that’s great.

what a fucking awful response, holy shit

 

[Ferrio]

Isn't that the standard bullshit response people give when asked this?

 

[- J - D -]

The Brady Bunch were about a white family!

 

[Silver Arrows]

what a fucking awful response, holy shit

it truly is

 

[Amir0x]

Wow not the most elegant way to put it damn

 

[Vincent Alexander]

That...was a pretty dumb answer by Burton.

 

[Skilletor]

So, if a character has no race ascribed to them, he defaults to white.

He's saying that they should need a person of color in a role, that the role should "call for it" even though it makes no difference for the character.

Get fucked, Tim.

 

[Transistor]

That answer was fucking horrible

 

[Krejlooc]

Isn't that the standard bullshit response people give when asked this?

most people don't call blaxploitation movies great to support their "fuck the PC crowd" bullshit. Like, his shit about the brady bunch being more diverse making him mad was stupid enough. Does he know what the fuck blaxploitation is?

 

[Crossing Eden]

I remember back when I was a child watching The Brady Bunch and they started to get all politically correct. Like, OK, let’s have an Asian child and a black. I used to get more offended by that

The fuck??

 

[Lord Fagan]

Been done with Burton/Depp for a while, this is just another thing making that stick.

.

 

[Slayven]

hahahaha, did he really just say diversity would be insulting to people?

Oh your timeline about to be on fire.

 

[Therin]

Uh .. he seems completely out of touch.

 

[Cyanity]

Tim Burton has proved himself a POS in the past, so this comes as no surprise.

 

[harSon]

I thought Ridley Scott's bullshit answers surrounding Exodus would remain talk dog for a while, but here we are.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

He should have ended the interview by saying "Hashtag All Lives Matter." Fucking yikes, that's about as inelegant as a response as you could make.

 

[Tagyhag]

Holy shit, I was expecting a better defense like "all the children in the books were white" (havent read it) or something.

This was just idiotic.

 

[Shaanyboi]

What a fucking dogshit response...

 

[Krejlooc]

He thinks the criticism people would have with blaxploitation movies is that there weren't white people in them.

I seriously just cannot comprehend that response.

 

[LQX]

In the book I'm pretty sure there were black characters. The teacher being one.

 

[Spaghetti]

Yeeeeeikesssss.

 

[Silver Arrows]

Well, I guess I can put it in the books that I won't watch another Burton movie ever again.

 

[Loudninja]

Wow terrible.

 

[Slayven]

I thought Ridley Scott's bullshit answers surrounding Exodus would remain talk dog for a while, but here we are.

I mean at least Ridley Scott said the money is racist as fuck, but this is gibberish nonsense

 

[Seesaw15]

Tim then said,

Where's the White History Month?

 

[Fluvian]

I don't understand when directors/game devs whatever end up in this position, why they don't just say "it wasn't part of our design document or this character was pictured white by the writer" like saying that is going to go down a million times better than the weird antiquated answers they usually come up with.

 

[eggandI]

I haven't watched a Tim Burton movie in a long, long time precisely because of how

Spoiler

white

the casting always is. To me there is absolutely nothing surprising about his response. If it looks like a duck..

 

[TheOohChild]

What a thoughtful explanation

 

[Trojita]

That's the stupidest fucking answer.

Though with how white Wales is, I'd expect a sheep to show up as a main character before a PoC.

 

[Sibersk Esto]

JUST

SAY

NOTHING

 

[Krejlooc]

Tim then said,

To be fair, he was just asking questions.

 

[entremet]

His point makes no sense.

The source material is already varied in characters

I don't get the Brady Bunch/Blaxploitation comparisons.

 

[Fjordson]

So, if a character has no race ascribed to them, he defaults to white.

He's saying that they should need a person of color in a role, that the role should "call for it" even though it makes no difference for the character.

Get fucked, Tim.

Seriously. It feels adjacent to some of the lame arguments I read about diversity in games.

"Don't want developers to have to shoehorn in minority characters!!". White / straight = cool. People of color / homosexual or bi = "shoehorning".

 

[mgarnica89]

He was gonna give us the best Harvey Dent / Two Face until WB destroyed his dreams. But seriously Bad answer from Tim.

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

JUST

SAY

NOTHING

Seriously. This just makes it worse.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

At first I thought he meant, like, casting directors and such when he said "things". "Ok, that's reasonable, I guess" I naively thought "The director probably doesn't have complete control over the actor pool and who actually gets considered for the role. It sucks but that's Hollywood".

And then I read the rest. Jesus Christ, he could not have said that in a worse way short of "I don't want black or Asian kids in my movies".

 

[Ampersands]

Geez Louise what a terrible response. Sums up the attitude most filmmakers and executives have towards diversity in film.

 

[Sibersk Esto]

"a black"

Yikes alert

 

[johnsmith]

Every movie he makes has at least 1 Native American though

 

[Kelsdesu]

He was gonna give us the best Harvey Dent / Two Face until WB destroyed his dreams. But seriously Bad answer from Tim.

All is forgiven.

 

[ScientificNinja]

I'm not sure what anyone else expected. I mean… the proof is right there in his work.

 

[kess]

Is "I grew up watching blsxploitation movies" the new "I have black friends"

 

[Trojita]

His point makes no sense.

The source material is already varied in characters

I don't get the Brady Bunch/Blaxploitation comparisons.

I'm not familiar with the source material besides it taking place on Wales. Is it diverse or varied?

 

[Krejlooc]

His point makes no sense.

The source material is already varied in characters

I don't get the Brady Bunch/Blaxploitation comparisons.

Black people loved blaxploitation, all those black actors playing exclusively stereotyped roles. It was great! Truly high visibility (as slum super heroes).

 

[Platy]

That must be one of the top10 worst responses to "your cast is entirely white" I ever saw

 

[Scientist Supreme!]

How can

Spoiler

white

people still be this dumb?