Tag Archives: people who should know better

A Handy Guide To Everything A Screenwriter Should Not Say. Ever.

Yup. Everything not to say. All in one place.

I am well familiar with the work of William Nicholson (as are you) but I know nothing about the man outside of his work. I thought well, maybe the clickbaiters are taking quotes out of context to try and drive some traffic… But there was this:

“’12 Years a Slave’ came out in America and that sucked up all the guilt about black people that was available. They were so exhausted feeling guilty about slavery that I don’t think there was much left over to be nice about our film. So our film didn’t do as well as we’d hoped, which was a bit heartbreaking.

“We showed it to test audiences very extensively and it got astounding responses. These things are measured in percentages and it was in the high 90s every time. So, honestly, we thought we had a winner. And when it didn’t become a winner it was devastating, actually, it was very distressing.

“I really thought it was going to win lots of awards, partly because it’s a good story but also because I thought I’d done a really good job and the director had done a really good job. So it has been very tough for me. Some things work and some things don’t. You just have to soldier on.”

… Ummm. Yeah…

There’s more in the Hitfix article, but be warned- it’s more than a bit heartbreaking. I mean, where to begin…?

Comparing Mandela’s struggle to slavery in America is so… misguided is the word I’m going to use.  There are others. Even going so far as to imply that people would see 12 Years A Slave (or Mandela, for that matter) out of guilt? Or that one filmic struggle cancels out the other because they both involve “black people”. What? I’m amazed he didn’t drag Fruitvale Station into the discussion. But, hey, it didn’t steal his awards thunder, so I guess it further didn’t merit a mention.

Wow. I’d honestly like to break this down further, but it’s making me too sad. This cannot be diversity in 2014, folks. We have got to do better.

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Don’t Do What Johnny Dont Does

I should probably say upfront that I am a fan of The Black List. I know there are complaints about… whatever they’re about, but I’ve gotten great guidance from the group over there. Plus, there’s The Black Board, which is a great place for screenwriters to discuss topics at hand (Bested only, I think, by the forums on Done Deal Pro, which I’ll save for another post).

But, for now, an interesting post from The Black Board that leads back to a Tumblr post by Jill Pantozzi.

It’s a couple of quick reads, and will leave you nodding your head and thinking all this makes sense… But if this all makes so much sense, why on earth does it still happen? The objectification of women in comics should have ended… I dunno, forever ago? But it persists in such blatant, inexplicable ways.

I spent days at a con earlier this year, sitting across from an artist with a portfolio that seemed to only consist of barely clothed women. He didn’t seem to get a lot of people stopping at his table, and I suspect that’s because the crowd at the con seemed to be more than half comprised of women. Which shouldn’t shock anyone. I hope. (Except maybe that guy.)

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