“Nowadays, people are talking about it more,” Tim Burton, 58, said regarding film diversity. “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, okay, 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, okay, there should be more white people in these movies.”
Oh boy. Tim was being interviewed by Bustle about Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, a fantasy film about magical kids, who all happened to be played by white actors. Somehow, not a single child of a different race happened to have peculiar powers! The rest of the cast is white, save for Samuel L. Jackson, who plays the film’s villain. Needless to say, Tim’s unfathomably ignorant answer about his lack of diversity in his films left fans on Twitter shocked and outraged:
https://twitter.com/iamroxxyhaze/status/782375729900027905
#TimBurton Logic:
REALISTIC
A Corpse Bride
Man with Scissors for Hands
Dead Couple Haunts HouseUNREALISTIC
PoC in any of these situations— Dylan Marron (@dylanmarron) October 1, 2016
For Tim Burton, diversity is casting someone besides Johnny Depp.
— Ben Schwartz (@benschwartz_) September 30, 2016
Tim Burton can't put POC in his films because he's focused on truly marginalized groups, like skeletons and boys with balloon sized heads
— ★ (@tragicgay111) September 30, 2016
https://twitter.com/julieklausner/status/781590231636144129
And according to Tim Burton, movies should only be made for white people. What a weekend
— James Reinhardt (@JamesReinhardt) October 2, 2016
https://twitter.com/a_frances34/status/782671422376337408
‘Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children’ — See Pics From The Movie
Of the 36 films under Tim’s belt, Samuel appears to be the first prominent character of color ever cast. Previous supporting characters include Jim Brown in Mars Attacks! and Billy Dee Williams in Batman, or Deep Roy in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. For someone with a track record of filmmaking as stellar as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and Sweeney Todd, among so many others, it’s utterly shocking that there hasn’t been more diversity in his casting!
HollywoodLifers, are you shocked by Tim’s comments about diversity in casting? Tell us in the comments!