Brie Larson Would Very Much Like To Hear From Film Critics Who Aren’t Just “White Dudes”

Oscar-winning actress Brie Larson has used her speech at the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards to take aim at the incredible whiteness of film critics. And we quote: “I don’t need a 40-year-old white dude to tell me what didn’t work about A Wrinkle in Time. It wasn’t made for him!”

Brie Larson shot to fame with the Oscar-winning film Room, and is the star of Marvel’s new and first female-led superhero film, Captain Marvel. She also famously chose not to applaud alleged abuser Casey Affleck at the 2017 Academy Awards.

Larson used data from USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative to provide the thrust of her speech, using upsetting figures like the fact that 80 percent of film critics who reviewed 2017’s top box-office hits were male, or that only 2.5 percent of top critics were women of colour.

Larson used A Wrinkle in Time as an example of how inequality in the world of criticism is often manifested.

“I don’t need a 40-year-old white dude to tell me what didn’t work about A Wrinkle in Time. It wasn’t made for him! I want to know what it meant to women of colour, biracial women, to teen women of colour,” she said.

“Am I saying I hate white dudes? No, I am not. What I am saying is if you make a movie that is a love letter to women of colour, there is an insanely low chance a woman of colour will have a chance to see your movie, and review your movie.”

.@brielarson offers three application points for helping film critics better reflect the U.S. population: 1) Ensure studio publicists and other gatekeepers are providing press screening access to critics of color, many of whom are freelancers #CrystalLucys pic.twitter.com/sShRPHWENG

— Rebecca Sun (@therebeccasun) June 14, 2018

She noted that in an effort to combat this issue, the Sundance Institute pledged to give at least 20 percent of their top-tier press passes at next year’s Sundance Film Festival to underrepresented groups.

“It really sucks that reviews matter — but reviews matter,” she continued. “Good reviews out of festivals give small, independent films a fighting chance to be bought and seen. Good reviews help films gross money, good reviews slingshot films into awards contenders. A good review can change your life. It changed mine.”

The top critics on @RottenTomatoes are OVERWHELMINGLY white and male. The newest report from @Inclusionists @USC shows a vast underrepresentation of diverse voices: https://t.co/WyvVNR0XkU #InclusionCrisis #30302020

— Brie Larson (@brielarson) June 11, 2018

Please note Jessica Chastain and Brie Larson are two of a very small handful of White actresses who specifically talk about inequity when it comes to women of color. Some of your faves can’t even say “Black women” – hell, a lot of them don’t know any. pic.twitter.com/ihRi5z48rt

— ReBecca Theodore-Vachon (@FilmFatale_NYC) June 14, 2018

brie larson:
– oscar winner
– advocates for victims of abuse & sexual assault
– loves gays
– will play the strongest avenger
– probably has cute dog pictures saved to her camera roll
– got the king kong to fall in love with her, ugh her mind

we have decided to stan forever

— gabi (@harleivy) June 11, 2018

The real news from Brie Larson’s speech is that “the Sundance Institute has pledged to give at least 20 percent of their top-tier press passes at next year’s Sundance Film Festival to underrepresented groups.” It’s not enough, but it’s a start.

— Evette Dionne ??‍♀️ (@freeblackgirl) June 14, 2018