Posted on 02/08/2016 6:28:43 PM PST by SJackson
Asked about diversity in Hollywood last week, the Coen brothers defended to the Washington Post their history of making movies about Jews and Minnesotans.
The Oscars So White controversy, #OscarsSoWhite, may reflect a real problem, the film writing-directing-producing duo agreed: Money drives commercial movies, people who invest money want more of what has worked in the past and it's daunting for minorities to break into that cycle.
But the brothers balked at the notion that film creators bear personal responsibility for promoting diversity, arguing you write what you know.
"Take any particular actor or writer or filmmaker, and you go, 'Your movies should be more this or more that or more the other thing,'" Joel Coen said. "The only sane response is that you can only write what you can write. You can't sit down and say, 'I'm going to write something that follows the dictates of what the culture thinks should be happening, in terms of cultural diversity in storytelling.' To be honest with you, that's completely lunatic."
Ethan Coen added: "We actually write movies in which the characters are Jews or Minnesotans."
True enough. They've done Jews ("Barton Fink"), wannabe Jews ("The Big Lebowski"), Minnesotans ("Fargo") and Minnesotan Jews ("A Serious Man").
Even sticking to what they know has gotten them into trouble.
"You say, 'Look at the work.' And then they go, 'Well, this character is Jewish and is a bad guy.' Somehow in their minds, that's implying that in our minds the Jewish characters stand in for all Jews," Joel Coen said. "Like I say, you can only write what you can write. If the question is whether or not there should be more people involved in the process, with more diverse backgrounds, so that what they write reflects a greater amount of diversity -- that the business itself should be more open to people of different backgrounds, so that those stories come in -- that's a legitimate thing to talk about. The other thing is crazy."
"Hail, Caesar!" focuses on another community the Coen brothers have come to know -- the Hollywood film industry. The film focuses on the making of a film, also called "Hail, Caesar!" starring Kirk Douglas-like actor Baird Whitlock (George Clooney). Unsurprisingly, there are some Jews on set.
In an exquisite Jew-out-of-water scene, studio executive Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) convenes a group of clergy to review the "Hail, Caesar!" script and make sure it doesn't offend any religious sensibilities. There's a Roman Catholic priest, a Protestant minister, a Greek Orthodox priest -- and a rabbi.
The rabbi struggles at length to politely explain that however Jesus is portrayed in the film, Jews won't be offended because to Jews, the Christian messiah is simply the "Nazarene." The acutely funny five minutes encapsulate what it is to be a Jew in the Diaspora.
My brother said if he was a billionaire, he would buy that one, destroy it, and remake it :)
FIRST of all, now that you got me started lol, Andy Garcia’s character was ABORTED in the book. I dont care what the fancy name is for getting around that in the movies, but it was stupid.
Second, Michael would never turn the business over to a young hot head.
Third, he has forgiven Kay for aborting his SON??!?!
I’m of Italian heritage. No. Not possible. Not ever. No way. No how. I could never see her face again.
Fourth, Michael wouldn’t calmly tell Garcia that giving up hsi daughter is the price he pays for the life he chooses.
He would have had him killed after the first warning.
A box of poisoned cannoli? To kill one man? how many was he going to eat? 15? and if he shared them?
such utter garbage. Now i’m in a bad mood lol
Burn After Reading - The debriefing at the end is a gut buster, in my personal opinion.
Also, check out Better Call Saul.
That one is funny.
Bob Odenkirk portrayal of Saul Goodman/James McGill(lawyer from BB)is just superb.
My father...1920.
Maybe they took the brunt of the stereotype so it was harder on them.
i’m 47. I’m sure it was tough on first generation, but they never talked about it.
I felt a little bad when a few people called Cuomo a no good WOP when he died, lol.
But I call everybody everything when i get mad in the house :)
No one is left unscathed!!
excluded from jobs, huh? By whom, and why?
Man, you really know the background!!
I’ve read about it but dont remember a whole lot.
Now I have to look at the pictures.
I’m always AMAZED when I found out such and such movie was based on real life!!
Like HEAT. albeit very loosely.
Are you a mafia movie buff? Dont think i’ve known anyone else who knew the background AT ALL to Casino :)
Yeah, why is rap usually only about black people living in rough neighborhoods? How come black rap artists never rap about Asians in Chinatown or Little Tokyo? Why don’t they rap about the problems of white doctors under Obamacare not getting reimbursed for all their work?
thanks :)
I must read the book then. Didn’t even know there was one!!
The guys i knew and grew up around were more the Goodfellas/Casino crowd than The Godfather crowd.
Actually, the Godfathers that did live very aloof or above the fray didn’t fare so well.
Like Castellano.
Gotti came from the slums and was one of them, the common gangster. Castellano didn’t earn his post. He inherited it.
Gotti also destroyed the mafia by being so in your face.
The one thing he loved the most he destroyed.
Good. Well, not completely, it still exists. Of that there is NO doubt.
I could have been making 100k on the piers at 20 years old. I’m 47 now.
My pop died when I was 15. My brother was 25. He made us promise to take no job offers from those that might offer us one.
I should have taken it lol.
It’s amazing. I love Breaking Bad, generally predicted and loved how it concluded. But after watching Better Call Saul twice, I realize that I’m much more attached already to Jimmy and Mike. And some of the other characters as well, but Jimmy and Mike just kill me.
you know what? I have TWO books owed me at Kindle!!
I think if it gets even slower at work tonight LOL, i’ll start reading it.
I’m an office supervisor for laborers in the field. Fixing lights at CVS, filling potholes at Target, lol, that kind of stuff.
Obviously the nights are slower than the days, but around 4am thing get moving again.
lol. Yeah, that bullet to the back of the head can RUIN a weekend.
And my pops told me you ALWAYS owe them a favor, and they WILL ask for it.
bttt
Yep, your pops was a helluva wise man.
“Raising Arizona” was hysterical, but in a dry humor way. It took tremendous restraint to get it exactly right as it was.
yes. A bunch of delis were hit for being mob fronts last year alone.
I better go make believe i’m doing some work lol.
I’ll catch ya later AAC!
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