I'll hand it to Hannah Jewell, writer for The Washington Post, she was clearly upfront,, honest and critical of "Beirut" screenwriter-producer Tony Gilroy when she interviewed him about the film earlier this week. "Beirut" has been criticized as racist by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee’s Abed Ayoub. Why, you ask? Well part of it has to do with there being no Lebanese characters.
The interview above, between Jewell and Gilroy, is no doubt cringe-worthy in its discomfort. Gilroy stands his ground when grilled by Jewell and as she recounts her time spent in Lebanon. She clearly thinks she has the right to tell Gilroy, to his face no less, how repulsed she was by his film. Girl's got guts, I'll give her that.
Of course, ethnic representation advocate Jen Yamato seems to have taken a liking to Jewell's stance, alas welcome to 2018!
Gilroy: “To anyone who spent time in Beirut in its heyday, it has really become Paradise Lost. I understand the sorrow but there are no Lebanese character in the film. There’s nobody in this film who is Lebanese. Everyone is an interloper. The PLO are invaders, teh Americans are invaders, the Israelis are invaders. The movie’s about Jon Hamm‘s character. He’s an Arabist, he’s married to a Lebanese woman, sponsoring a Lebanese boy. Jewell: Why is it called Beirut then? Gilroy: “Because it’s a good title, and it takes place there. Nobody speaks Mandarin in Chinatown.”
Gilroy to Jewell: “Did you feel [the film] was anti-Arab?” Jewell: “I have to say that there were moments in it that felt like it was written in 1991, and that certain [aspects and observations] have become cliches in talking about Lebanon, and to make a movie about that country without some [natives] in it seems like a huge push.” Gilroy: Story-telling, in a two-hour experience…everything takes a back seat to telling a good story. Would I be interested in inserting a scene that might satisfy…what would be the sequence or scene be that would satisfy this need and not stop [the movie] in its tracks…if we do a movie about Florida, should only Floridians play in it?…we have to protect everybody, you say…but the definition of who needs to be protected could be debated ad nauseum.”