• Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Lists
    • Yearly Top Tens
    • Trailers
    • Contact
    • Hire Me
    • About
Menu

World of Reel

Street Address
City, State, Zip
Phone Number
Home
IMG_5575.jpg
Jafar Panahi’s ‘It Was A Simple Accident’ Wins the Palme d’Or [Cannes]
IMG_5574.jpg
Readers’ Thoughts on ‘Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning’? What’s The Best Film of the Franchise?
IMG_5573.jpg
Palme d’Or Rumors & Intel — Laxe, Mendonça, Trier, Panahi, Dardenne Have Won Prizes [Cannes]
IMG_5562.jpg
‘The Young Mother’s Home’ is The Dardennes’ Most Acclaimed Film in Over A Decade [Cannes]
IMG_5559.jpg
Ethan Coen’s ‘Honey Don’t’ Panned By Critics [Cannes]
Featured
Capture.PNG
Aug 19, 2019
3-Hour ‘Midsommar' Director's Cut Screened in NYC
Aug 19, 2019

This year’s 12th edition of the Scary Movies festival at Film at Lincoln Center premiered Ari Aster’s extended version of “Midsommar” this past Saturday.

Aug 19, 2019

World of Reel

  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Lists
  • More
    • Yearly Top Tens
    • Trailers
  • About
    • Contact
    • Hire Me
    • About

Director Steve McQueen Says Some Positive “Widows" Reviews Are Sexist and Racist; He's Right.

November 15, 2018 Jordan Ruimy
widows.jpg

Steve McQueen's “Widows” begins with the wondrously set-up image of Viola Davis and Liam Neeson in bed together and passionately kissing. Some of the audience I saw the film with actually gasped at the scene. Was it because Davis is an African-American woman and Liam Neeson is pure Irish white? Quite possibly. The reaction was telling; it showcased how some people are still in total denial that an interracial couple can have a passionate on-screen romance. 

Review: ‘Widows': Steve McQueen takes genre conventions and twists them inside out to messy, glorious effect

McQueen spoke to BuzzFeed about the scene, stating that he tried to “amplify a mixed-race couple kissing in a way that their tongues onscreen is the first image. If you saw it in the street you wouldn’t think twice of it but somehow on the big screen it sort of amplifies and magnetizes what that is.”

The BuzzFeed interview is quite fascinating. It encompasses a wide array of topics, most notably the inherent racism and sexism he's read in some of the film's reviews:

“Through the critique of this movie, I’ve seen sexism in a way and racism in a way, which is interesting, even if it’s a positive review,” McQueen said. “People don’t even notice that, but when you’ve got 90% of the critics are white males, that’s what happens.”

He went on to add, “we need more women directors. We need more black directors,” McQueen said. “We need more of a diversity across the board of representations within movies as well as critics.”

I just re-read my TIFF review of "Widows" and it seems that I didn't focus much on the African-American or female-driven cast. I don't know why I didn't; it never struck me as being as essential as explaining why the film worked on a technical and artistic level. 

Of course the development of films with non-White male casts is crucial for the progression of social equality. However, as important as that is, focusing reviews of the film around this is as detrimental. It is basically telling the cast and crew that they are different and are being judged on a different level – which is exactly what they are trying to avoid.

These days, film critics increasingly have the need to mention their own socio-political stance in their reviews. Political theory sneaking into film criticism is nothing new, but it has significantly expanded these last few years with some of the most influential critics having the need to point out anything remotely political in a film. It happened with "Black Panther," with "A Wrinkle in Time," and now with "Widows." Giving a mediocre film a stellar review because of the color of the cast is not doing what these artists are asking for – equal treatment. While I didn’t particularly like “Black Panther” or “A Wrinkle in Time,” “Widows” is high-grade mainstream entertainment done with McQueen's artful eye for the visual. Of course the development of films with non-White male casts is crucial for the progression of social equality. 

I'm sure McQueen is bothered by critics having to state that he is a black filmmaker in every review they write. I'm sure he is bothered by critics having to mention that an African-American woman leads the movie and I'm sure he is bothered by film writers all but tapping him on the back for making a 'progressive' movie. He was just trying to make a movie, and pointing out the “blackness” of the movie is still racism.

So, with all that being said, I do agree with McQueen and think a way to solve this problem is to have more diversity in film criticism, to have more people who don't look at it in such a black and white way.

In NEWS Tags Politics, #OscarsSoWhite, Steve McQueen, Widows
← DP Matthew Libatique is safe for Oscar contention; he only clobbered a Polish medical worker and a couple of copsSimon Pegg says “The Last Jedi” made him “miss” George Lucas →

FOLLOW US!


Trending

Featured
IMG_5403.jpg
Ari Aster’s ‘Eddington’ POLARIZES; Starts as Satire, Ends in Horror — Not Everyone’s Buying It [Cannes]
IMG_5383.jpg
‘Sirat’ Screens — Surreal, Chaotic and Unsettling [Cannes]
IMG_5352.jpg
‘Mission: Impossible 8’ Review Embargo Breaks — It’s A Mess [Cannes]
IMG_5328.jpg
‘Sound of Falling’ Gets Bogged Down by Heavy Symbolism [Cannes]
IMG_4571.jpg
David Fincher & Brad Pitt Reunite for ‘The Continuing Adventures of Cliff Booth' + Plot Details

Critics Polls

Featured
Capture.PNG
Critics Poll: ‘Vertigo’ Named Best Film of the 1950s, Over 120 Participants
B16BAC21-5652-44F6-9E83-A1A5C5DF61D7.jpeg
Critics Poll: Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ Tops Our 1960s Critics Poll
Capture.PNG
Critics Poll: ‘The Godfather’ Named Best Movie of the 1970s
public.jpeg
Critics Poll: ‘Do the Right Thing' Named Best Movie of the 1980s
Critics Poll: ‘Mulholland Drive' Named Best Film of the 2000s
g4.jpg
Critics' Poll: ‘Goodfellas' Named Best Movie of the 1990s
Critics Poll: ‘Mad Max: Fury Road' Named Best Movie of the 2010s
World of Reel tagline.PNG
 

Content

Contribute

Hire me

 

Support

Advertise

Donate

 

About

Team

Contact

Privacy Policy

Site designed by Jordan Ruimy © 2023