We’re not quite sure what he was getting at├óΓé¼┬ª
On Sunday night’s premiere of the HBO docu-series Project Greenlight, Matt Damon may have said something he didn’t quite mean.
Project Greenlight is supposed to be a show that gives ALL filmmakers a chance to break into Hollywood — without having to know someone in the biz.
The emphasis is on the word “all” when it comes to filmmakers because in the premiere Damon decided to talk a bit about diversity, but we don’t think he came off the way he intended.
[ Related: Matt Says Jason Bourne Could Beat Up Batman! ]
While choosing a director for this season’s project — which features a black prostitute as the main character — Damon, along with partner in crime Ben Affleck, the Farrelly Brothers, and Effie Brown debated over their finalists.
Brown was voicing her opinion that she liked Leo Angelos and Kristen Brancaccio — an Asian man and a white woman, respectively — saying:
“I would want to urge people to think about ├óΓé¼ΓÇ£ whoever this director is, how they’re going to treat the character of Harmony. The only black character who’s a hooker who gets hit by her white pimp.”
The Bourne actor responded by bringing up the fact that Angelos and Brancaccio were the only directors in the group of finalists that didn’t bring up any potential problems with the character of Harmony being too stereotypical, saying:
“So on the surface they look like one thing, but they might end up giving us something we don’t want.”
Unfortunately, he didn’t stop there and went on to say:
“When we’re talking about diversity, you do it in the casting of the film, not in the casting of the show.”
Not surprisingly, Brown responded:
“Hoo. Wow. Okay!”
We understand where the 44-year-old actor is coming in terms of looking for a director who will analyze a story with a diverse perspective and see potential holes or problems with stereotypical or even racist characters or archtypes.
However, by Damon stating that he’s not looking to diversely cast the show (or people behind the scenes), but rather the cast of the film, it makes it seem as if he doesn’t care about overall diversity, but rather just the superficial appearance.
Unfortunately for the Oscar winner, the way he worded it came across extremely insensitive, and he received quite a bit of backlash on Twitter (below):
Matt Damon speaking over the only black person in the room so he can explain diversity to her is SO WHITE it hurts pic.twitter.com/iaQStYZ0ij
— Glen Coco (@MrPooni) September 14, 2015
Can someone get Matt Damon on the phone? I need him to suggest a good protective style for my hair. #damonsplaining
— Unapologetic Negro (@HollaBlackGirl) September 14, 2015
Because Matt Damon is a smart guy. And a well-meaning guy. AND he knew cameras were on him. And that’s STILL what came out.
— Daniel Fienberg (@TheFienPrint) September 14, 2015
If I have questions about diversity and what it means to me as a woman of color, I’ll ask Matt Damon #Damonsplaining pic.twitter.com/iTw7ayYwgM
— BlackGirlNerds (@BlackGirlNerds) September 14, 2015
Oh Matt Damon, you stepped right into it this time. And I ain’t handing you a stick to wipe your shoe, either.
— javachik (@javachik) September 15, 2015
Matt Damon popped up at a #BlackLivesMatter protest to tell us #AllLivesMatter #Damonsplaining 😐
— AlwaysAngry (@jennd1989_jenn) September 15, 2015
What do you think?
Was Matt totally out of line? Or did he just misspeak??
[Image via HBO.]
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