Mansplaining on Project Greenlight

[jeaniebueller]

Anyone watch last night and catch the exchange between Matt Damon and Effie Brown regarding choosing the director? I thought Matt Damon was kind of an ass, but it also appeared that the majority of the pool of candidates were white men.

[aurora]

Sept 14, 2015 8:40:45 GMT -5 1234FIF! said:

Sept 14, 2015 8:02:53 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

Anyone watch last night and catch the exchange between Matt Damon and Effie Brown regarding choosing the director? I thought Matt Damon was kind of an ass, but it also appeared that the majority of the pool of candidates were white men.

YES! I recounted it to some other folks because it pissed me off. He was talking over her and basically dismissed her assertion that they might think about diversity. 

Matt: Obv diversity is an issue in filmmaking but this is a filmmaking competition and we should award it based on merit.

That statement, plus how he condescended to Effie, may have lost me as a fan. 

Spoken like someone who either (a) doesn't understand unconscious bias, or (b) understands it all too well and wants to win a competition without having to produce an actual better film with female- or minority-sounding names on the credits to compensate for the judges' unconscious bias.

[jeaniebueller]

Yeah, I am heavily side eyeing Matt Damon now after that. I also thought that was interesting choice that they chose that exchange to make it to the show.

[jeaniebueller]

Sept 14, 2015 9:04:53 GMT -5 1234FIF! said:

Sept 14, 2015 9:00:02 GMT -5 jeaniebueller said:

Yeah, I am heavily side eyeing Matt Damon now after that. I also thought that was interesting choice that they chose that exchange to make it to the show.

And then that chose that douche as the winner. 

Right, like don't try to argue you're only choosing on merit when you obviously pick the candidate that is going to cause the most drama and make the best TV for the project greenlight show.

[kapoentje]

"Apparently titled Not Another Pretty Woman (sigh), it’s about a man who gets left at the altar (sigh) and ends up marrying a prostitute instead (I think I’m going to be sick). And if that isn’t trope-ridden and potentially sexist enough for you, it comes out that the sex worker character, Harmony, is a black woman with a white pimp. Hey, what in the world could go wrong?"

Nooooooo. No.

[jeaniebueller]

Jezebel just posted a link to the clip: jezebel.com/matt-damon-interrupts-successful-black-woman-filmmaker-1730553152?utm_campaign=socialflow_jezebel_facebook&utm_source=jezebel_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow.

[Deleted]

Sept 14, 2015 11:09:30 GMT -5 1234FIF! said:

Sept 14, 2015 10:29:21 GMT -5 kapoentje said:

"Apparently titled Not Another Pretty Woman (sigh), it’s about a man who gets left at the altar (sigh) and ends up marrying a prostitute instead (I think I’m going to be sick). And if that isn’t trope-ridden and potentially sexist enough for you, it comes out that the sex worker character, Harmony, is a black woman with a white pimp. Hey, what in the world could go wrong?"

Nooooooo. No.

Right, this is what made me mad about Matt talking over Effie when she brought up that they might consider diversity because of the subject matter and he is all YEAH YEAH YEAH MERIT MERIT. 

If they are picking a specific project, it seems like it is using merit to pick the person/team best able to reflect that project.

Like maybe winning dude is best for any film, but the other team might have been best for this film.

[laurenpetro]

if matt damon needs a stern talking to i'll gladly go in there and take one for the team.

i guess i'll watch tonight. thank you for the heads up that he might become #2 on my New Daddy list.

[laurenpetro]

Sept 14, 2015 15:24:23 GMT -5 1234FIF! said:

Sept 14, 2015 15:22:25 GMT -5 laurenpetro said:

if matt damon needs a stern talking to i'll gladly go in there and take one for the team.

i guess i'll watch tonight. thank you for the heads up that he might become #2 on my New Daddy list.

He better stop talmbout how his Bourne could whoop Batfleck's ass and come out and say something to fix it. Apologize for the whitesplainin' and mansplainin' and take his lumps. 

shut up.  i mean, i agree but did this really happen???

[LadySusan]

Sept 14, 2015 15:41:57 GMT -5 laurenpetro said:

Sept 14, 2015 15:24:23 GMT -5 1234FIF! said:

He better stop talmbout how his Bourne could whoop Batfleck's ass and come out and say something to fix it. Apologize for the whitesplainin' and mansplainin' and take his lumps. 

shut up.  i mean, i agree but did this really happen???

I would laugh forever it if this happened to poor Ben.

Afleck's been on my shitlist since that ancestry bullshit.  And then the nanny business?

[bronxgirl]

When I was watching the show I thought to myself that Matt and ben are probably really proud of themselves for including a Black woman. I don't think it ever occurred to them that she might have actual opinions worth listening to. While matt was doing his whitesplaining, I could see the moment on her face when she realized she lost the battle and she had to give in to her boss's demands. that was a sad moment. On a less related note it was really annoying how they have so many mentions of how Jason isn't right for the project and won't be able to work with people and then when they jump to the final discussion matt and ben are all like "we have to get Jason!!" obviously they're just trying to set up conflict for the reality TV shows, which is all what this exercise is about.

[josieposy]

I didn't watch the show, but saw the clip. The entire exchange was cringeworthy. Then when I realized what the script was about, it made it double cringeworthy.

[Deleted]

Sept 15, 2015 10:11:36 GMT -5 1234FIF! said:

Sept 14, 2015 14:47:49 GMT -5 @kcpokergal said:

If they are picking a specific project, it seems like it is using merit to pick the person/team best able to reflect that project.

Like maybe winning dude is best for any film, but the other team might have been best for this film.

www.laineygossip.com/Matt-Damon-tries-to-explain-diversity-in-film-to-successful-African-American-producer--Effie-Brown--in-clip-from-Project-Greenlight/40635

Thanks. I was having a hard time following. Damon was obnoxious.