Fade to Gray: At the movies with John Gray

There are lots of jobs I would never want to do based on what I’ve read, seen or watched on television. Crab fisherman like those guys on “Deadliest Catch”, a funeral home director because you’re around sadness all day or President Trump’s press secretary. No thanks. Oh and after watching the Academy Awards last week I can add one more to the list; movie financier. That would be the person who puts together all the money to make a movie actually happen. Why wouldn’t I like that job? I mean it sounds pretty cool hanging out with Julia Roberts and George Clooney all day. In a word- Francis McDormand. OK technically that’s two words.

Let me start by saying I’m a huge fan of her work. Fargo and Almost Famous are two of my favorite movies and she’s phenomenal in both; for Fargo she actually won an Academy Award. She’s a fantastic actress. In fact I was rooting for her to win the other night for that “three billboard” movie. As much respect as I have for her craft it was the last two words of her speech that would drive me out of the film industry- inclusive rider.

I was amazed how many people thought she said “inclusive writer”, as in go find a writer for your movie who is very inclusive. That’s not what she said. She said inclusive RIDER as in something that can be inserted into a star’s contract when they sign on to a movie making demands for more inclusivity. So in theory and practice the star could look at a scene you are shooting in the film and tell the director their aren’t enough of a certain kind of people in that scene.

I understand her sentiment and in a way it makes sense. There are certainly plusses to having a movie reflect the community it is attempting to recreate on the screen. To abandon that rationale would leave you with something that just looks silly. Example, shooting a scene at a coffee shop in China Town in New York City yet having waiters and customers who are all white with blonde hair. The viewer would tilt their head and think, “Something just isn’t right about this” even if they didn’t pick up on it right away. That said, giving stars this power dictate who else will be hired in front of and behind the camera is for me too much. If you are handing a director $100 million dollars to produce a movie I’d like the director to have a full say in who he or she wants in the movie. Trying to force in a certain quota of people into the project, instead of just being able to hire the best people you can find, seems intrusive.

I don’t have a problem with a big star getting $20 million dollars and a special trailer with a private masseuse and a bowl full of only green M&M’s. That’s their business and if they can get it more power to them. But they shouldn’t be able to tell the producers, director, writers and everyone else how to do their jobs.

The recent revelations about what a cesspool Hollywood has become were terrible and should be addressed. But having stars who’ve lived in and profited from that very system wag their fingers at the rest of us now is a bit much. Ashley Judd is right, the harassment needs to stop, so go after the bad people doing bad things. Don’t go down this road where we are going to right every wrong by putting in rules over who gets hired and for how much money. There’s a reason Mark Wahlberg was paid a small fortune to reshoot scenes in his recent movie and his female costar was not. The same reason Oprah gets a better table than you at the fancy restaurant; he’s a much bigger star.

Oscar ratings were the lowest ever they say. Most blame it on politics but I think the problem is so many of the movies they nominate nobody has seen. How many of you thought, “Hmm, a film about a woman who befriends a fish man and gets busy with him under water. I’m in!” My god some people were calling it “Grinding Nemo.” I’m convinced Hollywood only makes three kinds of movies anymorec omic book films that will make big money, horrible films designed to go straight to Cinemax and strange movies designed to impress the critics. This year we had plenty from that last category.

Final thought. I don’t know Francis McDormand but she seems very kind and genuine and I’m certain she has the best intentions telling other actors to demand these inclusion riders. I’ll make a prediction though that if they follow her advice you are going to see agents calling actors in the future and saying, “I listed off your demands including your inclusive rider and the studio is giving the part to someone else.” Why? Because when you’re handing someone $10 million bucks for three months work you are not so keen to acquiesce to extra demands beyond the color of the M&M’s.