Unexpected criticism for miniseries
LOS ANGELES John Ridley said he expected his “politically sharp” TV miniseries Guerrilla, about England’s 1970s black power movement, to be provocative.
But criticism it excludes the role played by black female activists took him by surprise at a screening in London, he said.
He pointed to his track record of writing for black actresses in projects including TV’s American Crime (Regina King) and 12 Years a Slave (Lupita Nyong’o, Quvenzhane Wallis), among others.
“I would say very sincerely to anybody, if they find fault with what I’m doing or how I’m doing it, you don’t need to wait for me to tell your stories,” Ridley said. “You don’t need anybody’s permission to go out and tell the story you want to tell.”
At last week’s screening, Ridley was questioned by some audience members about the project’s approach. Guerrilla, debuting April 16 on CraveTV, stars Indian actress Freida Pinto and black British actor Babou Ceesay as an activist couple.
One questioner said the writers were responsible for the “erasure” of black women from the story, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Ridley reportedly grew emotional in trying to explain his decisions to the audience, at one point invoking his own interracial marriage.
The reaction to Pinto’s Jas and Ceesay’s Marcus “is actually part of the story we’re telling,” he said. “It’s as old as Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story. … Nobody can see their love the way they do.”
The African-American writer, director and producer stands by the authenticity of Guerrilla, which he said involved a “learning tour” to meet participants and observers of the British civil rights struggle.
Because “a lot of these stories have not been taught, have not been told,” it may frustrate those who want a single project to make up the lost ground, said Ridley, who won an Oscar in 2014 for his adapted screenplay of 12 Years a Slave.