Brutally Honest Oscar voter: Everyone loves Dev Patel’s ‘mid-range brown color’

2017 BAFTA Awards - Arrivals

As we’ve been covering, The Hollywood Reporter has continued their excellent and disturbing Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot series, wherein THR faithfully records anonymous Oscar voters as they fill out their ballots. I previously covered Ballot #1 here and Ballot #2 here. As I tucked in to read Ballot #3, it struck me that these ballots actually give me a lot of angst, and I was like “why do I enjoy this series so much?” I think the answer to that is that because of the anonymity, you get to see Oscar voters’ unvarnished opinions about films and it’s often a window into how ridiculous the Academy really is. Like, these are process stories and the process is fascinating and disturbing but I would rather know than not know. All of which is to say, Ballot #3 is heavy on the shenanigans and WTF-ery. You can read the full piece here. This Oscar voter is a member of the producers’ branch of the Academy. And he actually talks about Dev Patel’s “mid-range brown color” and how everyone loves him… for his brown skin?

He didn’t like Hacksaw Ridge or Hidden Figures: “I hated Hacksaw Ridge: it’s dated; it’s two movies — the beginning is like a Norman Rockwell painting and the end is this gore-fest. I didn’t like Hidden Figures — it was a great story, but the director made really dopey choices, from the blocking, where they walk down the hall like they’re a gang, to the tone. I just hated it.

He voted for La La Land for Best Picture: “I normally go for sort of heavy films like Life of Pi, and I normally don’t like musicals, but because everything’s so f—ing miserable in the world, La La Land — even though it doesn’t end on a positive note — took me out of the moment and found a place in my heart. It was a good distraction. I actually saw it, for the first time, on Thanksgiving Day — I’ve seen it three times — all by myself, which I don’t normally do, but my wife was out of town and I went there and I left with a skip in my step. It made me happy that I live in town. It was wonderful.

Some gossip about Mel Gibson: “I’m not a huge fan of [Hacksaw Ridge’s] Mel Gibson, as a person, but setting aside his politics and how vile he is, which is hard to do, he’s still lacking as a filmmaker and needs to update his style. He was acting pretty nuts at the official Academy Q&A, playing with his beard and everything; you can take the alcohol away, but that’s when the insanity really starts. I’m over him.

He voted for Damian Chazelle over Barry Jenkins: “That leaves [Moonlight’s] Barry Jenkins and [La La Land’s] Damien. It was close for me. Moonlight is a mini epic, Barry is a real talent and I hope to have other chances to vote for him, but I realize that I may not because this was his personal story — they say everybody’s got one story in them, and this may have been his. But the directing was uneven, particularly with the last act of the film… Is that Barry’s fault or the casting person’s? I don’t know, I guess everything ultimately is the director’s fault. But f—, I had a really good time with La La Land, so that’s why Damien got my vote.”

Another vote for Viggo Mortensen: “Casey Affleck didn’t play someone I could feel much empathy for — I felt like he was doing scenes in acting class and, in his scene with Michelle Williams on the street, that they were just trying to out-act each other. [La La Land’s] Ryan Gosling was fine. But Viggo Mortensen f—ing ruled! It’s a fresh part, he’s a really good actor and he’s come so far — it was transformative, and he feels f—ing nuts! I loved him.

A surprise vote for Ruth Negga, even though the guy has a crush on Emma Stone: “I loved, loved, loved Emma Stone — she’s not the best singer or dancer, but in those scenes where she auditions she’s just brilliant. I couldn’t even talk to her when she sat down next to me at the Chateau Marmont party — I was like, “Uh, uh, uh —” But I voted for [Loving’s] Ruth Negga. [Loving’s writer/director] Jeff Nichols is my favorite director right now, and she does more saying nothing than the others do with words — and so did [Negga’s costar] Joel Edgerton, who got f—ing burned. It is so hard to emote and not talk.

This is the weirdest comment about Dev Patel: “Lucas Hedges was next to go — I don’t really think he’s the discovery of the century, sorry. Then [Lion’s Dev] Patel. He really seems like he’s needy as an actor and just wants you to like him, but he shouldn’t be that needy — he’s grown up to be a really handsome, sexy dude, with this mid-range brown color, so everyone loves him.

He voted for Mahershala Ali: “I gave it to Ali because I’ve seen Jeff Bridges do this before — it wasn’t out of the wheelhouse for him — but Ali transforms. I mean, he looks like a motherf—er on the street, and he really sets the whole movie in motion. He’s good in whatever he does — he’s just a really present actor, so honest, with a great look, and you believe everything about him. I can see why a young boy would want to be like him. I love him.”

Another bizarre racial comment, this time about Fences: “I just love Viola [Davis]. She has no business being in the supporting category [for Fences], but I voted for her anyway because she was incredible. Despite how many times she’s played that part, she was totally in it. I mean, that scene where there’s snot falling out of her nose? If that isn’t incredible acting then I don’t know what is. It was touching. To me, that film doesn’t just speak about black relationships and how black men go on and have child after child; it was a film about the men in America and the women who support them. I had a troubled childhood with my father and it spoke to me at a very neutral level.

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

I don’t want to do some epic takedown because this is already an incredibly long post, but WTF? I warned you that there were shenanigans “…That film doesn’t just speak about black relationships and how black men go on and have child after child…” Did you really just speak those words, dude? That’s a giant NOPE. And did you really dismiss Dev Patel because he should be happy to be a loveable “mid-range brown”??? WHAT THE SH-T? I mean, I guess this is what the typical La La Land voter is like???

6th AACTA International Awards

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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109 Responses to “Brutally Honest Oscar voter: Everyone loves Dev Patel’s ‘mid-range brown color’”

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  1. leelee11 says:

    I am so disturbed by this.

    • Charlotte says:

      The way he tries not to sound like a racist by saying the most racist things is so sad.

      But, I totally like his comment about Mel Gibson. He’s a shitty director and you can see insanity right through his eyes.

    • sarah says:

      i like how his reasoning for NOT voting for something real (a documentary) was based on his inability to seperate his PERSONAL comfort level from the content indivudually:

      “I eliminated Extremis first — it’s too f—ing real and I don’t want to think of this end-of-life stuff, although after watching all the other ones about refugees I kind of wanted to die.”

    • KHLBHL says:

      It’s not just the race stuff. “I know a girl who only has sex with animators”???? Why would you even bring that up? This voter screams not just casual racism but casual sexism/misogyny too.

      Best Makeup & Hairstyling went to Suicide Squad because he’s “a heterosexual male”? Harley Quinn literally just had white powder smeared over her face and smeared lipstick. And her hair was dyed a couple of different colors. That’s it. How does that deserve an Oscar??

      That and he thinks Suicide Squad was “way too much fun.”

    • Nev says:

      Scary.

  2. Pollyland says:

    Uh no.
    This isn’t what a typical La La Land voter is like, it’s what a asshole is like.

    • Merry says:

      You gotta admit those two groups significantly intersect on a venn diagram.

      • Pollyland says:

        I don’t know. I’m not going to generalize people for liking or voting for a movie, just because one out of touch, asshole, is being a out of touch asshole.

        I rather target the person doing the BS.

      • Merry says:

        Let me break that venn diagram down for you; a significant number of people who are rooting for La la Land are assholes and a significant number of assholes are rooting for La la Land. Does that mean that all assholes are rooting for La la Land? No. Does that mean that all people rooting for La la Land are assholes? No. It means that theres a significant overlap between those two groups. Thats the opposite of a generalisation, btw.

      • tenniswho says:

        @ Merry. I disagree – sure you don’t state there is a 100% correlation between the two, but that there is a significant one (stronger e.g. than for people liking Moonlight and being an asshole). I find it quite sad to make someone’s taste in film a moral category.

      • Tiffany :) says:

        Come on. This is getting ridiculous.

      • Fiorella says:

        How do you know the groups intersect ? What info am I missing here? This was one person we read about..

      • Jeesie says:

        This guy did like Moonlight too, and almost chose it for Best Picture.

    • Patty says:

      Actually, I think this is exactly what the average academy voter is probably like. This is why #Oscarssowhite was a thing. While this country has made great progress, do not ever underestimate the extent to which people are conditioned to be prejudiced, bigoted, and downright racist. And the casual kind is in many ways more in insidious than the burning the cross kind.

      • Wowza says:

        I don’t even think this guy’s weirdness is as simple as straightforward “Oscars so White” b.s. because he actually voted for a majority of POC for the acting roles? Ruth Negga, Mahershala Ali and Viola. But then these comments about Dev and black families are obviously, like… Wtf? I honestly don’t know what to think.

        And I’m even more confused bc I actually agree with a lot more of this guy’s assessments of this year’s movies than the other two anonymous Oscar voters. Like, Hidden Figures was a great story but schlocky filmmaking. His Hacksaw Ridge assessment was spot on + I’m over Mel Gibson too and liked the Gibson tea. And I loled at his depiction of the scene in Manchester by the Sea as Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams trying to outact each other, even though I liked that movie,

      • sanders says:

        I’m with you Wowza. I didn’t find this guy to be super racist. He at least engaged with the poc and black films, actors and themes, even if not up to everyone’s standard of analysis. He seems to genuinely relate to stories about non-white characters.

        I liked his take on Mel. I liked that he pointed out the white artists who normalize the Trump presidency to appeal to the segments of their fan base who are indeed racists.

        The thing that put me off was his assumption that Jenkins can only tell stories about his life experience. The implication is that as a black man from a low income community, this is all he’s got.

        When white directors and writers tell stories of coming of age/adolescence, marriage, death, divorce, ambition, failure etc., generally, we don’t say the same thing. It’s often viewed as a creative, artistic and universal story. Still, this is the kind of person that I could probably have a half decent conversation about unconscious bias.

      • KB says:

        @Wowza In the full article, when he first refers to Mahershala, he calls him “Marsala.” He’s definitely ignorant and obnoxious, if not racist.

      • Fiorella says:

        Sandy, sorry I can’t remember where I read it but there was a great article on moonlight and though the director isn’t gay he does say something like its his story. He blends his story with that of someone close to him who coincidentally grew up near him.

    • Lucy2 says:

      Yeah, let’s not lump anyone who wants to vote for that movie in with this d-bag.

      • Pollyland says:

        @Merry
        I stand by what I said.

      • tenniswho says:

        (sorry for double posting). @ Merry. I also disagree – sure you don’t state there is a 100% correlation between the two, but that there is a significant one (stronger e.g. than for people liking Moonlight and being an asshole). I find it quite sad to make someone’s taste in film a moral category.

  3. Bex says:

    What even…

  4. An says:

    I’m in the category that probably should be offended but I am laughing so hard at this lmao 😀
    I love it and it just shows how bizarre and random this whole thing is.

    • littlemissnaughty says:

      I feel terrible because that comment about Dev Patel made me laugh as well. I think I’m close to being pushed over the edge with everything that’s going on and this “mid-range brown” comment is so incredibly f*cking STUPID that all I thought was “WHO even talks like that in 2017? I pity your a**.” Maybe it was borderline hysterical laughter. And then he talked about Fences and it just … it’s exhausting. I have no idea how people of color even deal. Seriously.

    • Carryon says:

      @ An
      As a “mid-range brown” coloured woman I agree. I don’t know why but it cracked me up. And I have to admit, aside from his casual racism, I agree with everything he said.
      I don’t think this guy is a flaming racist or anything, he is just clueless as hell.

    • Oriane says:

      To be honest I can picture HW excutives going “Let’s pick someone brown… but not too brown! Do we have, like, a mid-range brown?” – it’s probably (sadly) the kind of conversation that happens in casting agencies. It’s stupid and horrible and racist, but probably real.

      • supersoft says:

        This. They recite numbers every day about which actor sells and which doesnt and why.
        And there is def a “too black” fear in the industry. Heard and read it over and over again in the last decade.
        That is why Viola Davis is such a super actress. She needs to outperform every white actress out there.
        And Harry Weinstein to me is such a producer, who thinks of his actors as cattle, who sell best, or not. Thats why i hate this guy, but the normal person who goes into a cinema craves his movies.

  5. Nicole says:

    There are no words…this is why the academy is fucking out of touch

  6. Millennial says:

    I was with him, and his choices/reasons made sense, and then it went totally off the deep end. Wow.

  7. ell says:

    lmao some of these comments are so casually racist, no wonder hollywood struggles so much with diversity.

    at least he admits mel gibson should be forever cancelled, and no he isn’t ‘reformed’.

    • ela says:

      I got to admit, I am also laughing. I am Indian descent and neither light skinned nor dark skinned. Thank you anonymous Academy voter! I can finally define myself. I am a mid-range brown which everyone loves!! I am dying!!

    • Lucy2 says:

      That’s what stuck out to me, it’s just casually thrown out there like no big deal. Far too common, unfortunately.

  8. adastraperaspera says:

    Dev is not a color. He is a person, you racist IDIOT.

    • Esmom says:

      Of course but I think that comment really encapsulates Hollywood idiocy in a nutshell. Did you ever see the tweet storm about The Young Pope? Same shallow cluelessness, gloriously skewered.

  9. jess1632 says:

    He got one thing right Dev did turn out to be really sexy. Mmmf I just love me some Dev

  10. Mar says:

    Oh, ok, cool. So mid-range brown is comfortable for old white men to see on screen? Doesn’t rock the boat too much? Got it. 🙄😑😡

    • mazzie says:

      Oh, it happens. I’ve been told so many times by white women how much they love to tan to my color.

      I just roll my eyes and apply more SPF 50.

  11. Mia4S says:

    Between this and the New Yorker article with the screenwriter discussing “Chinamen”. (WTF?!?!?!?) is it any wonder the Oscars have lost their shine? It’s just gotten worse and worse the more they try to be “open”. And sorry but all these anonymous voters are not eighty year olds soon to die off. The unusual prejudices will still be there. There are some very solid, very good members but this is what the Academy will be for a long time yet.

    So basically he’s saying Dev Patel wouldn’t get the time of day if he was “dark brown”? He’s…probably right. 😒

    • JulP says:

      Ugh yes, I couldn’t believe that New Yorker article! And the person who blamed Jada Pinkett-Smith for #oscarssowhite and said she’s not a movie star?!

    • Renee says:

      WTF???? Are you kidding me???? I had no idea that that happened!! What is wrong with people?????

    • sunshine gold says:

      It wasn’t a screenwriter – it was Tab Hunter, an 85-year-old actor who was a semi star in the 50s/60s and is completely out of touch with anything going on today. I am not saying it’s OK, but ignorance like this is so ridiculously outlandish that it’s not worth getting worked up about. Though he is an Academy voter, so this is exactly what they’re talking about with purging the ranks so they can get fresh blood in there.

  12. jun says:

    “I normally go for sort of heavy films like Life of Pi” lmao.

  13. minx says:

    I love Dev….!

  14. JulP says:

    Yeah, I read this last night and immediately texted those quotes about Dev and Fences to my husband. I suppose I should stop being shocked that so many people still think this way (we elected Trump after all), but it’s still jarring.

  15. Kata says:

    He also quite randomly mentions knowing a girl from Disney who only sleeps with animators…um what that had to do with anything?!?

  16. Aiobhan Targaryen says:

    He took things too far and made no sense while doing it.

    Could this person be making a point that says that this story is putting something positive out into the mainstream about black fathers? Maybe. But there was a better way to do it.

    Fences is not an every person story. This story is specifically about the black experience. It is about a black family in the fifties. Stripping the race of this family away takes away the heart of the story. Being black in America is not the same as being white in America.

    Yes, there is colorism and Dev is in an acceptable range for some people. It is nice that he brought it up, but his comment has nothing to do with the performance.

    At least he voted for Viola and Mahershala. I also love him dragging Mel Gibson.

    • lightpurple says:

      And Ruth. He’s the first so far to vote for Ruth.

    • Renee says:

      I don’t think that it is even a story about the Black experience per se. I think that some of the themes are relatable for Black people, like the racism that informed how he was treated at work, or determined his brother’s treatment in the hospital, or their economic status at the time. But the experiences of of this fictional family are not universally Black experiences. Men of all races cheat and have children out of wedlock. Women of all races are browbeaten by their partners. People of all races are limited by a lack of education. I don’t know, it seems like people were responding to the story because it presented a familiar set of stereotypes that they recognized.

  17. Froma says:

    That is some mild-mannered, stream of consciousness racism!

    Mel Gibson looks evil.

  18. Lucy says:

    What does liking La La Land have to do with being racist?

  19. paolanqar says:

    Wow. Just wow.
    I am speechless. So casually racist and not a little bit funny. Did I miss the punch line?
    Tongue in cheek comment?
    So depressing.

  20. Tiffany27 says:

    Welcome to the life of POC everywhere. This casual racism is a daily occurrence. They can’t compliment us without letting us know how they really feel.

  21. Talie says:

    You know what, OscarsSoWhite was probably the best thing that could’ve happened to the Academy. Its membership is a hot mess! Clearly needed an overhaul…

  22. HK9 says:

    The Academy’s got some work to do….

  23. Tallia says:

    Yep Mel GIbson is insane. This Oscars douche bag should know.

  24. Bitsy says:

    Nothing this voter said was racist. For all we know this could be a black man or woman. I felt the “mid-range brown” comment was an opinion regarding others comfort level with color and not so much his personal comfort level, and that is based off experience, not racism. As a black woman with fair skin, I agree that people tend to behave differently with POC who are lighter and more racially ambiguous. Also, many black men have many children. This is statistically true and my experience as well. We have to be careful with the thought policing…not all personal experiences and opinions are racist/sexist/phobic etc.
    Love love the insane Mel tea

    • HK9 says:

      Bitsy, I know lots of white men who have children by different women-society just looks at it differently and there isn’t the same judgement. As for black men, (and I’m black BTW) for every black man that has children by different women, there are two that don’t. Please note, the ones that don’t are all over the place and don’t noticed. Just my experience.

      • Fiorella says:

        I was thinking to myself yeah but black men do have that problem , and then I realized actually a lot of white men do too. Percentage wise though maybe more black people, and I realize that is related to things white people in charge have done. I don’t give white men a pass any more than black men, that is for sure.

    • Kloops says:

      @Bitsy: I totally agree with the thought policing comment. I like to err on the side of supporting dialogue even if there’s a legitimate interpretation that could euphemistically be called “problematic.” Better that than people having all those same thoughts but being afraid to share them. I don’t know the intent behind this Oscar voter, and there are many ways to view his thoughts, but it’s interesting to read nonetheless.

      @HK9 case in point: the Commander-in-Chief

      • Keaton says:

        Yeah I concur with you about the thought policing comment @Kloops

        LOL about the Commander-in-Chief Mr “family values” SMDH

  25. Magwaisca says:

    I actually think this voter is a black man or man or color.

    • Chinoiserie says:

      I kind of wondered the same thing after comment about his? own father with the Fences comment and how he might think mid brown people like Patel have it easier or something. But who knows and there was a lot of strange things. And Patel had not gotten much work, I am glad he got a nom here and feel bad for him that the Last Airbender film was such a disaster since he could have become a big star if the film was actually great like the show.

      • WTW says:

        Really, I’m going to go out on a limb and say I doubt a black man went to see La La Land three times by himself. Hell, I’m a black woman and have no desire to see it at all. Samuel L. Jackson said he couldn’t even sit through it. Yes, I am stereotyping, but I don’t think that’s a movie that most black folks are clamoring to see, let alone would see multiple times. I also don’t think a black person would describe Dev as “mid-range brown” or discuss black men having child after child in this context. Really? That’s what he thinks about after seeing “Fences?” That was not at all what the movie was about. I thought so much about the dialogue, for example, or the struggles blacks go through. I’d never sum up the movie with a stereotypical view of black men.

      • Magwaisca says:

        I know black people who really enjoyed LLL. I can imagine a dark-skinned black man describing Patel in precisely those terms. I can also imagine a black man loving Stone (& being straight or gay). And I can imagine a black man voting for all of those black actors too.

      • Saks says:

        “how he might think mid brown people like Patel have it easier or something.”
        Agree and this is what gave it aways for me.

      • Jeesie says:

        I’m black and I adored La La Land. It was stunning. I love all the classic old musicals too. I live in a mostly black area and the cinema was packed both times I saw it.

        I really loathe this idea that black people aren’t interested in movies or TV shows about white people. It just feeds into the idea that white people wont go see movies with black peoples or Asian people or Midfle Eastern people. It’s a really damaging (and false) stereotype. Most people just like good entertainment, wherever it comes from.

        Anyway, I agree, I think this guy is black.

    • Fiorella says:

      He had to see it once as a voter and then loved it. You really think only white people can enjoy that movie? I haven’t seen it but you never know what individuals will enjoy

  26. molly says:

    I think the whole entertainment industry is up it’s own out of touch ass. How many award ceremonies do these people need. Be glad when it finally ends.

  27. QQ says:

    Jesus Xavier Christ I go work a Couple of days I come back to yall Tittering about Mid Brown like that’s not called Microagression.. Jesus The Whole Interview Is Macrof*ckery ffs

    • Jensies says:

      Word. How does anyone read this and not see it as the very example of casual “but I have a black friend and I love that Kendrick fellow’s song so I’m not a racist” racism. It disgusts me.

  28. Chinoiserie says:

    Well at last this voter bothered to watch all the animated films even though he? says he does not like them. The comment about a girl who worst for Disney who only has sex with animators was bizarre. Like did this girl mention it to him in a party and he thought it was unthinkable someone who only have relationships with animators? What was that?

  29. Bellagio says:

    There is no outrage here. This is typical Hollywood speak behind the scenes. If anything, the voter is being “kind”. How many dark skinned leading men or women do we have? The receipts are there. No black, Arab, Indian, Asian, gay men were cast as a superhero in one of those comic franchises. A woman? Let’s not even go there. Netflix is paving the way for equal representation on screen and of course the TV studio bosses hate it. More visibility, more opportunity and more pressure on you to share the piece of pie. Hollywood is run predominantly by white Jewish men (not my opinion, but articles have been written about it), who don’t see it as worthy of human dignity to tell stories that do not affect them or their familiar surroundings. At this point, I haven’t seen a superhero movie that doesn’t follow the same plot. How many times can one go and spend money on the same story with visually slightly modified characters? It turns out, a lot.
    Shonda Rhimes wrote and produced her first show where she incorporated human stories worth telling for all of us and not surprisingly, it was a success. Ava DuVerney is a fantastic director, yet she is never up for discussion to direct any big blockbuster. Look around,! The world is not so white anymore, so please stop making movies that don’t reflect our reality, but meanwhile also yours, otherwise everything else is just la la land.

    • Fiorella says:

      Just one thing Ava is doing a wrinkle in time in New Zealand right now. Mindy is on Facebook about it every day. Even Oprah is there so it must be a blockbuster or supposed to be one at least

    • lightpurple says:

      Ava DuVerney was offered the director’s job for Black Panther and turned it down. I’m not arguing your overall point, there needs to be much more diversity in the director’s guild, but Ava just isn’t the best example on that particular point.

  30. Christina says:

    LaLa Land is a movie that came out at the perfect time and is benefiting from the utter state of depression in this country right now. Had this movie come out a year ago it wouldn’t impact as much. We forget sometimes that while movies have the ability to teach, they also have the ability to allow us to escape. And LaLa Land was a two hour reprieve for a lot of moviegoers. Escapist entertainment. And that’s not saying that it doesn’t take skill to create escapist entertainment.I think a lot of people voting for it would say the same thing.

    Regarding all this voter’s microagressions, I think he represents a lot of people- who aren’t fundamentally racist but don’t realize they’ve bought into the racial stereotypes perpetuated in society on a daily basis. Because they are inundated with those messages so much that hey are the norm and they have to be told there is another way of thinking. I’m a POC and I have had friends like that who didn’t see the error of their ways until they had someone in their life explain to them how some s— was messed up.

    • AnneC says:

      Interesting that the era of the great musicals in Hollywood were during and in response to the Great Depression. Now I’m in a mental and emotional Great Depression and I did appreciate La La Land for not making me want to sob with unhappiness about life’s injustices. I also loved Moonlight so I haven’t gone totally escapist, but it’s nice to be entertained and to smile.

    • mee says:

      That’s why I loved la la land. I needed that escapism. I needed it because our election and because some personal stuff that was happening. Plus it’s t was beautiful cinematography and I’d o think he did an amazing job putting the pieces together.

  31. jerkface says:

    Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

  32. Slowsnow says:

    He loved Blah-Blah-Land because he’s depressed with the state of the world. if someone who doesn’t like cinema much, or a teen says that I understand. But a film professional? Comes off a bit childish.

    Then again he considers Life of Pi a heavy film. All is said.

  33. Fiorella says:

    So, the only clue is that he’s a producer and has a wife. And perhaps is a person of colour and if not I would guess he is a middle-age white man from how he words things

  34. A.Key says:

    The irony of this guy not liking Mel Gibson…. Probably because it feels like looking in the mirror!

  35. TWINK says:

    I’m Latino, about the color of Dev, much rather be our awesome color than pale and wrinkly by 30 *sips tea*

    • teacakes says:

      I’m Asian, also close in skin tone to Dev, and I wouldn’t trade my skin tone for anything either *joins you at tea*

    • Jen says:

      Ouch. I wish I wasn’t so pale, I’m probably the whitest person in Australia and spend my entire life coated in sunscreen and hiding from the sun. I can’t control my skin colour, just like everyone else

    • Fiorella says:

      It does suck having white skin but more for wearing shorts than getting wrinkles. I’m past 30 and haven’t got wrinkles yet, probably due to lots of sunscreen from age 12, my younger brother doesn’t wear sunscreen and has lots of wrinkles and redness so yeah that’s almost certainly a way to prevent it! White people teach your kids to wear sunscreen on the face neck and décolleté !

    • Madailein says:

      Sorry, but that is actually a prejudiced, inaccurate, hostile comment: if you were white and referring to “wrinkled” black or brown people, you would be quite a racist. I’m well into my 30s and white and am definitely not wrinkly at all–I frequently even get carded–and none of my white peers, or even older friends (under 45) are at all wrinkly by this age you give either. Seems like you have a lot of anger and bitterness towards whites, and that’s a lot uglier than wrinkles, being so insultingly negative about a whole group of people simply b/c of the color of their skin.

  36. Chaz says:

    I think if there was ever any doubt about whether these antiquated institutions and award ceremonies should be overhauled, revamped or just gotten rid of, then the comments made by that particular voter are proof they should be.
    No wonder there is a lack of diversity and a sandcastle full of white priviledge at these events, if that is the general consensus, attitude and demeanour of the voters.

  37. Margo S. says:

    I just read this ballot #3 article and when I read the “black guys have kid after kid” I was like um…. what? I really read the line and went on because I thought maybe I misinterpreted what he said because people don’t say that right? All three of the ballot pieces so far have actually upset me because the people seem like such complete and utter d!cks. I would never want to be their friends.

  38. Pandy says:

    I thought his Fences reasoning was okay? In that he felt a personal connection to the story that transcended race only. It doesn’t lessen it as a black story but it added it as a more universal story for him. And that’s how more black stories can be told – they also connect with a larger audience. And of course mi eh talks in Hollywood. Hope I’m not flamed I mean it respectfully. And thank you for calling Mel Gibson out on his crazy and limited talent ha ha

  39. Pandy says:

    I thought his Fences reasoning was okay? In that he felt a personal connection to the story that transcended race only. It doesn’t lessen it as a black story but it added it as a more universal story for him. And that’s how more black stories can be told – they also connect with a larger audience. And of course money talks in Hollywood. Hope I’m not flamed I mean it respectfully. And thank you for calling Mel Gibson out on his crazy and limited talent ha ha

  40. hannah89 says:

    La La Land otherwise known as White White Land.

    • Ally8 says:

      The Land of the Misunderstood White Dude Trying to Make Old-Timey Art with an Interested, Understanding, Skinny Young Girlfriend Looking On

      One can only imagine why this story appeals to a Hollywood producer.

  41. teacakes says:

    Huh.

    I love that these profiles are actually exposing the Academy voters for the out-of-touch hacks they are.

    It renders the Oscar pretty much meaningless when you have a voter saying racist shit all over the place and openly saying he gave a BEST MAKEUP award vote to a film simply because he thought the female lead was hot (and meanwhile hates on the franchise whose female lead stays fully clothed throughout).

  42. Ally8 says:

    “the beginning is like a Norman Rockwell painting and the end is this gore-fest” … is the perfect description of every Mel Gibson-directed movie ever.

    Other than a few nuggets like that, this series is so great in revealing the petty and highly personally subjective takes of these “industry professionals” in assessing the supposedly objectively academy-worthy work of the past year.

  43. Svea says:

    I really don’t get why Mahershala Ali was nominated for Moonlight. For me the outstanding performance there was
    Trevante Nemour Rhodes’s. I wish he’d been nominated and that he’d won.

  44. Anare says:

    Whoa whoa… slow down. I loved LaLa Land. I thought it was fresh funny quirky beautiful to look at. I left that movie so enchanted. I wanted to be Emma Stone. I wanted to wear all the great clothes she wears. It was just the perfect bit of bitter sweet escapism I needed. And typically I am a fan of much darker films and rarely watch romcoms let alone musicals. I also don’t make weird remarks about people’s ethnicity. This person sounds like a douchy racist. That is NOT what all LaLa Land fans are like.

  45. ash says:

    Yal dont be triggered by comments when there are subtle notes of color or race in them…

    The dev patel comment…. is kinda spot on and I say this as a black woman…

    I’ve seen his interview and they come off as too eager and what this oscar voter was saying was that He’s got it going on and doesnt have to play the model minority overly eager, he’s handsome (in a non-white bread cardboard mcdoodle), immensely talented and that refreshing….he doesnt have to come off to eager or begging or overly humble.

    I also agree with his perspective on Fences that the film doesn’t just speak about black relationships and how black men go on and have child after child… it was refreshing to hear about fences and the concept of just a man beaten down by society his woman supporting him threw all his disappointment. The oscar voter essentially said he was enthused to not see another stereotypical movie playing a single note or a (played out) racialized narrative of black relationships and parenthood, but to see a movie who just happened to have black actors and communicate a story of aloof parenthood and struggle with progression and having your dreams but cast aside (albeit due to societal constraints) and dealing with that downcast, and the dynamic of all that regarding your spouse and relationship with the child. What he saying was that this movie transcended race.