Terry Gilliam has been doing press recently, allegedly around the international release of his film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. That film came out here in America a few years ago, so I don’t know what to tell you. Before Christmas, I saw an interview he did with IndieWire and I had the quotes saved but then I ended up skipping the story because I didn’t want to let an ancient douchebag ruin our day, and because he’s already showed his ass repeatedly. Guess what though? Terry Gilliam keeps on talking. So now I’m just going to do a mega-post of all of the stupid, racist, misogynistic bulls–t he’s said in the past month. First up, this IndieWire piece. Gilliam goes on and on about how Marvel movies are ruining the movie business and he has some somewhat legit critiques of the superhero genre as a whole. But then he went off and got very specific about the one Marvel film he hates the most: Black Panther.
Gilliam said he’s not a fan of Ryan Coogler’s 2018 “Black Panther,” which critics heralded as a gust of fresh wind in the superhero canon, and one that welcomed diversity and inclusion to an otherwise airtight, white-dominated universe of films.
“I hated ‘Black Panther.’ It makes me crazy. It gives young black kids the idea that this is something to believe in. Bullsh-t. It’s utter bullsh-. I think the people who made it have never been to Africa,” he said. “They went and got some stylist for some African pattern fabrics and things. But I just I hated that movie, partly because the media were going on about the importance of bullsh-t.” When asked if he felt that critical praise for “Black Panther” was a politically correct response that ignored aesthetics in favor of identity politics, Gilliam said, “It makes my blood boil.”
So his specific beef about Black Panther was that… black kids found it inspirational to see themselves represented in a superhero story about power, duty, family and morality? Gilliam was truly offended that a black audience would… enjoy that. That’s his critique. I guess Gilliam didn’t get enough headlines from that mess, so he unloaded a ton of crap to a journalist for The Independent. Some lowlights from this Independent piece:
On a fictional character who becomes an escort to support herself: “In the age of #MeToo, here’s a girl who takes responsibility for her state. Whatever happened in this character’s life, she’s not accusing anybody. We’re living in a time where there’s always somebody responsible for your failures, and I don’t like this. I want people to take responsibility and not just constantly point a finger at somebody else, saying, ‘You’ve ruined my life.’”
Whether he blames the men with power for abusing their power: “No. When you have power, you don’t take responsibility for abusing others. You enjoy the power. That’s the way it works in reality… Yeah, I said #MeToo is a witch hunt. I really feel there were a lot of people, decent people, or mildly irritating people, who were getting hammered. That’s wrong. I don’t like mob mentality. These were ambitious adults. There are many victims in Harvey’s life and I feel sympathy for them, but then, Hollywood is full of very ambitious people who are adults and they make choices. We all make choices, and I could tell you who did make the choice and who didn’t. I hate Harvey. I had to work with him and I know the abuse, but I don’t want people saying that all men… Because on [the 1991 film] Fisher King, two producers were women. One was a really good producer, and the other was a neurotic bitch. It wasn’t about their sex. It was about the position of power and how people use it.”
The poor, aggrieved white man: “I don’t understand why people behave as if this hasn’t been going on as long as there’ve been powerful people. I understand that men have had more power longer, but I’m tired, as a white male, of being blamed for everything that is wrong with the world. I didn’t do it!…It’s been so simplified is what I don’t like. When I announce that I’m a black lesbian in transition, people take offence at that. Why?… I don’t like the term black or white. I’m now referring to myself as a melanin-light male. I can’t stand the simplistic, tribalistic behaviour that we’re going through at the moment. I’m getting myself in deeper water, so I have to trust you.”
The White Dudes Are Not Okay: The Terry Gilliam Story. The man is 79 years old, racist AF, sexist AF and he clearly believes that he somehow has a legitimate grievance with the world because black people, women, transgender people and rape survivors exist. I’m so sickened by his comments, I didn’t even excerpt half of the offensive sh-t he said to the Independent, you get the general idea. He’s gross. Cancelled.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Even as a child…I didn’t like Gilliam…and it was on instinct…my Scorpion instinct….I refuse to watch “Brazil”…and his other movies…..and though I have affection for the other Pythoners…he can kick rocks…barefoot…at the bottom of a HUGE hill….
You’re wise. I don’t know who this fool is, but he’s old, he’s stupid and it’s time for his way of thinking to die (it can’t happen fast enough).
Y’all white folx, come gather up your grandpas.
Tell me more about a Scorpion instinct!
Also. This guy is trash.
I heartily agree.
I also, for one, cannot wait to see if John Cleese has clapback to him on social media. Because he and Terry have not seen eye-to-eye politically for a long time now.
@LALA11_7 fellow Scorpio here…no lies detected
I loved Brazil, but didn’t know that he was it’s writer or producer or whatever he did on it. I am ashamed.
These dudes need to go, but they leave their progeny. DJT II comes to mind.
Brazil’s ending made me wish I had never watched it. What a waste.
I can’t wait for the older white men like him w/the same b/tching & whining about not being able to get away with bad behavior w/o being called out, ’ die off. Seriously, Terry, please do so soon. Your time is over & we couldn’t be more thrilled. Go coffin shopping.
Hey-if the shoe fits….
As my 70 years old, white father said: If you are offended by the term old white man, you must have behaved like an a*hole.
You’re father is a wise man.
My dad, a 70+ year old white man, just bought me a shirt that says, “I’m tired of old, white men speaking”… He’s a good one.
Omg your dad ftw 🙌🙌 bet he raised an awesome daughter too!
Poor widdle baby got his widdle feelings hurt.
SIT DOWN. TRICK.
He is just ugh.
Only one thing he got right: a lousy person with power and authority, regardless of their sex, is going to be a lousy person to deal with, especially if they’re your supervisor. I dealt with such mediocre people – and my former co-workers are still dealing with them where I used to work because of bloody minded stupidity higher up.
He didn’t say that. He said that men who have power are simply enjoying their power, should not take responsibility for abusing others & that is just how it works. Then he said that a woman who used her power was a neurotic b%^&. He is saying that with men you just need.to.get.over.it.cuz.that.is.how.it.is, and they should not apologize for it, but women on the other hand….
I was referring to his comment about the two women he worked with: one was a decent person and the other wasn’t, by his account.
Power is corrosive and in the wrong hands it is radioactive.
And that comment struck me because it reminded me of the awful people I used to work for.
Lena Heady said that he was horrible to her on The Grimm Brothers, he bullied her – so of course he doesn’t think that men should be ashamed of abusing their power. He’s one of them himself.
Yeah, he needs to retire. And spend the rest of his days grumbling at his lawn.
Yea, but do ya think he’d be calling a man a neurotic b*+€#?
His is the language of white supremacy and misogyny. Rejecting facts, denying discrimination and exploitation, claiming victimhood, and bristling at women and people of color having a voice. He can f#$k right off.
When You’re Accustomed to Privilege, Equality Feels Like Oppression.
This guy is tasting his privilege going away, and he’s pissed about it. He is such a victim that it’s palpable. Sorry not sorry that it’s now a tad more difficult to be outwardly racist & that there’s consequences for Harvey raping women.
My cup was filled with more man tears today & I’m sipping….
MC2 – both this comment and your comment above are spot on!!
“When You’re Accustomed to Privilege, Equality Feels Like Oppression.” This.
Omg, my husband told me that saying and it is such an accurate description.
This comment made my morning. My jasmine tea has morphed into man tears.
MC2, that quote is perfect.
I’m involved in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) work in my workplace and that mindset is one of the biggest mental barriers to implementing more policies that promote it. It goes hand in hand with the “but we’ve always done things this way, so why do we need to change” attitude. Change is good especially in organizations that need some shakeup.
At least in my experience, the most resistance has come from people at the lower end of our organization hierarchy who have so much “institutional memory”, older people of both genders, and white males. There’s some of our tech bro people in leadership and decision making roles who are also resistant as well, and that’s another can worms that needs to be addressed.
We’ve really tried as much as we can with existing constraints including less than nimble and flexible state mandated HR policies and within the constraints of the profession to improve our hiring practices, hire good people for the job and hire more diverse and inclusive people. Most of the higher ups and mid level people are on board with some exceptions (the tech bro people), but there’s mixed support at the ground level. The ones who don’t support it have attitudes that range from the seemingly harmless like it’s a waste of time to actively toxic as it’s reverse discrimination.
That being said, it’s helped our hiring a lot. It’s become very noticeable when out of necessity just to fill the position and not have another failed search we have to hire someone who happens to be a mediocre white male and they aren’t that great at the job. That used to be the norm, but it doesn’t seem to be as common and that’s a small win in my book.
Did I just f@cking read what I just f@cking read? My mouth is on the floor.
@Mabs Me too. WOW. I thought the Black Panther comments were as low as he could go, just outing himself as an out of touch racist. But he managed to top himself with the “black lesbian in transition.” He is so pressed that a few men – literally such a small percentage! A percent of a percent! – are even coming close to being held to account. So pressed at seeing anyone other than his carbon copy represented. These types can die already. Sooner the better.
I don’t even know where to start.
So I’ll do a Mariah: I don’t know him.
I moonlight as a Sociology instructor and often have the thought “man, that person needs to take a SOC 101 class.” I invite Terry to enroll.
hope he takes you up on that! you can tell he thinks he’s wordly and well informed, but he’s not.
Crying here.
I don’t even know who he is and he isn’t worth googling.
Right???
Well, you know what women and people of color are tired of? Racist A-holes dinosaurs like this thinking their opinion matters.
Exactly! He has the caucasity to say “he’s soooo tired of it” — well, Terry, not nearly as tired as the rest of us are of putting up with the eternity of old white guy oppression, misogyny and bulls***! You don’t even know the meaning of the word “tired” Terry! Poor you. So hard done by.
Then stop being terrible!
Poor grandpa baby! The plight of the white dude is really the issue of our time.
He is right though. We all make choices, he chooses to be a f*ucknugget. An angry little decrepit f*ck nugget on his way to the grave. Good riddance.
There are a lot of old white males in my life. However, none of them whine and whine about being blamed for old white men attitudes or behavior. Do you know why? Because they don’t behave in ways that disrespect, degrade or dehumanize women or others for that matter. Not one of them is angry when I go on about old white men because they agree with me. If the shoe fits, wear it.
This.
“ It gives young black kids the idea that this is something to believe in.”
Unlike Thor, Captain America, Hulk et al who are perfectly reasonable to believe are real?
Newsflash: comic books don’t reflect reality, ever. They are inspirational stories. Why don’t black kids deserve that too?
ETA: the stories can reflect real events (see: Capt America) but the characters and their powers are not real nor are always the societies they live in.
LOL and all the white dudes who totallllyyyy think they’ll be able to look like a Marvel super hero who had a HUGE team of the best people training them, feeding them, and organizing their lives so they could focus solely on their lines and bulking up. Funny how he doesn’t call that aspect out, eh?
I wasn’t expecting him to pull THIS when I clicked on the article ( I was expecting a trainwreck, but that part still surprised me), and it really makes me angry.
Women and minorities have had to sit back and watch movies dedicated to mediocre white dudes for … ever. Where IF there’s a character that looks like us they’re regulated to being the sidekick, punchline, or romantic interest and nothing more. If he had grown up with THAT experience instead – or hell, if he had the ability for critical thinking at all – he’d be singing a very different tune.
Overrated has-been. I remember when Fisher King came out— I was a college student and all the guys who tried to be so cool were going ga ga over the movie and I was like, what on earth is this mess? I realized the adoration must be another one of those guy things I would never “get.”
I don’t know this man, nor do I know his body of work. It seems to me this mind-set is EXACTLY what the people he is denigrating are fighting. His white privilege is showing, and it is ugly. His demographic is showing, which I think is the same as me (65), and it is ugly. I am learning to understand the defensive position many need to take whilst breathing, never mind whilst attempting to live a life worth living. This guy needs to sit down, be quiet and LISTEN. Listen without pride or prejudice. Just listen and make room for others to breathe without fear. Civility and kindness don’t seem to be in this guy’s vocabulary.
Straight to the comments…… HA HA
@mignionette me too! Just another white man whitesplaining sh@t and probably has a guilty conscience about something he did and is afraid it’s going to come out.
Oh well, that was a lot. He checked all the boxes
That’s some crazy making bs that he says women should take responsibility for their state (ie, patriarchy), while men like Harvey should not be responsible for raping them. I see how he wants the world to work & he can waste away in the dust bin of how it was.
I thought Black Panther was inspiring, significant, and aesthetically beautiful. Did I love it? No. Did I hate it? No, and certainly not because it meant so much to others. I just thought the story was kind of boring, but that doesn’t take away from its impact or entertainment value.
Basically, Gilliam needs to retire. NOW. And from all social media too.
Honestly, my first reaction to the quote in the title here was. “Why? What did you do, Terry? Hmmmm?”
Ugh. That’s all. Ugh.
Retraction, false apology, accusations of media misquoting and insincere pandering in 5, 4, 3, 2…..
He’s not going to apologize. He doesn’t think he’s wrong. And he knows that there are a lot of people out there who think just the way he does.
He’s always been a jackass – even the Pythons had some pretty negative things to say about him in the day. Keep putting your foot in your mouth Terry, that way you won’t be able to speak.
Oh shut up Terry Gilliam.
Someone remind him of how inspirational Tide Lands was, what a joke. He peeked with Time Bandits in 1984 and my twelve year old self knew it.
Are White men so weak and no-account that the idea of little Black children having something to dream about is a such a threat? I’ll bet Terry Gilliam doesn’t even KNOW any Black people, so why the fuck should he care what movies Black kids are watching?
Men like Gilliam live with the fear that if women or the ‘coloured’ achieve power, they will do to White men what White men have being doing to the world for centuries. Millions of White men (and women) were convinced that there would be a race war after Obama was elected. And when it didn’t happen, when a Black president turned out to be the most decent, inspiring and successful Presidents in decades, they lost their minds.
I’m sick to death of these people.
Omg, excellent post! 👍
Oooohhh hold up a minute, I need to go get my glass so I can catch all the sad oppressed white old man tears and then bathe in them.
Cishet white woman here, and I loved Black Panther. That sh*t was awesome. Sorry he found it personally offensive that a great movie might be inspiring to kids who need it.
Terry can take a seat. He can take a row of seats. He can take his a** down to the Capital One Arena and have every seat in the building.
Oh, boo offing hoo.
Well anyone talking nonsense should be held accountable for their words. Despite sex or race. And this is what happened here. No one asked his opinion, if he volunteered to spit out all the crazy shit he did, he should know he will be held accountable for his words. It’s like he is seeking out the fight and once it starts, he ends up whining that everyone is attacking him. Not because he is white, because he is ignorant and stupid.
He said something in a press conference about how stories about people with super powers are stupid (or something like that) and Adam Driver was like “but lightsabers are good!”
Get used to it, dude. He’s fueling his white, male rage at the temerity of people of color and women getting a piece of the pie that was always “supposed to be” for white men alone. Move over, buddy, you’re taking up too much damn space in this world. And take your frigging friend drump along with you.
Who is this racist, clueless, creature? He doesn’t want to be blamed for things but has no problem accepting the privilege that comes along with it.
IMO, Terry G. was the least talented Python.
His art work on Python was new, but out there. And mainly used as a time filler.
His movies are generally interesting but wander and could truly benefit from tighter editing/better direction, shorter run time by 15-20 minutes minimum.
I am a huge Python fan, and Palin, Cleese, Idle, Chapman all have more writing, pacing, acting and true comedy talent than Gilliam could ever wish to possess.
His ideas here show him to be a man with a huge ego, a small mind and a bitter heart. Accept that your time is over. Retire and stay out of public life, keep your nasty mouth shut.
So he’s saying that being AWARE of abuse, racism, oppression and discrimination is bullsh*t…?
Okay.
That if you’re privileged you can do what you want, and if you’re not it’s your own fault?
Okay.
Ahhh, the irony of a white unaware man who’s enjoyed his power and privilege all his life now screaming at everyone because he has to share the world with other people.
Terry, just… shut up.
We don’t care what color or sex that you are. We care that you are an asshole.