On September 28, 2016, director Tim Burton confirmed what many have thought for years. Yes, he's racist, and what's sadder (than being racist) is he just might not even be aware of it. During an interview with Bustle, the filmmaker, when asked about the rampant lack of diversity in his films, and particularly his latest film Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, Burton had this to say,
"Nowadays, people are talking about it more...things either call for things, or they don’t. I remember back when I was a child watching The Brady Bunch and they started to get all politically correct. Like, OK, let’s have an Asian child and a black. I used to get more offended by that than just..."
It's not hard to read between the lines of his implied meaning. Otherwise, why would including different races on a fictional TV show bother a person? Unless, of course, it bothered his perfect bubble of a ‘White Only’ atmosphere that Burton lived in so comfortably. Seemingly aware of his leaking racism he tries to defend his statement, referencing his adoration of Blaxploitation films.
In case you aren't aware films in this category are named for the number of movies that were made during this era that featured African Americans in leading roles. However, these films were often very stereotypical and painted POC in a negative light. So the reason there weren't "more white people" in such films is because the films were being made through a stereotypical lens. When have movies ever been made to stereotype whites? Even, just even, if Burton had a Freudian slip, reviewing his film catalog only reinforce his lack of inclusion and diversity. In fact, whenever a POC has been featured in (or voiced) a role he or she is either limited to being a villain or incompetent at his job.
I half expect a statement in the near future of how Burton has a host of 'black friends and family members' and while that may be true, please know that you are still a racist. I know racist is a strong word to cast on a person but even if one isn't publicly stating dehumanizing things about a particular race or group, actions always speak louder.
