Aaron Sorkin Just Realized There’s A Diversity Problem In Hollywood
Image by Getty
By Thea Glassman March 27, 2017
Aaron Sorkin was reportedly shocked to learn that people who are not men, and who are not white, have a more difficult time getting their projects produced. During the Writers Guild Festival on Saturday, Variety reported that Sorkin allegedly expressed “disbelief” when he was asked about the challenges minorities and women face in Hollywood.
“Are you saying that women and minorities have a more difficult time getting their stuff read than white men and you’re also saying that white men.
The writer then said he had believed Hollywood to be a meritocracy — which prompted moderator and film critic Elvis Mitchell to quip: “You may be confusing meritocracy with meretricious, happens all the time.”
Other questions were asked after that, but Sorkin continued to go back to this revelation.
“What can I do [to help]?” he said. “I do want to understand what someone like me can do … but my thing has always been: ‘If you write it, they will come.’”
Ah, you learn something new everyday.
Thea Glassman is an Associate Editor at the Forward. Reach her at [email protected]
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
