“Punisher” director Lexi Alexander didn’t mince any words when it came to “Jurassic World’s” Colin Trevorrow‘s comments that women are “not interested” in directing big budget superhero movies.
“I think Colin needs to sit down in his director’s chair. It’s really very upsetting that he would make such a statement just to ease his guilt,” Alexander said in an interview with Vulture. “How about using your privilege for good and demonstrating a little integrity instead of fueling Hollywood’s big denial of this issue further? And if integrity is too much to ask, just say nothing at all.”
Alexander broke new ground when she became the first woman to direct a comic book movie with 2008’s “Punisher: War Zone.” Since then, however, she says not much has changed.
“I think in industries riddled with bias, you tend to hire women only if their previous work is very masculine, which is hilarious given that this is not how male directors are chosen,” she said.
“I am pretty sure when Kenneth Branagh came up for Thor, nobody at Marvel thought: ‘Yes, that Kenneth Branagh is masculine enough to do action, just look at ‘Henry V’ and ‘The Magic Flute.””
Alexander also criticized Matt Damon’s comments on diversity on “Project Greenlight” when a black female producer challenged him on his stance that diversity is more important in front of the camera than behind it.
“It’s a case study of how Hollywood functions: The passive-aggressive punishment from the mighty and powerful when someone disrupts their fake PR liberalism,” she said.