Austin can pack a lot into a tweet. Give it up for the English/Creative Writing major.
Take Austin's latest tweet
Amy Pascal--I love working with female directors. I love females so damn much. I'm on your team. Everybody please RT
Now it might look like he's giving the Co-Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group a shout out and makes you wonder - new project? Or is he looking for one.
Or is he trying to say how much he likes females?
But then if you find out that Pascal gave a speech
last nightback in March (
revised, my bad) " at a sold-out LA Gay & Lesbian Center gala that raised $1 million for homeless gay and lesbian youth" where she was the honoree. And she did something that rarely see in Hollywood a call for action for the LGBT community. Pascal "asked the industry to scrutinize its depiction of LGBT characters in film and television: 'How about next time, when any of us are reading a script and it says words like fag, or faggot – homo – dyke – take a pencil and just cross it out '.”
And she goes on to make a remarkable speech about changing the representation of LGBT individuals in film.
Here is an excerpt of her speech:
"The images that impacted me as a teenager had lasting influences on my entire life and I bet that is true for most of us. What we see in the media today affects everybody, whether it’s film, TV, radio, magazines or the internet. What the media says about your sexual orientation, and the color of your skin, and the shape of your eyes, and your ethnicity… what you look like, what you weigh, what you wear, how poor you are, how awkward you are, how educated you are, and how different you are… this stuff really sinks in. What we see teaches us about how to feel about ourselves and how to feel about each other.
And now, I’m talking about kids who are gay and I’m talking about kids who aren’t gay. One group needs affirmation and the other group needs education. And, if I’m being honest, neither of those issues are high on any movie studio or TV network’s agenda…
The Celluloid Closet was made almost 20 years ago and certainly attitudes have changed, but maybe not quite so much as you or I would want or hope. Television has been much more progressive and credit has to be given to producers like Max Mutchnick and David Kohan and Ryan Murphy for really changing things.
Now movies need to catch up. There are magnificent movies being made about gay subjects with gay characters, like
Brokeback Mountain and
Milk. Anyone would have been proud to have made those movies. I know I would be. But when you think about some of these films, even our favorite ones, there is a theme that runs through them.
Brokeback Mountain,
Milk, Boys Don’t Cry,
Philadelphia,
The Hours, Gods and Monsters,
The Talented Mr. Ripley,
A Single Man,
My Own Private Idaho,
Cloud Atlas – in all these movies, the main character is murdered or martyred or commits suicide or just dies unhappily. And there are far more pernicious and dangerous images that confront gay kids and their parents: the lesbian murderer, the psychotic transvestite, the queen who is humiliated and sometimes tossed off a ship or a ledge. It’s a big joke. It still happens.
How many times have you heard a character imply to another that the worst thing about going to prison isn’t being locked up for the rest of your life, it’s the homosexuality? And old stereotypes still exist. The most benign stereotypes would have a gay kid believe that they will end up being the asexual, witty best friend of the pretty girl, or a drag queen, or a swishy hairdresser. The list goes on." (
Source)
Austin's tweet is his support of what she is saying.
One more step. Go Austin Go!
And why would he include Nikki Finke and IndieWire in the tweet? Because they covered the story. (We noticed you smart cookie you.)
