Terry Gilliam is an illustrious talent: a renowned animator, a member of the surreal comedy troupe Monty Python, and the Golden Globe-nominated director of The Fisher King and Brazil.
But the dude just could not stop airing offensive opinion after offensive opinion in a recent interview with The Independent — defending white men, identifying as a “black lesbian in transition,” and criticizing the #MeToo movement. Read on for lowlights from the interview…
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On white men: “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. [Holding up his hands] I didn’t do it!”
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On his identity: “When I announce that I’m a black lesbian in transition, people take offense at that. Why? … Why am I not? How are you saying that I’m not? … You’ve judged me and decided that I was making a joke. … I’m talking about being a man accused of all the wrong in the world because I’m white-skinned. So I better not be a man. I better not be white. Okay, since I don’t find men sexually attractive, I’ve got to be a lesbian. What else can I be? I like girls. These are just logical steps.”
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On Hollywood: “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 [Weinstein]. I had to work with him and I know the abuse, but I don’t want people saying that all men… Because on 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.”
On #MeToo: “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.’ … 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.”
Prax07
I don’t see anything he’s said as offensive in any way. Get something else to be offended by snowflakes.
2ndcoming
If funny how white men complain about shit POC have been dealing with since our ancestors were kid napped, raped and brought to this country to work as slave but it shows how weak and fragile the white race is. If he really want to know how it feels to be a POC give up all of your white privilege and you will know.
Cam
So rape victims going after Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby are engaged in a witch hunt” and those guys did nothing wrong?
Polaro
Funny how making a blanket statement about white men isn’t racist. Yeah, I agree with him too and my opinion counts as much as yours.
Cam
@Polaro
You mean the way he made a blanket statement about every woman reporting sexual assault?
Chrisk
2ndcoming
So you or a family member is a slave huh? Well, that must suck. Please point out the “white privilege” BS that I’m suppose to have because I guess I must have missed out when they were handing it out? Lol
Funny you don’t see your own racism.
James Hart
Agree.
IAMSONICE
Its rather simple… young progressive people are sick and tired of being subjugated to the entitlement that is baked into the bones of straight white men like this jackass. The way he whines about being blamed for something he didn’t do is just an extension of his entitlement. If he had to fight for a moment to defend his birthright he would be singing a different tune.
Sooner or later the old entitled mindset will die off, or kill us all. Either way it’s on the way out. He and his other white haired dinosaurs will go extinct one way or another.
JaredMacBride
Learn a little about the guy, and the kinds of battles he’s fought, before you make ignorant generalizations. But I’m glad you have something to blame for all your boo-boos.
Apolodorus
Claims fir you IAMSONICE. Hitting the nail on the head.
Cam
@JaredMacBride
So point out what @IAMSONICE got wrong, and what battles this guy has fought that excuse his commentary.
Chrisk
IAMSONICE
How the eff are you subjugated and what BS entitlement are you talking about? You sound like a whiny pissed off racist loser.
rustyiam
Sounds reasonable! To the radical leftist I guess saying that makes me a right wing nazi lol
Apolodorus
No, it just makes you an ignorant crank.
Cam
So you agree that rape victims going after Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby are engaged in a witch hunt” and those guys did nothing wrong?
No surprise there, the account that always defends anti-LGBT bigots also hates women.
ScottOnEarth
No, it just makes you wrong.
richard2179
Hey Terry Gilliam, here is some advice. Please shut up. You are not helping your cause!
Polaro
Telling him to shut up does not help any cause either. Perhaps all you #metoo folks should listen a bit too.
ingyaom
He’s the American one, isn’t he? Figures.
Cam
Rich old white guy complains that other rich old guys are getting credibly accused of rape and that other people are declaring their identity.
Notice how none of these guys can ever explain how they are actually harmed by any of this stuff? It just enrages them that some people aren’t like them, and that rapists are being called to account.
Polaro
He did not excuse Harvey Weinstein. He makes a nuanced observation on a complex problem that people like you have messed up completely with overreach and shrillness.
Cam
@Polaro
No, he said “Yeah, I said #MeToo is a witch hunt.”, accused the victims of being “Ambitious” etc…
If that is nuanced, I’m guessing you like comedy movies where people get hit in the face with pies
Chrisk
Cam
He said he hated Wienstein for abusing people. Lets not kid ourselves though. He’s talking about Hollywood and how many of these women allowed themselves to be used and then later accused him of rape. Not everything is black and white. Some of the adults here can still see that.
Cam
@Chrisk
He said #METOO was a witch hunt. Sweetie, if you’re going to lie about something, try not to do it about something so easy to see.
Polaro
Cam never seems to figure out how to not blame men, or white people. Shame really. He keeps focusing on one sentence and misses the entire big picture…again. P.S. #metoo has turned into a royal witch hunt. Its damage the cause of trying to reign in criminal sexual assault and abuse by making everything a crime. So, yes, you are part of the problem.
Thad
Oh, dear God. Straight white male privilege is still a thing. Accept it and be willing to arrange for others to maybe have privilege too.
ScottOnEarth
Well, of course he’s terrified. The time of straight white men running (and ruining) the world are coming to an end, thankfully. This dummy is mourning the loss of his entitlement.
radiooutmike
He’s pretty self-centered…I guess like most celebs.
He thinks everyone is personally attacking him for the wrongness of patriarchy or the whole of white privilege. No Terry, you personally are not being accused of rape or the source of white privilege. Those are institutionalized, and people who believe in equality will try to work and help the people on the wrong side of that equation.
It would help, if you realized you did have privilege as a man, furthermore; a man who is white, wealthy and has celebrity. That’d be a good first step. If you feel guilty or put upon, it’s because you think you have some responsibility that you have not lived up to.
Lennon was not incorrect in saying that, “Woman is the NI***R of the world”
Polaro
Yeah, you know a lot about being self-centered. Might be better for you to read what he said carefully and think about it.