Okay, and I’m sorrry for assuming there was. That was toxic of me, and I made it a white issue, you didn’t.

Or probably never say. If he ever said that, it would be very out of character for him, and he would be wrong.

I appreciate your Roger Ebert link, because he was a great man, and he really saw through movies, to what’s beneath them. But he would never say a movie doesn’t deserve to be made, because it’s a western, and that’s what I‘m saying. It’s just hopping from one side of the prejudice to another.

But you don’t have to study art to know art. It’s about the feeling, about the transcendence. And waiting for someone to tell you what is good art is missing the point.

It’s true, but that doesn’t mean it’s right, and it’s getting better. And yes, I feel your fatigue. World War 2 is a tired subject, but if you can make a good movie, if that’s what’s coming through you, then all right. I wouldn’t begrudge you of that. (And “you” being the director.)

And I thought Moonlight was the best picture, last year, or one of them, and not because it was about social issues or an interesting topic. Because it was good. Imagine that. La La Land was good, too, and I hope you won’t say it was “too white.” Because saying something is too white is the same as saying it’s too…

Once we start telling people, “You don’t deserve to be a movie,” we’re wrong, and that’s what I heard in your response. Once we start telling people, “You can’t do that, because it’s not relevant,” we’re stupid.

See, but just saying “What types of stories make for deservedness” shows me you don’t know anything about art, at all. That’s like saying, “Some stories *deserve* to be movies, others don’t.” That’s not good. A movie is a movie, and you *haven’t* seen Dunkirk. It’s unlike any war movie you’ve ever seen, unless you’ve…

I take your point that you were trying to say “white movies” and “black movies” is the *reason* we need more diversity and inclusion. But to say something about how something doesn’t deserve to win because it’s a WW2 movie or Old West, all I’m hearing is, “more white.”

Yes. And if inclusion goes so far as to say, “This movie deserves to win because it stars black actors,” that is wrong. Plain and simple. You said yourself something about how the old West, implicitly, does not deserve an award if it is up for it, next year, and how Nolan fans are “crying.” Is this not toxic, “This is…

And I don’t say a Marvel movie can never win, but I do say, if it’s not good enough to win, then it doesn’t deserve to. And that’s not your argument, but it was said in the article something about a win for Black Panther, and come on, does Black Panther deserve to in the running for next year’s Best Picture? I doubt…

No, I get it, I’m doing two things at once, here. What I’m trying to say is, if you win it for politics, it’s a false win, and that goes for white movies and black movies. So we shouldn’t be asking for inclusion, we should be asking for inclusion *and* quality. Without the other, it’s just more politics.

How many of those movies are actually good, though? Do you think Girls Trip deserved an Academy Award? Because if you do, then you are asking for inclusion, not quality, and the day Girls Trip wins is the day I’ll say we’ve gone insane. Detroit should have gotten more pull, *maybe*. Mudbound certainly should have. Get…

Well, it’s not about what’s a movie about, it’s about what’s the best. Oscar is politically motivated, sure, but it’s also about being the best. If your movie, whomever you are, is not the best, and you haven’t won, then you’ve been done justice. Darkest Hour and (I’m assuming) The Post weren’t the best. They didn’t…

Yeah, I know. I just wanted to be an asshole. Great year, by the way.

But thank you for defending them. Him. Mike Skinner. They are good. He is. First two albums, very good. Don’t know as much, after that.

Boo. Also, the Streets is one man. No “are.”

Uh, how are you not going to pick “Ghostwriter.” I know it’s the single of the album, if there ever was one, but it’s good.

“another gem from A24”: the world. Seriously, A24 is on fire these days.

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