All About Why Frances McDormand's #InclusionRider Speech Made Me Feel Conflicted

One week ago tonight, Frances McDormand took home the Oscar for Best Actress for her starring role as Mildred Hayes in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Yes, I thought McDormand's speech was brilliant. And yes, I am absolutely committed to help make #InclusionRider the norm. But there's a big but. Why, one week later, do I still feel conflicted about McDormand's rallying cry for greater inclusion in Hollywood?

Well, let's talk about Three Billboards. I was never planning to see it. From the trailer it just didn't look good. I finally saw it, and I was wrong. It was good. The writing is brilliant. It's entertaining. The acting is phenomenal. McDormand's Mildred Hayes is a strong-ass woman. On its own, there is no denying it is a GOOD movie.

However...

I'm not sure it should have been made.

Actually, scratch that.

It should not have been made.

Not in 2017.

Three Billboards is a movie centered around police fuckery in the state of Missouri. To make a movie about police fuckery in the 2010s and not center it around the stories of Black and brown people just generally isn't okay. To set that story in Missouri, the same state where a white police officer shot and killed teenager Michael Brown just four years ago, is unacceptable.

Yes, police violence against Black people is kind of sort of touched on in the movie. But that's just it. It's kind of sort of touched on, and only for the purpose of a white woman using police violence against Black people to her own advantage. The Black people that are briefly in the film are only there for the benefit of a white woman.

Some say not every movie needs to be political, that sometimes we should just enjoy a movie for exactly that, being enjoyable. This is an important discussion, and I am totally down to keep discussing it. But for now, I say, alongside inclusion riders we also need actors and filmmakers to make more responsible decisions.

Yes, Three Billboards is the story of a strong (white) woman. And yes, we need more stories about strong women made. So from that end, it was an important role for McDormand to take on. But in telling this particular story of this particular woman, Three Billboards disregards the stories of those most impacted by the issue it chooses to focus on (police ineptitude and police violence). Just as we are pushing for greater intersectionality in social justice movements, so too should we push for greater intersectionality in art. So too should we push for a more holistic way of decision-making.

Recently it came out that 19-year-old Amandla Stenberg walked away from the role of Shuri in Black Panther to send an important message about colorism. Stenberg felt uncomfortable taking up space as a biracial American. "These are all dark skin actors playing Africans, and I feel like it would have just been off to see me as a biracial American with a Nigerian accent just pretending that I'm the same color as everyone else in the movie," they told CBC Arts of her decision. "I recognize 100 percent that there are spaces that I should not take up and when I do take up a space, it's because I've thought really, really critically about it and I've consulted people I really trust and it feels right." It was a great role, but Stenberg turned it down because they looked at the possible repercussions of accepting the role.

It's inspiring to know that actors and filmmakers are already making tough decisions, such as the one Stenberg made. I'm sure more of these decisions are being made behind closed doors. And so while I join McDormand in calling for #InclusionRider to become the norm in Hollywood, I would like to also challenge others, particularly white people in the industry, to think critically before accepting certain roles because they sound good on paper. Not all good movies should be made. Not all good roles should be taken.

And yes, this goes for me as a writer too. Just because I am offered a position or opportunity does not mean I should accept it.

P.S., much love to Michael B. Jordan, who following last Sunday's Oscars, will adopt an inclusion rider going forward for his company, Outlier Society Productions.

(If you or someone you know is working to make #InclusionRider the norm, I would love to get involved. Just hit me up at @dj_diabeatic!)