Today in “Please Don’t Be This Guy” we present Mr. Aaron Sorkin, an acclaimed screenwriter, producer, and playwright behind The West Wing and A Few Good Men. A quick look at his IMDb page shows he’s been around a while.
Yet it still took him until this past weekend to learn that Hollywood has —*gasp*—a diversity problem. Variety reports that he learned about how woefully white and male writer's rooms are at the Writers Guild Festival over the weekend.
Sorkin, Academy-Award winning screenwriter and executive producer (“The West Wing,” “The Newsroom,” “A Few Good Men”) was in disbelief at the event during a discussion moderated by KCRW host and film critic Elvis Mitchell. Sorkin asserted that Hollywood is a genuine meritocracy and that he was unaware of Hollywood’s existing diversity problem. (Emphasis mine.)
Oh, honey. You are wrong. So, so wrong. via GIPHY
Apparently, Sorkin’s mind was blown to learn that his success may have come more easily simply because of his race and gender—and he had questions.
“Are you saying that women and minorities have a more difficult time getting their stuff read than white men and you’re also saying that [white men] get to make mediocre movies and can continue on?” [Sorkin] asked the audience.
“You’re saying that if you are a woman or a person of color, you have to hit it out of the park in order to get another chance?” Sorkin posed.
And here are the answers: yes and yes.
The pervasive sexism in Hollywood from pay gaps to awful story lines has been well-documented. If you want to read more about it, here’s some starter reading:
Let’s just say for the record that every industry has a diversity problem—just look at the politicians running our government. When we say racism and sexism exists, it isn’t just about burning crosses on someone’s lawn or demanding that a female employee performs sexual favors in exchange for a shot at a promotion.