Matt Damon is upset with Effie Brown over that diversity conversation on HBO’s Project Greenlight.
In an interview with Indiewire, Effie Brown discussess the hostility she faced all season while dealing with white male coworkers who seemed fine working with strong, vocal producers as long as they were not Effie Brown (or, maybe people who look like Effie Brown.)
Brown recognizes that she can be very straightforward, but reminds us that she is as qualified as anyone else at the table. She was hired to keep the film on budget, on time, and if you watched another episode on Project Greenlight she does a pretty damn good job.
“Was I fabulous, always in the right? Heck no. I did a good job. I’m not a man. That’s the thing. I’ve never been anything other than a black woman. I learned what I learned: to reach your goal, you can take several paths. I’m used to taking the direct straight path. If I felt I was not looked at through the male gaze as a female, you bet it would be different. I have to think, the people I’m working with, they don’t think they are misogynistic.”
Effie Brown also suggested that the now infamous exchange between herself and Matt Damon, whereby a rich white man tried to explain how diversity works to a black woman, was actually more intense than it appeared on TV.
“They had already met and hung out and picked the first 13 contenders. I was the last person coming in. They know each other. That was not the full conversation, to be real. That was a more polite version of that exchange.”
Effie Brown was trying to do her job well and help Matt Damon and the other filmmakers understand diversity issues that they may not be aware of. But now, Brown says, “Word on the street is I’m not his favorite person.”
She describes her relationship with the director Marc Joubert by saying it’s in “tatters” and notes that he apparently doesn’t handle issues very well.
Effie Brown pointed out that she insisted on seeing the first cut of the episode and had to fight with Project Greenlight producers to portray her fairly.
But, what is the most surprising part is that Brown revealed that Ben Affleck was the most understanding and liberal person, a role that many people assumed belonged to Matt Damon.
“They all saw all these cuts and approved them. Ben Affleck was the cat who had my back. Ben is down. All right, good! That was surprising to me, I thought it would be Matt, who has this liberal reputation. Honestly, I’m grown enough to say, ‘I’m not for everybody, not everybody likes me, and he may be one of those who just can’t stand you.’”
Effie Brown doesn’t seem to care that all those white guys were not her biggest fans. She was just interested in doing her job, making a good movie and actually showing a black person making a movie: “We accomplished that.”
Related Matt Damon news:
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Why Everyone is Turning Their Back on Matt Damon
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Matt Damon Shuts Up Black Filmmaker To Explain “Diversity”
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Matt Damon: It Was “Painful” To Be Ben Affleck’s Friend When He Was Dating J. LO
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