Debate on diversity polarised: Inarritu

Mexican director Alejandro Inarritu says while he is all for inclusion in Hollywood, he also feels people do not understand the complexity of the diversity issue and have “polarised and politicised” it. The debate on diversity began after the Academy left out black actors in the main categories of 88th Oscar Awards nominations.

Inarritu, who won his second best directing Oscar for The Revenant yesterday, in a backstage interview said the discussion should be much more than just blacks and whites as diversity includes other races and communities too.

“I want to say, which is something that is absurd. I think the debate is not only about black and white people. I think diversity really includes –you know, what’s that mean? That now is Oscar so brown or what? I think we are yellow and Native Americans and Latin Americans.

“So the complexity of the society of the world is much more than one or the other. I think it’s becoming a little bit very polarised, very politicised, without observing the complexity and the beautiful of how being this country’s so mixed, as my country which is mixed, but this is a multi-mixed country. That is the real power of it (sic),” he said. 

Inarritu believes there should be a proper platform to hold a sensible discussion about the people of colour and their issues.

“What I am super impressed about is that still we are dragging this tribal thinking with this. I think one of the problems that we are suffering is there is no moderate platforms to talk about something deeply, very important, that in a way it’s deciding the destinies of people around the world – not only here – by the color of their skin.”