Stephen King felt the wrath of his fellow liberals when he tweeted that quality is more important than diversity “in matters of art.”
“I Never Consider Diversity in Matters of Art”
As a screenwriter, Stephen King can nominate people and films for the Oscars, and decided to tell the world about his thought process when considering who to put forward. “As a writer, I am allowed to nominate in just 3 categories,” he tweeted. “For me, the diversity issue… did not come up. That said, I would never consider diversity in matters of art. Only quality. It seems to me that do otherwise would be wrong,” King continued.
As a writer, I am allowed to nominate in just 3 categories: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Screenplay. For me, the diversity issue–as it applies to individual actors and directors, anyway–did not come up. That said…
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) January 14, 2020
…I would never consider diversity in matters of art. Only quality. It seems to me that to do otherwise would be wrong.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) January 14, 2020
This was, of course, unacceptable to the left who immediately pounced on him. Some described King as “backward and ignorant,” with others writing that his comments were “painful to read.”
When you wake up, meditate, stretch, reach for your phone to check on the world and see a tweet from someone you admire that is so backward and ignorant you want to go back to bed. https://t.co/nPXOeAebkb
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) January 14, 2020
As a fan, this is painful to read from you. It implies that diversity and quality cannot be synonymous. They are not separate things. Quality is everywhere but most industries only believe in quality from one demographic. And now, here you are.
— roxane gay (@rgay) January 14, 2020
Stephen King is a great writer of our time & yada yada… but if you truly believe that diversity in art shouldn’t be considered then you simply don’t understand art at it’s core.
Art is expression. Expression comes from POV. The only way to have diverse POVs is to consider… https://t.co/i6WpGzARjO
— RUM TUM THUGGER (@IfyNwadiwe) January 15, 2020
King was forced to backpedal later, saying that the most important thing that the creative industries could do is “make sure everyone has the same fair shot, regardless of sex, color or orientation… You can’t win awards if you’re shut out of the game.”
The most important thing we can do as artists and creative people is make sure everyone has the same fair shot, regardless of sex, color, or orientation. Right now such people are badly under-represented, and not only in the arts.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) January 14, 2020
You can't win awards if you're shut out of the game.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) January 14, 2020
This still didn’t satisfy the baying crowds however.
Wait until people begin to tweet you with the cleanup tweet he posted two hours later to justify it all. pic.twitter.com/6fcXy5h8q5
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) January 14, 2020
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Superman to the Rescue!
The only Hollywood celebrity who seemed to be defending Stephen King was none other than Superman himself, Dean Cain. Cain told Tucker Carlson that the backlash that King was receiving was “terrifying.” “If you are not woke enough, you are out. He has put some of the most woke tweets out there ever and he has said something that’s patently true, which is art should be judged on art, not diversity. It should be about the art. It’s what Martin Luther King Jr. asked for. A day when you are ‘judged by the content of your character, not by the color of your skin’,” Cain added.
Carlson asked whether the diversity mentality was a concern for those who care about art, and Cain agreed. “Denzel Washington won best actor because he was the best actor,” he said. “I wouldn’t have given it to him because he’s black. Yeah, he’s my favorite actor, but it’s not because he’s black. It’s because he’s the best actor I know. I don’t think he wants to be judged just because he’s black.”
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King is Cancelled!
I almost feel sorry for King. He’s gone along with the liberal dogma for most of his life, and bashed the horrible orange President that we have now at every opportunity, like calling him a “vile, racist, and incompetent bag of guts” and a “horse’s ass,” but then says one thing that’s out of line and gets immediately #cancelled by the woke Twitterati! He really should have seen this coming though – how can you be a part of the Hollwood bubble and not realise that questioning the “diversity and inclusion” mantra would mean an online firestorm?! Maybe next time he’ll think before he says something sensible on Twitter.