Tim Burton Explains Why His Movies Are Predominantly White

Tim Burton Explains Why His Movies Are Predominantly White

Have you ever noticed Tim Burton‘s movies lack a little melanin?

The director of such childhood classics as Beetlejuice and The Nightmare Before Christmas is under attack for admitting his disdain for diversity. Tim recently sat down with Bustle to discuss his latest flick Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, and says there’s a reason why his movies are predominately white.

“Nowadays, people are talking about it more,” he says regarding film diversity. But “things either call for things, or they don’t. I remember back when I was a child watching The Brady Bunch and they started to get all politically correct. Like, OK, let’s have an Asian child and a black. I used to get more offended by that than just… I grew up watching blaxploitation movies, right? And I said, that’s great. I didn’t go like, OK, there should be more white people in these movies.”

In Burton’s latest flick, Samuel L. Jackson stands out as the only Black actor to be included in the cast. Jackson recently added his own two cents about the mostly white stars cast in the film…

“I had to go back in my head and go, how many black characters have been in Tim Burton movies?” Jackson says. “And I may have been the first, I don’t know, or the most prominent in that particular way, but it happens the way it happens. I don’t think it’s any fault of his or his method of storytelling, it’s just how it’s played out. Tim’s a really great guy.”

We’re sure Tim Burton is a “great guy” but he can also be labeled a bigot as well. Do you think directors should make more of an effort to add some diversity in their movies or is Burton right about casting minorities?

WENN