I read a really, really great article about Brad Pitt on Saturday that I really, really wanted to link to today. But I was wondering about what photos I would be able to use. Well, it was meant to be because Brad was the official starter at the Le Mans 24 hour race this weekend. And looking the best he’s looked, like, this decade. No exaggeration. It’s 2016. He hasn’t looked this good since 2009. Like HOT. There are many, many photos below to prove it.
But about that article…
I’ve written a few times about how, in my opinion, Brad Pitt is underrated as an actor. His gift is that actors are better when they’re acting opposite him. And it’s not as easy as saying, of course they’re better because he sucks. He doesn’t suck. He just doesn’t act the sh-t out of every scene to the point where you don’t notice anyone else. It’s almost as though he’s not interested in the credit.
What?
An actor not interested in the credit?
As a producer he doesn’t appear to be interested in the credit either. And this is the article that’s the point of this post:
Is Brad Pitt the wokest white man in Hollywood?
We’ve talked a lot about diversity and inclusion, about telling other stories, and about responsibility. There are the obtuse who don’t believe there will be an audience in casting an unknown – hi Ridley Scott, hi Ghost In The Shell, and etc and etc and etc. There are the lazy who don’t want to bother because it’s not their problem. And there are those who don’t actually think there’s a problem which, I mean f-ck them because there’s really no reasoning.
Brad Pitt’s production company Plan B, on the other hand, is doing the work. Quietly.
“Pitt leverages his star power, access and reputation to get you the ball, and then he gets the hell out of the way.”
So there are two parts here: first, Brad Pitt is using his platform to include other voices and other stories but second, he’s not interested in claiming those voices or their stories. In other words, he’s not interested in being the white saviour. Which may be why he hasn’t really been singled out for his contribution – because he doesn’t want to be. Brad Pitt is great at getting out of the way. And I wonder if he’d rather we gossip about his love life and his marriage and his looks rather than acknowledge his efforts at championing stories that would be otherwise ignored by Hollywood.