In a tweet responding to the news that Minari would be competing as a foreign-language film, Wang wrote: “I have not seen a more American film than ‘Minari’ this year. It’s a story about an immigrant family, in America, pursuing the American dream. We really need to change these antiquated rules that characterizes American as only English-speaking.”
I have not seen a more American film than #Minari this year. It's a story about an immigrant family, IN America, pursuing the American dream. We really need to change these antiquated rules that characterizes American as only English-speaking. https://t.co/1NZbkJFE9v
— Lulu Wang (@thumbelulu) December 23, 2020
The film equivalent of being told to go back to your country when that country is actually America. https://t.co/kwEf8eO9v8
— Daniel Dae Kim (@danieldaekim) December 23, 2020
What’s more, it’s not as if the HFPA has applied this rule with intractable objectivity in the past. Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 film about a U.S. Army unit seeking revenge on Nazi soldiers in France, was allowed to compete in the Best Picture race, even though it featured multiple languages throughout its run-time. Between the German, French and whatever version of Italian Brad Pitt thought he was speaking as Lieutenant Aldo Raine, a good chunk of Inglourious Basterds’ dialogue was not in English. The difference? The actors are mostly white.
Let us not forget that Inglorious Basterds was mostly not in English and was not classified the same way. https://t.co/HjMktWUV8F
— Franklin Leonard (@franklinleonard) December 23, 2020