The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Between the Scenes - Scarlett Johansson and the Debate Over Representation in Film

Episode Date: July 21, 2019

Trevor addresses Scarlett Johansson's controversial comment that she should be "allowed to play any person, or any tree" and discusses the power of representation on screen. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to Comedy Central. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show coming out every Thursday. We're going to be talking about the election earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient-to-bread ratio on sandwiches. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but

how many of them come out on Thursday? Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast. And if you saw the story where Scarletcher Hanson, as you know, has a record of coming under fire for playing roles that people have said could go to other minority groups, you know. So for instance, she played what was considered a Japanese character in a movie, like an action movie. I forget the name of the movie. Was it Ghost in the Shell?

It was ghost in the shell, yeah? And then, you know, she wanted to play a trans character in another movie and people were like, hey, thanks, to play a trans actors, theyn't, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, thin, th. th. th. th. thin, th. th. And, th. And, th. And, like, like, like, thr. And, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, th. And, in. And, th. And, in, to. And, in, in, in, to. And, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in. And, in. And, in. And, in. And, in. And,, what about trans actors? Can they get a shot at this? And she had a statement at the time, which wasn't great. She was like, oh, why don't you go talk to other people's agents who've done it before me? It was like a very dismissive thing, and she apologized after that. And now she came back for another statement,

where she said, whatever, like people shouldn't be restricting me and blah blah blah. And I was like, it's so interesting. I understand why you may want to get defensive as a person. You know, I can even understand why some white people may feel like they're under attack in and around these conversations. But I think what's often lost is, you see when Scarlet goes, I should be allowed to play an animal or a tree or anything. Yes, but that's exactly what people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people people that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's that's or anything. And it's like, yes, but that's exactly what people are sort of saying, is they're saying for so long, Hollywood and the people who have defined storytelling in America

have defined it as stories to be told for and by white people, right? And so the roles that have been generally reserved for black people have been the stereotypes of criminal- made slave. That's pretty much it. And all people are saying is, if there are these opportunities where it's like a Japanese character pops up, you saw like how many people love crazy rich Asians because they're like, hey man, just to see myself on screen, not in just a stereotypical fashion, but to see myself as a human being, gives me, like we take for granted

how much representation means to human beings. And I think in two ways, one, on an inspirational front, but two, just how it shapes society. I don't take for granted how the idea of terrorists and Muslims was propagated by Hollywood more so than many other mediums, where every time you watch TV, if someone was on TV like like h'al'a'later, then you're like, oh shit. It was never like a cool thing, do you know what I mean? That imagery is powerful, because a lot of the people who watch those movies don't even come

into contact with diverse people, so their image of these people is defined by Hollywood. And you would think that a place that considers itself so liberal would try th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. It's thi. thi. thi. It's thi. It's thi. It was thi. It was thi. It was thi. It was th. It was th. It was th. It was th. It was th. It was th. It was th. It was th. It was th. It was th. It was thi. It was thi. It was thi. It was never thi. It's thi. It's thi. It's thi. It's thi. It's thi. It's never thi. It's never thi. It's never thi. It was never thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. It was never thi. It was never thi. It to represent people. I'm not saying there are no Middle Eastern terrorists, but I'm saying they are Middle Eastern stories that run the gamut. There's a spectrum. You know, like great shows, like this is a show on Hulu called Rami. Like one of my favorite shows I've ever watched. It just shows you like what it'sthrough to yeah I drink and I eat pork and I'm I say I'm Muslim but I'm but it's it's it's authentic you know and those stories I

think are so important not in like a charity way but like just in a great TV great stories great like like great inclusivity just like yeah let's let's tell some original stories and so someone like Scarlet Johansson I think doesn't understand you know like when you a quote like that you go, no, people aren't attacking you for this. They're just saying, you have the luxury of all of these roles and the roles that these other people will never be considered role. You can play a Japanese robot if you want to, and you can play a white woman in Avengers, a white woman in a romantic comedy, a white woman in action, a white woman in Avengers, a white woman in a romantic comedy, a white woman in an action, a white woman in a drama, you can play all of them.

But the Japanese woman who's acting, she most probably can only play the Japanese robot. You know what I mean? That's what people are trying to say. At the same time, however, I think we should be careful and honest with each other and go, we want to be in a place where we're saying we want opportunities for everybody, but we shouldn't be so extreme that we define a thing as, as, like people are like, only trans people should play trans people on screen. And I go, I think that's dangerous for a few reasons. not everybody's ready to come out as trans. So by saying only trans people can play trans people,

what you're now inadvertently saying is everybody who is trans must come out as trans trans at your time so that they can get the role. When in fact, we don't know at what point a person is transitioning. It's the same as being gay. If you said only gay people can't play gay people on screen. We don't know who's gay. We know how many people struggle with coming out as gay. So you can't make that definition. You've got to be careful about how you say those things. You know? And I also think at the end of the day, you are acting.

Because it's a story and it's being told by an actor. You get what I'm saying? So it's about inclusion, conversations honestly when people are just trying to fight each Daily Show on YouTube for exclusive content and more. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show. It's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting, you'll be saying to yourself, TGID, thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election, economics, earnings calls.

What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance, it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast.