Today is the day for out-of-touch European actors to express their clueless racism, and Delpy, at Sundance to promote her new movie with Todd Solondz, has joined the fray.
She started off on firm ground: “Two years ago, I said something about the Academy being very white male, which is the reality, and I was slashed to pieces by the media,” she complained to a reporter. “It’s funny—women can’t talk.” That’s true! Women do often get ripped apart for speaking out about sexism! It sucks!
Alas, she kept talking: “I sometimes wish I were African American because people don’t bash them afterward. ... Nothing worse than being a woman in this business. I really believe that.” Huh?
Aside from the pointlessness of pitting race against gender to argue who’s got it worse, what Delpy seems to miss is that being a woman and being African American aren’t two exclusive categories—lots of people are both. In fact, female minorities are among the most under-represented group in Hollywood; this depressing breakdown of working TV directors is just one example.