archived 6 Jan 2020 10:44:19 UTC
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The 79-year-old, who directed
Monty Python and the Holy Grail in 1975 and helped write 1979’s
Life of Brian, was supposed to be publicising his new film,
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.
But he said, in an interview with
The Independent, that he was “so booored of talking about the film”.
Instead, he turned the discussion towards his views that Harvey Weinstein’s alleged victims are “adults who made choices”, and why he’s “tired, as a white male, of being blamed for everything that is wrong with the world”.
First mentioning the #MeToo movement, he said: “We’re living in a time where there’s always somebody responsible for your failures, and I don’t like this.
“I want people to take responsibility and not just constantly point a finger at somebody else, saying, ‘You’ve ruined my life.'”
He continued: “#MeToo is a witch hunt. I really feel there were a lot of people, decent people, or mildly irritating people, who were getting hammered. That’s wrong. I don’t like mob mentality.
“These were ambitious adults… There are many victims in Harvey’s life, and I feel sympathy for them, but then, Hollywood is full of very ambitious people who are adults and they make choices.”
But shouldn’t then men committing the abuse take responsibility? Gilliam doesn’t think so.
He said: “When you have power, you don’t take responsibility for abusing others. You enjoy the power. That’s the way it works in reality.”
On his own white, straight, male privilege he said: “I understand that men have had more power longer, but I’m tired, as a white male, of being blamed for everything that is wrong with the world.”
Despite having already referred to himself as a “white male”, he then added: “It’s been so simplified is what I don’t like. When I announce that I’m a black lesbian in transition, people take offence at that… Go on Google. Type in the name Gilliam. Watch what comes up.
“The majority are black people. So maybe I’m half black. I just don’t look it.
“I don’t like the term black or white. I’m now referring to myself as a melanin-light male. I can’t stand the simplistic, tribalistic behaviour that we’re going through at the moment.
“I’m talking about being a man accused of all the wrong in the world because I’m white-skinned. So I better not be a man. I better not be white.
“OK, since I don’t find men sexually attractive, I’ve got to be a lesbian. What else can I be? I like girls. These are just logical steps.”
His comments are not even new material, as Gilliam has actually rolled out the same “joke” before.
In 2018 he said at a film festival in the Czech Republic: “I no longer want to be a white male, I don’t want to be blamed for everything wrong in the world: I tell the world now I’m a black lesbian… My name is Loretta and I’m a BLT, a black lesbian in transition.”
