Susan Sarandon attributes Hollywood sexism, racism to ‘corporate takeover’

Actor Susan Sarandon who is serving as the head juror at the Tropfest short film festival, said the hegemony of big-budget studios is responsible for the precipitation of "sexism and racism and ageism" in Hollywood.

Susan Sarandon is currently serving as the head juror at the Tropfest short film festival.

Veteran actor Susan Sarandon has said the hegemony of big-budget studios is responsible for the precipitation of “sexism and racism and ageism” in Hollywood. The 71-year-old actor, who is serving as the head juror at the Tropfest short film festival, also attributed the increasing dependence of the entertainment industry on the reboots of films to a “lack of imagination”.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sarandon said the problem, in turn, has led to a bigger issue of discrimination, along with the “corporate takeover of making films”. “This is why we have so much sexism and racism and ageism in Hollywood. There’s a lot of businessmen that are making decisions, not people who necessarily love movies. This is where you get casting by how many followers you have on Instagram,” she said.

The Feud star praised the digital platform and young filmmakers calling them the new “hope” of the showbiz for being revolutionary. “They don’t need to appeal to everybody. So you’re seeing braver, sexier, weirder, shocking things which is really exciting,” she said. She also mentioned working with filmmaker Xavier Dolan in the forthcoming The Death and Life of John F Donovan and Lady Bird director Greta Gerwig.

The actor further said, “The conventional way to do it is to start in the present. You start with Nicole Kidman and Dev Patel, and then you go back. But Luke [Davies, the screenwriter] said, ‘I really think we have to be with Saroo on this journey. We have to be with him and not know where we’re going … That’s why when you watch the film, it’s this hugely emotional experience because you are with Saroo feeling what he feels.”

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