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A tale of two directors: Director A helmed a comic book movie for a massive studio earning a “B” grade CinemaScore, a 62% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, and an 82% from audiences. Director B also directed a comic book movie for a massive studio, became the first ever to earn a “D” grade CinemaScore, nabbed a 33% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and a 31% from audiences. The former brought in $46 million during its opening weekend while the latter, only $37.8 million. Completely ignoring any creative prowess, artistic vision, or filmmaking craft — the numbers are heartily in favor of Director A. So if the hard data doesn’t lie … then why is one of the biggest Hollywood trades gleefully treating Director B, Todd Phillips of “Joker: Folie à Deux,” like some poor underdog who will get ’em next time, while Director A, Nia DaCosta of “The Marvels,” was met with headlines about her “bailing” on a cast and crew screening (that she was not invited to) ahead of release, almost as if they were setting her up as the scapegoat ahead of the film’s poor performance?
Oh, that’s right, because Nia DaCosta is a Black woman, Todd Phillips is a white guy, and we live in a society.
The way DaCosta was mistreated by the media during “The Marvels” was so egregious, /Film’s own Sandy Schaefer wrote about it. As they note, “Of course, the same crappy people who trolled ‘Captain Marvel’ have been predictably quick to lay the blame for its sequel’s box office on ‘The Marvels’ co-writer and director Nia DaCosta, the first Black woman to helm an MCU movie. However, regardless of how you personally feel about her film, throwing DaCosta under the bus is racist, sexist, and, yes, objectively inaccurate.” Unfortunately, it wasn’t just the legion of basement-dwelling losers hiding behind their skin-flake-coated keyboards, major publications also participated in the dogpile. And now that we’re seeing Phillips treated with kid gloves and given the space to lick his wounds with the support of the press, the disgusting double standard cannot be ignored.
This is not a hit piece about Todd Phillips
I don’t know Todd Phillips so I don’t have any reason to make a personal judgment call for or against the man in any capacity. I’m pretty disappointed that in 2010 he referred to the Writer’s Guild of America as “The Whiner’s Guild” and doesn’t think unions should exist, despite all evidence (especially in the entertainment industry) proving otherwise. But I refuse to waste time or energy on having An Opinion about a total stranger based on the movies they make, and I went on record saying that despite being less-than-impressed with “Joker,” I was greatly looking forward to “Joker: Folie à Deux.” The issue is not whether or not “Joker 2” was worse than “The Marvels,” the issue is that in the case of two directors, DaCosta was constantly treated as the sole reason the film didn’t perform well at the box office, while Phillips’ poor performance is being treated like it’s beyond his control.
Hell, Disney CEO Bob Iger said “The Marvels” didn’t do well because “there wasn’t as much supervision on the set, so to speak, where we have executives [that are] really looking over what’s being done day after day after day” because of pandemic-dictated limitations of production. That’s him essentially saying DaCosta needed a suit to babysit her on set. Nia DaCosta, the first Black female director to debut at number one (hell yeah, “Candyman”) and who, with “The Marvels,” became the highest-grossing Black female director of all time.
Meanwhile, Todd Phillips didn’t even bother with test screenings and was given final cut (meaning he had total free rein to make the film without having to answer to anyone else about it), but when met with a disastrous opening weekend, was gifted a “Hang in there, Todd Phillips” post from The Hollywood Reporter. It’s infuriating, because with both “Joker 2” and “The Marvels,” there are plenty of reasons the films aren’t reaching the heights studios hoped for, but only one director is being given the benefit of the doubt. It’s a sexist, racist double standard and we should refuse to be gaslit by what is a clear play to spin a narrative. Honestly, I need to believe it’s a narrative spin, because if that isn’t the case and those involved aren’t conscious of the double standard they’re perpetuating … that’s worse.
Fans and industry professionals have noticed
Before I get accused of “reaching” or that I’m thinking too deeply about this, I’m not alone in noticing this ridiculous mistreatment. Dave Gonzales, one of the authors of “MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios,” took to X/Twitter to say, “I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. Only because I was trying to promote a MARVEL BOOK last year while ‘The Marvels’ was out and I’ll forever remember the press wondering the whole time if it was Nia DaCosta’s fault for not suffering over a year of heavy noted edits.”
Journalist Jamie Jirak and co-host of the popular Marvel Phaze Zero Podcast noticed as well, writing, “This is why “it’s not sexism/racism/homophobia, the film just sucks” is a bad faith argument. Most agree ‘Joker 2’ is bad, but Todd isn’t getting attacked like women creators. Some claim he made it bad on purpose?! Double standards exist. Denying that makes you part of the problem.”
Pop culture writer Guy at the Movies didn’t stop at DaCosta, and noted how this recently also happened to Chloé Zhao for Marvel’s “Eternals” and Leslye Headland for “The Acolyte.” This doesn’t even consider the fact that in the case of the women-directed projects, unhappy terrorists cosplaying online as “fans” attacked many of the actors cast in the projects as well, for committing the crime of being a woman, a person of color, gender non-conforming, or any other identity that isn’t cisgender, straight, white, and male.
I’m not asking for preferential treatment, nor am I saying that Todd Phillips needs to be attacked the way the others were. What I am saying is that audiences, the trades, and the industry at large can’t keep lying to themselves about the blatant oppression and hypocrisy hurled at directors like Nia DaCosta, and the preferential treatment granted to folks like Todd Phillips. What I am saying is that it’s completely insincere to pretend like Hollywood has an interest in equitable treatment of creatives. Everyone crying “DEI hires are ruining the industry” is living in a fantasy world. Before “Joker 2,” plausible deniability was on the table, but that time is over. It’s time to stop feigning ignorance and start treating marginalized directors better.
