Ian McKellen got real candid about Hollywood sticking up for straight, white men.
Hollywood has some serious issues. It treats women terribly, overlooks people of color, and erases disabled and LGBTQ people from its stories, for starters.
Someone who doesn't need reminding of the industry's embarrassing failings is openly gay actor Ian McKellen.
Photo by Tristan Fewings/WPA Pool/Getty Images.
The 78-year-old stage and film actor who's spent the better part of his life working in the industry got candid with Time Out London about Hollywood's tendency to only defend and empower white men and their heteronormative stories.
Take Albus Dumbledore, for instance. Years ago, author J.K. Rowling divulged that the wizard headmaster in "Harry Potter" is gay. Yet in the newer movies in the franchise, filmmakers have shied away from allowing the character to display any sense of explicit queerness, to the disappointment of many fans.
Time Out London's Phil de Semlyen asked McKellen, who routinely gets mistaken for the actors who actually played Dumbledore on screen — Richard Harris till his death, then Michael Gamdon — about the ongoing controversy: "The younger Dumbledore isn't explicitly gay in the new 'Fantastic Beasts' movie. Why do you think there are so few gay characters in blockbusters?"
McKellen responded:
"Isn't he? That’s a pity. Well, nobody looks to Hollywood for social commentary, do they? They only recently discovered that there were black people in the world. Hollywood has mistreated women in every possible way throughout its history. Gay men don't exist.'Gods and Monsters' [in 1998], I think, was the beginning of Hollywood admitting that there were gay people knocking around, even though half of Hollywood is gay."
You can't knock him for a lack of candor.
Photo by Ernesto S. Ruscio/Getty Images.
Do you think his comment seems melodramatic or unnecessarily harsh? They seem pretty on-the-nose to me.
Keep in mind, Hollywood is just now reckoning with its massive sexual abuse epidemic, its white-washed and racist systems of production, and the fact the industry is still run by an overwhelmingly straight, cisgender, white, and older group of men who choose which projects get made and by whom.
McKellen's comments also come on the heels of a damning new report from GLAAD on LGBTQ representation in film.
In its Studio Responsibility Index, the advocacy group found a sharp decline in the percentage of queer-inclusive movies across the largest production studios. Between 2016 and 2017, that figure dropped from 18.4% to 12.8% — the lowest since GLAAD began tracking data six years ago.
It's easy to assume progress just happens. But it doesn't.
McKellen rightly suggested that Hollywood continues to fail women, people of color, and other marginalized groups. But he's also been around for quite a long time, and he's hopeful the future is bright for LGBTQ people — on screen and off.
"When I go to schools to talk about gay rights, the kids can't believe it," McKellen explained of younger generations showing acceptance. "It's not an issue for them."
Queer kids deserve to see a world on screen that reflects their own. And if it takes a gay wizard flicking his wand to help send that message, sign me up for the next train to Hogwarts.
Learn more about GLAAD's Studio Responsibility Index findings here.
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Not just coworkers—family, friends, strangers, kids…
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Urgent dash to the bathroom! 🚪🏃♂️
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
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Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."