Licorice Pizza Is Blatantly Racist, Says Anonymous Oscar Voter

An anonymous Oscar voter calls Licorice Pizza “blatantly racist.” Released late last year, the coming-of-age film is the latest work from Paul Thomas Anderson, the incomparable auteur behind modern classics like Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and There Will Be Blood. Licorice Pizza has been met with similar acclaim, garnering three nominations at this weekend’s Academy Awards, including Best Original Screenplay, Best Directing, and Best Picture. PTA has been nominated for a total of 11 Oscars over his career, though he has never won.

Though Licorice Pizza has been met with glowing reception from critics and audiences alike, it has been criticized for two scenes which include anti-Asian sentiments. The scenes in question involve a character named Jerry Frick, a white businessman played by John Michael Higgins, who speaks to two different Japanese wives (played by Yumi Mizui and Megumi Anjo) with a stereotypically fake Asian accent. There is an additional joke where Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) mistakes Jerry’s second wife for his first, not realizing he has remarried. These elements have sparked controversy, including an Asian activist group which called for a boycott of the film.

Now, an unnamed member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the latest to speak out against Licorice Pizza‘s questionable elements. The anonymous Oscar voter shared their thoughts on this year’s nominations via THR, and they didn’t mince words when it came to PTA’s latest film, saying “I hatedLicorice Pizza” and later went on to call it a “blatant, unnecessarily racist” movie. Read the voter’s full comments below:

I hated Licorice Pizza. It was probably the best directed interpretation of a bad script that I’ve seen in years. I just can’t believe that in 2022 we’re still rewarding blatant, unnecessarily racist movies, and that people just brush over the stuff with the accent — it didn’t add anything to the movie and no one in the movie commented on it. The excuse that “that was of the time” is bullshit.

Earlier this year, PTA defended Licorice Pizza against claims that it perpetuates anti-Asian sentiments and racism. The filmmaker shrugged off the questionable character as “an idiot saying stupid shit,” though he did recognize the possibility he could give audiences permission to laugh at an offensive stereotype. In another interview, PTA responded to the backlash by noting that Licorice Pizza takes place during a different time, the 1970s, a justification that the anonymous author above takes issue with.

If one Oscar voter found the film to be blatantly racist, it’s likely a few others did as well, though it’s unclear how much this will hurt its chances of winning an Academy Award. Licorice Pizza is unlikely to win Best Picture or Best Director, though it could be considered a frontrunner in the Best Original Screenplay category along with Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast. Whether or not Licorice Pizza‘s questionable elements spoils PTA’s shot at winning his first Oscar remains to be seen.

Source: THR

About The Author

Adam Bentz
(1112 Articles Published)

Adam Bentz is a movie and TV news writer for Screen Rant. From a young age, Adam has been interested in a wide range of movies and television, but it was talented auteurs like Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Aaron Sorkin who ultimately sparked his interest in the craft. Motivated by his love for the screen, Adam studied creative writing with a concentration in screenwriting at Southern New Hampshire University.

After graduating, Adam interned as a writer with The Borgen Project, a nonprofit organization working to end extreme poverty. Other than writing for Screen Rant, Adam reviews films on his website adambentz.wordpress.com

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