Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic(LOS ANGELES) — Oprah Winfrey and Ava DuVernay are tackling sensitive topics in this week’s issue of the Hollywood Reporter, saying they’re more focused on “inclusion” than “diversity.”
DuVernay, who recently hit a major milestone by being the first African-American woman hired to direct a live-action film with a budget exceeding $100 million — that’s A Wrinkle In Time — tells the Hollywood Reporter she’s become weary of the term “diversity.”
“We aren’t sitting around talking about diversity, just like we aren’t sitting around talking about being black or being women. We’re just being that,” she said. Oprah, who’s working with Ava on the upcoming OWN series Queen Sugar, feels the same.
“I used to use the word ‘diversity’ all the time,” Winfrey begins. “‘We want more diverse stories, more diverse characters…’ Now I really eliminated it from my vocabulary because I’ve learned from [Ava] that the word that most articulates what we’re looking for is what we want to be: included.”
She adds, “It’s to have a seat at the table where the decisions are being made.”
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Of course, the leading ladies also feel that it’s their responsibility to help bring on that inclusive narrative.
DuVernay explains, “You see integration of Black Lives Matter from the beginning of [Queen Sugar] because it is literally black lives having meaning and mattering in the everyday.”
She adds, “With the Black Lives Matter movement, a lot of the focus is on the protest and dissent. I’m hoping to dismantle the public notion — for folks outside of the community — of what Black Lives Matter means. It’s really about saying that black lives matter, that humanity is the same when you go inside people’s homes.”
Oprah concurs and emphasizes her take on it.
“Everybody gets caught up in the slogan and the hashtag and the protest. What we’re trying to do is get you to feel it,” she says.
Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
