With a hit or VERY miss filmography and some problematic quotes to his credit, director Colin Trevorrow has become the reluctant poster boy of White Male Mediocrity in Hollywood. In just six years, his career has hit dizzying highs and crushing lows. But as co-writer and executive producer on Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, he's back in the spotlight and trying to save his faltering reputation by rewriting his history. And we're not buying it.
As a refresher: The well-received sci-fi indie Safety Not Guaranteedscored Trevorrow an invite to the big leagues, helming the resurrection of the Jurassic Park franchise with 2015's Jurassic World. Thought it made bank, critics called Jurassic World out for misogyny, citing those damn high heels and the movies most violent scene where a young woman is brutally killed by rampaging carnivorous dinosaurs. Trevorrow did not help matters by tellingEmpire that she "earned" her death "because she was a bridezilla."
That summer Trevorrow became a popular example of white male directors who seem to get greater opportunities out of a single hit indie than filmmakers who are female and/or people of color. He made matters worse by taking to Twitter to speaking on behalf of all women to proclaim women don't direct big-budget studio movies because they don't want to. (For more on this check out friend of Pajiba's Angie Han's piece on Slashfilm. Trevorrow did.)
Nonetheless, Trevorrow was on track to become a major blockbuster director, hired to helm Star Wars: Episode IX. But ahead of that production, he made a small-budget thriller called The Book of Henry, which was so loathed by critics (this one included) that it sparked concerns about whether Trevorrow could be trusted with a franchise as beloved as Star Wars. After several months of Book of Henry bashing, Trevorrow was fired from Star Wars: Episode IX. But that may have less to do with his flopped film and more to do with the director being "difficult."
But don't cry for Trevorrow. He'll return to the director's chair for Jurassic World 3. Ahead of that, he's trying to answer for his missteps with no holds barred interviews, like the one he gave Uproxx's Mike Ryan. To Trevorrow's credit, he confessed that speaking for all female directors was "a huge mistake," adding, "I'm really sorry for it." He also noted that experience made him more aware of the challenges women in Hollywood face, and more engaged on making an effort to work with them. Props for progress and growth!
Less great was when talk turned to The Book of Henry. "I made a film about holding predatory men in positions of power accountable for assault," Trevorrow said, "And that is an uncomfortable subject to talk about. But we are talking about it now and we're listening and I hope the negative response won't deter other filmmakers from telling these stories, because we need to hear them, both in life and in art."
Basically, Trevorrow would have you believe he made a Me Too movie ahead of the Me Too movement. The other bold comment came on Twitter, where he claimed The Book of Henry was a carbon copy of Star Wars: A New Hope.
In an interview with Slashfilm, he expounded on this theory, saying:
"It's a foundational myth. It's a noble ghost story. Where a character lives on after death in order to guide a hero to find their strength and defeat ultimate evil. And structurally, I can't…but you're gonna print this, unfortunately. I'm saying this now. But the way that I look at movies, I do see Avatar and Titanic and Jurassic World [as] very similar movies. Henry was Obi-Wan Kenobi. And he died in the middle. And he left a set of instructions on how to take out the Death Star where Darth Vader was holding a Princess captive. And at the very end, when he had the target in his sights, he had to remember his training. Guided by this ghostly voice. And then Han Solo comes in with the Rube Goldberg machine and gives him the moment. And ultimately the Princess saves herself."
More in the piece: http://www.pajiba.com/film_reviews/...ars.php?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
