Welp, here we go again with another set of Anthony Mackie shenanigans. According to a new interview, Mackie doesn’t find it completely necessary to have a black director behind Marvel’s first black superhero film, Blank Panther. Now everybody is entitled to their opinion, but had Mackie just stopped at that then the actor might’ve saved face in time before facing the backlash of social media. The actor went on to make a rather unusual comparisons in an attempt to support his initial thoughts by stating, “I don’t think it’s important at all,” he told The Daily Beast. “As a director your job is to tell a story. You know, they didn’t get a horse to direct Seabiscuit!”
After Mackie’s strange statement, he continued to make sense of it all in the most Anthony Mackie way possible. “The thing is I don’t think the race of the director has to do with their ability to tell a story. I think it’s all about the director’s ability to be able to relate to that story and do it justice. I think men can direct women, and two of my greatest work experiences were with female directors. So I think it all depends. May the best man – or woman – win.”
But of course, it takes no time for the world of Twitter to seize the moment, and by that time it was too late for Mackie to try clarifying or defending his point of view.
Mackie is definitely making his way around headlines this week as he “jokingly” endorsed the idea of Donald Trump’s presidential run to the White House. This moment has just added on to the small pile.