Screenwriting : Panderversey? by Richard Buzzell

People still spout "Member-Berries", "Tegridy", or "Gay Fish" as a part of their vocabulary. Matt Stone and Trey Parker have a knack for being conjoined at the hip with pop culture; they truly have their finger on the pulse of the zeitgeist.

Whether they're right or wrong however, is always up for debate; everybody remembers how mistaken they were in mocking Al Gore and Climate Change.

When it comes to the subject of pandering through racial and gender casting in films, the issue isn't so black and white - it's complicated grey area. Diversity had been lacking in media for the longest time - but now, the focus on color-blind diversity casting has been increasingly over-excessive as of late. From sub-optimal to over-abundant, it was bound to stand out like a sore thumb.

Pendulum has swung so far to political correctness over the last 12 years, fear of this and fear of that, not wanting to offend anyone and over compensating inclusiveness, that I believe majority of population is tired of it, its hit its extreme. It curbs creativity and free expression and we will start to see the pendulum come back to the middle for more balance. as new generations find that oversensitivities to life are not much fun, a new wave of courage and originality in film industry hopefully will arise.

Overcompensation? Yes. Still... All good if it suits the story being told... you don't want Papa Smurf in an action revenge movie, you want Charles Bronson.But do you really?... what if Papa Smurf has special, cool, ideas of keeping the whole community --the neighbourhood they live in -- together, and thereby special abilities to fight the bad guys -- abilities that make me think "what the f.ck" cool -- abilities Charles could never have... The real problem lies in the fact that executives have become too afraid of the fact that not giving enough roles to the LBGT community could be seen as "possible racism" could hurt their pockets., and they overcompensate, so nobody would feel they're rasists. Overcompensation that -- regrettably -- too often doesn't suit the story being told.

Folks, you will not see ( a lot of) Stage 32 excecutives comment on the "overcompensation." This BECAUSE we're talking "a very 'complicated' GREY AREA" -- If only ONE word is not thought over enough...Game over! That's what you get in a polorized world. A fear culture with constant 'finger pointing' ... oops, I've done it right now... Am I a hypocrite preaching MORALITY, and then right after being immoral.

I was at Mtv office when there were death threats and bomb scares after Stone & Parker made fun of Muhammad. Two Dudes didnt show up for months while employees dealt with aftermath.

One commentator has suggested that the arrival of the Panderverse will turn Disney's movie The Marvels into a referendum on un-conventional casting. As though the movie industry is a democracy.