Thread by @manondereeper

Maybe some of you are wondering why this "sudden" outburst from my end regarding @TheCherryPicks. I'm not normally this outspoken. I don't get involved with Twitter fights. But I will stand up when it's right to do so. I have been concerned about them from day 1.

.@rantngcinephile and I attended their 1st panel at SXSW18 and were concerned. It was discussed on the Film Inquiry Slack. CP founders brushed off questions about diversity, only wanted to include women publishing with big papers. Problematic, to say the least.

I gave them a chance though, I was like, they'll learn. Fast fwd to Sundance 19 (January), which is when I was there for the panel that @Cheryl_CLBP / @TheJTCList just released a snippet of.

I walked up to Bailey to discuss concerns, after. All she did was add me to their newsletter. Yeah, no thanks. That said a LOT to me. But I already knew. Because in the meantime, Black Twitter had already shut her down twice.

I'm polite. Not a troublemaker. I would never stir the pot - I'm a foreigner in this country and I live in fucking Texas. I could be shot for having an accent, or deported. But that video stirred a lot in me. To then see more female film critics share their concerns enraged me.

I bottled all this stuff up for over half a year - that night was terrible, y'all. The only good thing to come from it is that @Cheryl_CLBP and I became good friends.

Film Inquiry is volunteer-run. We are very passionate about what we do. My mission for FI has ALWAYS been journalistic integrity, despite the industry clearly going elsewhere. I have a moral compass. I won't stand for the clear abuse of my friends, minorities, or film critics.

Writers are always preyed upon, because we work from isolation and it's hard to connect. We rely on Twitter. Critics do, too. It's a lonely job.

There are so many things wrong w/ how CP has been conducting their business. I'll leave these questions: Why do they think they are authorities in film criticism and why do they position themselves that way? What are Miranda Bailey's motives? What's the money behind this thing?

I have some inklings, but I'm bitter at this point. Bitter at women's organizations in film industry, bitter abt women who found organizations to promote their own agenda, using women and their desperation, benefiting from the idea of "scarcity".

THERE IS SPACE FOR ALL OF US.

I don't have the money to put behind Film Inquiry as Bailey does behind Cherrypicks. That's why we haven't achieved as much as fast as they have.

What I do know is that I'm as good as any male critic. As any male editor in chief. As any male screenwriter. That's why I don't believe in segregating myself into some "female" only category. I'm a human being. That makes my (or any of your) opinion(s) valid. That's it.

One more thing. Film Inquiry just launched its subscriber platform - film journalism is a tough landscape and online publishing even harder. For $3 a month you unlock all our A-quality content and you support our writers. Click the icon in the btm right on filminquiry.com

Please donate to Women of Color Unite - @Cheryl_CLBP's organization, if you want to help WOC in this industry. She has been moving THE WORLD without any money, getting meetings for their members with Netflix, Amazon, and the studios. wocunite.com/donate/