'Beyond the Lights' calls out Netflix for racially stereotyping her film

theGRIO REPORT - Gina Prince-Bythewood is over it. The director came out swinging against Netflix on Twitter this week, criticizing what she calls the company's stereotyping of her film Beyond the Lights...

TheGrio Staff

Aug 7, 2015

Gina Prince-Bythewood is over it.

The director came out swinging against Netflix on Twitter this week, criticizing what she calls the company’s stereotyping of her film Beyond the Lights.

Prince-Bythewood said she believes the algorithm Netflix relies on to recommend related movies for viewers is flawed. Viewers who watch Beyond the Lights, for example, are directed to check out other films with black actors.

But why not other romantic movies? That’s Prince-Bythewood’s point.

In a series of tweets, the director explained how she conducted her own experiment to get to the bottom of things:

1/3 the "more like this" on @netflix speaks directly to the issues we face in hollywood. #beyondthelights is a love story and a music film.

— Gina Prince-Bythewood (@GPBmadeit) August 5, 2015

2/3 where is the notebook, notting hill, walk the line, dreamgirls? what algorithm do they use? the same that is used by studios —

— Gina Prince-Bythewood (@GPBmadeit) August 5, 2015

3/3 if there are black actors in it, only black folks will want to watch it. got to stop.

— Gina Prince-Bythewood (@GPBmadeit) August 5, 2015

Prince-Bythewood was able to get a rather quick response from Netflix CCO Ted Sarandos:

1/6 Ted Sarandos CCO @netflix gave me a call. Good conversation. He broke it down like this:

— Gina Prince-Bythewood (@GPBmadeit) August 6, 2015

2/6 the banners on the home page, where most viewers find movies, reflect what we are fighting for which is films grouped by genre not race.

— Gina Prince-Bythewood (@GPBmadeit) August 6, 2015

3/6 I looked at "critically acclaimed films" and "romantic dramas" as examples to confirm and they indeed have a diverse slate. So props.

— Gina Prince-Bythewood (@GPBmadeit) August 6, 2015

4/6 In regards 2 "more like this" he says it is strictly statistical based on audience not human — people who watched beyond the lights…

— Gina Prince-Bythewood (@GPBmadeit) August 6, 2015

5/6 also watched these films. Over time, as more people, i.e. broader audience watches, the titles will supposedly broaden.

— Gina Prince-Bythewood (@GPBmadeit) August 6, 2015

6/6 Maybe instead of "more like this" it should say "viewers also watched this" which is more accurate…

— Gina Prince-Bythewood (@GPBmadeit) August 6, 2015