We should all await the Rihpita film with baited breath
Allow me to take up a couple of minutes of your time to fangirl about the upcoming Lupita Nyong’o and Rihanna heist film. What’s exciting about it is that it’s coming to life with thanks to Netflix and the power of social media. It all began at the MIU MIU fashion show in 2014 where Lupita and Rihanna were pictured sitting next to each other. Both are out of this world gorgeous of course, and both have impeccable style. The result was that we were bestowed with a moment of their combined beauty and in a nutshell, the aesthetics were on point.
A quick thinking Tumblr user by the name of Elizabitchtaylor soon reblogged this picture commenting that they looked like they were in a heist film. It was genius! The concept perfectly encapsulated everything that the picture encompassed. Soon, the comment made its rounds on Tumblr and eventually picked up some traction on twitter too. After the initial buzz however, the hype dissipated just as quickly as it had built up. I remember seeing it on twitter a year or two ago then never again.
That is until blaquepink resurfaced the picture again this year and the concept was once again revived. The tweet gained thousands of retweets and it caught the attention of many well-known names. Lupita was first to show interest in her involvement and threw down the gauntlet to Rihanna. The latter responded and soon Issa Rae (the mastermind behind HBO’s Insecure) jumped in, expressing her eagerness to write for the project. Ava DuVernay (director of Selma, first black female director to be nominated for a Golden Globe) caught wind of this entire exchange and naturally offered up her directorial services. Not long after that, Netflix confirmed that it had secured rights to the project after “a very aggressive bid” at Cannes. Who would have thought that a simple Tumblr moment would have evolved into a full-blown production?
In all honesty, it’s about time. Statistics show that of the top 100 grossing films in 2016, women only constituted 7% of directors and 11% made up the writers. Moreover, only 29% of protagonists in those films were women. Of that percentage, 76% were white women, 14% were black, 6% were Asian and 3% were Latina. Despite these dire statistics however, women make up 59% of all moviegoers. Considering the ongoing discourse regarding diversity within the creative industries, these figures are discouraging to say the least. They prove that although diversity has become such a buzzword, there is still much to be done to actually bring it to pass. Yet we have seen time and again that diversity sells, plain and simple. Take Girls Trip for example, it was the highest grossing comedy to have come out this year and it centred around 4 black women. Earlier in the year, Get Out took the world by storm with its sharp satire on white liberal racism. With a budget of just under 5 million USD, it raked in just over 250 million at the Box Office and it still maintains a very impressive 99% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Percentages of Females, Males, and Ensembles as Protagonists
At this point, exclusion within the industry is just bad business and yet, here we are still having to champion for more diversity. You can hardly blame consumers for wanting to take matters in their own hands, and this is why the internet (with all its faults) is so amazing. Without the social media platforms that propelled this idea, it’s pretty safe to assume that the Rihpita film wouldn’t exist. On Twitter, the infamous #OscarsSoWhite campaign forced Hollywood to address its ongoing whitewashing and this led to more people of colour being admitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the people behind the Oscars). Given the whole La La Land/Moonlight debacle however, one is led to question just how much things have changed. It would appear that another way to disrupt the industry is to just make the thing that you want to see as opposed to just petitioning for it. Take Hood Documentaries for example, or Ackee and Saltfish. These are shows that weren’t created on a particularly huge budget and yet they have gained a substantial following online. The makers of both now are in a position to work in the very industry that excluded them.
We have all heard of elevator pitches but thanks to the Rihpita film, I’m hoping that Twitter pitches will most definitely become a thing. I mean, if fanfics can be turned into full blown productions, why not some of the fantastic ideas we see flying around there? Whilst I’m on the subject of pitching, I would also like to suggest that Ava Berkofsky be selected as the Director of Photography for this upcoming flick. Seeing as she worked with Issa Rae on Insecure and did a fantastic job of lighting dark skin tones, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch. Berkofsky notes that as a student at film school, she was not taught how to properly light darker skin and this propelled her to learn how to make people of colour pop on screen. Who better then, to make sure that we see Lupita and Rihanna in all their 4k glory?
Insecure Source: HBO
All in all, I can’t wait for the film to come out and you best believe I’ll be keeping an eye out for set pictures when production commences next year!