No need to spend one more moment of your time wondering when the Coen brothers will offer their invaluable insight into the #OscarsSoWhite discussion.


In an interview with the Daily Beast to promote their all-white film, Hail, Ceasar!, the filmmaking brothers—who have been nominated and won several Academy Awards—talked diversity.

“It’s an absolute, absurd misunderstanding of how things get made to single out any particular story and say, ‘Why aren’t there this, that, or the other thing?” Joel added. “It’s a fundamental misunderstanding of how stories are written. So you have to start there and say, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.’” “You don’t sit down and write a story and say, ‘I’m going to write a story that involves four black people, three Jews, and a dog’ — right?” Joel continued. “That’s not how stories get written. If you don’t understand that, you don’t understand anything about how stories get written and you don’t realize that the question you’re asking is idiotic. It’s not an illegitimate thing to say there should be more diversity in an industry. But that’s not what that question is about. That question is about something else.”


Wow. Insightful. A lot to unpack there.

They also argued that, “Diversity’s important. The Oscars are not that important.” This is true. Great point, guys! Speaking of diversity and its importance, here’s a look at some of your biggest films:



Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

Stars:

Josh Brolin

George Clooney

Alden Ehrenreich

Ralph Fiennes

Jonah Hill

Scarlett Johansson

Frances McDormand

Tilda Swinton

Channing Tatum

Bridge of Spies

Directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Joel and Ethan Coen

Stars:

Tom Hanks

Mark Rylance

Amy Ryan

Alan Alda

Inside Llewyn Davis

Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

Stars:

Oscar Isaac*

Carey Mulligan

John Goodman

Garrett Hedlund

F. Murray Abraham

Justin Timberlake

True Grit

Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

Stars:

Jeff Bridges



Matt Damon



Josh Brolin



Barry Pepper



Hailee Steinfeld



Burn After Reading

Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

Stars:

George Clooney

Frances McDormand

John Malkovich

Tilda Swinton

Richard Jenkins

Brad Pitt

No Country For Old Men

Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

Stars:

Tommy Lee Jones

Javier Bardem

Josh Brolin

Woody Harrelson

Kelly Macdonald

Garret Dillahunt

Tess Harper

The Ladykillers

Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

Stars:

Tom Hanks



Irma P. Hall*



Marlon Wayans*



J. K. Simmons



Tzi Ma*



Ryan Hurst



Intolerable Cruelty

Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

Stars:

George Clooney

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Geoffrey Rush

Cedric the Entertainer*

Edward Herrmann

Paul Adelstein

Richard Jenkins

Billy Bob Thornton

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

Stars:

George Clooney

John Turturro

Tim Blake Nelson

Charles Durning

Michael Badalucco

John Goodman

Holly Hunter

The Big Lebowski

Written by Joel and Ethan Coen, directed by Joel Coen

Stars:

Jeff Bridges

John Goodman

Julianne Moore

Steve Buscemi

David Huddleston

John Turturro

Fargo

Written by Joel and Ethan Coen, directed by Joel Coen

Stars:

Frances McDormand



William H. Macy



Steve Buscemi



Harve Presnell



Peter Stormare



Hey Ethan and Joel, next time it’ll be much easier and quicker to just say: We don’t give a shit about diversity.


*there’s one!

Contact the author at kara.brown@jezebel.com .