Mara Wilson hits out at Roland Emmerich over Stonewall film
Former child star Mara Wilson has added her voice to the growing controversy around director Roland Emmerich’s upcoming Stonewall film.
The first trailer for the big screen look at the Stonewall riots hit the internet last week, and was almost instantly met with accusations of whitewashing, as viewers accused Emmerich of erasing the importance of the black and trans people who played an integral part in the riots in favour of fictional white characters.
Amid calls for a boycott, Emmerich issued a plea for viewers to wait until the film is released before making their minds up, while divisive gay rights activist Larry Kramer also came out in his defence, labelling those criticising the film as “crazies.”
Now, an unlikely voice has entered the fray – former child star Mara Wilson, best-known for playing the titular role in the big screen adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda and roles in other 90s children’s films including Mrs Doubtfire and Miracle on 34th Street.
These days a 28-year-old writer, feminist and prolific, outspoken Tweeter, Wilson accused director Emmerich of confusing the events of Stonewall with “one of the parties at his house exclusively for young, fit, white, gay men.”
Go ahead and have your parties, but don't try to alter history.
— Mara Wilson (@MaraWilson) August 11, 2015
It's just sad.
— Mara Wilson (@MaraWilson) August 11, 2015
Emmerich has said it was the studios that made him change it, buuuuut somehow I'm not buying it.
— Mara Wilson (@MaraWilson) August 11, 2015
If you haven’t yet seen it, have a look at the trailer that’s getting so much attention. The film is released in the US on September 25: