This ^ is Roland Emmerich, the director of Independence Day: Resurgence. He’s German, but he mostly works in America on big, special-effects-heavy films like the one he’s currently promoting. But last year he tried his hand at a smaller film, a pet project that he’d been wanting to make for a while: a film about the famous Stonewall Riots, in which cops raided a gay bar in NYC and the LGBT community just had enough, and they started a riot. The Stonewall Riots went down in June 1969, and that’s one of the big reasons why Pride parades usually take place in June. “Stonewall” has also become a symbol of LGBTQ rights and pride around the world.

Emmerich’s film, Stonewall, was utter garbage though. Historical records of the real event prove that the riots were multi-racial, with gay men, gay women and transgender people taking part. Emmerich’s film chose to base the story around a fictional white cisgendered guy played by Jeremy Irvine. Because even films about the LGBTQ community have to be made “palatable” to the film going audience, right? The film was widely panned, poorly reviewed and barely seen. Well, Emmerich was asked about the reaction to his film during an interview with the Guardian this week. His response was… no bueno.

His 2015 film Stonewall ignited the ire of LGBT rights groups, incensed that this depiction of the 1969 Stonewall riots was seen from the point of view of a white male, relegating black and Latino activists to background figures. The critics were equally outraged.

“Stonewall is perhaps even worse than some feared it would be,” seethed Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson. “More offensive, more whitewashed, even more hackishly made.”

Emmerich sighs at the memory of his passion project’s reception. “My movie was exactly what they said it wasn’t. It was politically correct. It had black, transgender people in there. We just got killed by one voice on the internet who saw a trailer and said, this is whitewashing Stonewall. Stonewall was a white event, let’s be honest. But nobody wanted to hear that any more.”

[From The Guardian]

Even the Guardian called bulls—t on “Stonewall was a white event, let’s be honest.” The Guardian added this: “Reports and photographs from Stonewall in fact indicate that the riots were started by gay, straight, trans, white, black, and Latino protesters.” Again, nearly every historical account of Stonewall has it as a multiracial and trans-inclusive moment. Many even believe that it was a black trans woman who threw the first brick, but in Emmerich’s film, it was the white cisgendered dude who threw the brick. Because relatability!!!

So, is this just Hollywood’s problem in a nutshell, or is this just specific to Roland Emmerich? Like, I think most Hollywood producers – white guys – wouldn’t even blink if they heard “Stonewall was a white event.” They wouldn’t even think to question it or look beyond their narrow “everything is a white event!” scope. But I think most people would be smart enough not to say it in an interview? Maybe I’m giving Hollywood producers too much credit though.

Photos courtesy of WENN.