“Tim Burton is racist”: Wednesday fans slam Tim Burton for casting black actors as bullies

Wednesday has become Netflix’s most-watched series for the November 21–27 week, but not everything is rosy for the coming-of-age supernatural comedy horror. The series received critical acclaim after its November 23 premiere, but viewers took to Twitter to complain that it smells of racism.

Director Tim Burton and the streamer were called out on Twitter for apparently showing bullies/“bad people” in the series as people of color. One user wrote:

According to reports, not only viewers, but also critics, were dissatisfied with the fact that only people of color were depicted as negative characters: a mean girl played by Joy Sunday, a black actress, and another of a bully played by a black actor Iman Marson.

Notably, Sunday’s Bianca Barclay is shown to be a brilliant student at Nevermore Academy, while Lucas Walker (Marson) is the son of Noble Walker, a corrupt mayor. Both of them create trouble for Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega).

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Is Tim Burton racist? Let’s see what the fans are saying

The fact that the villains in Burton's "Wednesday" were all people of color infuriated the Internet.

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Meanwhile, another objected to “a Hispanic woman playing Wednesday Addams. (sic)”

They asked, “Why is a Hispanic woman playing Wednesday Addams who is white? Seems #racist, (sic)” referring to Ortega, who says that she is “75 percent Mexican and 25 percent Puerto Rican.”

However, the number of supporters for Burton was no less. For instance, one said:

“Saying that black characters can never be the bad guys is, itself, racist. Treat them the same, good and bad.”

Another user wondered:

“Portraying strong black women in a show is racist? Her character was awesome and that actress was amazing. Without her, Wednesday wouldn't have had the push she needed. They respected each other.”

Now, this isn't the first time Tim Burton has been called racist. In 2016, while promoting his Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, he told a journalist that diversity in movies is not necessary.

“I remember back when I was a child watching ‘The Brady Bunch’ and they started to get all politically correct. Like, OK, let’s have an Asian child and a black. I used to get more offended by that than just… I grew up watching blaxploitation movies, right? And I said, ‘that’s great.’ I didn’t go like, ‘OK, there should be more white people in these movies.'”

This was his reply to Samuel L. Jackson’s comment that was:

“I may have been the first (black character in a Tim Burton movie), I don’t know, or the most prominent in that particular way, but it happens the way it happens.”

Even then, it left people divided, with some saying Burton only casts actors with talent, while many rebuked his films for featuring only white actors.

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Has Burton responded to the current controversy?

A representative for Burton rubbished the recent accusations and stressed that he is “not forwarding” this to the director.

Mike Simpson of the agency WME said:

“I’m not forwarding a comment request this silly to Tim…However, apparently Daylight Savings Time (DST) is racist (referring to an article that argued that DST impacts sleep/health of minorities disproportionately). Wednesday was shot in Romania where DST is observed. Maybe that’s a better angle.”

Apart from Ortega, Sunday, and Marson, the series also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzmán, Gwendoline Christie, Fred Armisen, Riki Lindhome, Jamie McShane, and Christina Ricci.

All eight episodes of the series can be streamed on Netflix.