Hollywood Elsewhere sympathizes with the 11 white industry people who’ve congratulated Ava DuVernay for her direction of Queen and Slim as well as Harriet. This is an embarassing whitey thang, mistaking one person of color for another without looking deep into their souls and speaking to the individual.

Honestly? This is why so many POCs aren’t supporting Pete Buttigieg — because he doesn’t really know any black people all that well and when he greets this or that person of color he sometimes says the wrong first name.

What these above-referenced Anglo Saxons don’t realize is that DuVernay also shadow-directed The Lighthouse. Okay, Robert Eggers technically “directed” it, but DuVernay was the secret creative power behind the throne. It was DuVernay, for example, who suggested the idea of a hostile seagull.

One of the best-kept Hollywood secrets is that DuVernay is a film-set “whisperer” — she hangs around shoots, watches everything, and offers advice when the director runs out of ideas or otherwise gets stuck.

Seriously, Melina Matsoukas (who’s slightly thinner and has a lighter complexion than DuVernay) directed Queen & Slim while Harriet‘s actual director is Kasi Lemmons.