One of the writers behind new box office hit Noah has spoken out after the movie was hit by claims of racism.
Darren Aronofsky's epic stars Russell Crowe as the man who builds an ark to save his family from apocolyptic floods. The film has come under attack from religious groups since its release but also from those who have pointed out the lack of diversity among the cast.
Episcopal priest Wil Gafney is one of those who have complained, saying: "In this version of Noah, black people do not exist."
Now, one of the film's writers Ari Handel has responded to the criticism in an interview with Christian website The High Calling, insisting that the team did not want the film to end up as "a Benetton ad or the crew of the Starship Enterprise".
Russell Crowe stars in Noah
"What we realized is that this story is functioning at the level of myth, and as a mythical story, the race of the individuals doesn't matter," he insists of the all white cast. "You either try to put everything in there, which just calls attention to it, or you just say, 'let's make that not a factor, because we're trying to deal with everyman'."
"Looking at this story through that kind of lens is the same as saying, "Would the ark float and is it big enough to get all the species in there?" That's irrelevant to the questions because the questions are operating on a different plane than that; they're operating on the mythical plane".
Noah, which also stars Jennifer Connolly and Emma Watson, has taken $248.7 million around the world since its release earlier this month.
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