New Zealand-born director Taika Waititi, the man credited for reimagining 'Thor' as a funnier superhero, says his country is great but "a racist place".
In an interview with Dazed and Confused magazine, the director of "Thor: Ragnarok" spoke at length about growing up in New Zealand and facing racism due to his mixed Maori and white heritage.
"It's racist as f***. I mean, I think New Zealand is the best place on the planet, but it's a racist place. People just flat-out refuse to pronounce Maori names properly," Waititi said in the interview.
The director, who rose to prominence with films such as "Boy", "What We Do in the Shadows" and "Hunt for the Wilderpeople", also spoke about racial profiling in New Zealand, particularly of Maori or Polynesian people.
"There's still profiling when it comes to Polynesians. It's not even a color thing like, Oh, there's a black person.' It's, If you're Poly then you're getting profiled'.