Speaking with The Wrap after the Toronto Film Festival premiere of his latest film, The Notebook director Nick Cassavetes said Yellow — which tells the story of a romance between a woman and her brother — forced him to examine his own feelings on incest.

"We started thinking about that," he told the movie site. "We had heard a few stories where brothers and sisters were completely, absolutely in love with one another. You know what? This whole movie is about judgment, and lack of it, and doing what you want."

Cassavetes goes on to borderline-endorse incestuous relationships, saying "if you're not having kids, who gives a damn?"

But the filmmaker steps on more than few toes when he appears to link incest and marriage equality.

"Love who you want. Isn't that what we say?" Cassavetes continues. "Gay marriage – love who you want? If it's your brother or sister it's super-weird, but if you look at it, you're not hurting anybody except every single person who freaks out because you're in love with one another."

Despite the backlash, the "maverick" son of indie film legend John Cassavetes has yet to clarify his controversial juxtaposition.

Yellow, which stars Cassavetes' ex-wife Heather Wahlquist as the sister, has yet to be picked up for wider distribution.

[photo via Getty]