We all love entertainment. Our entertainment comes in different ways like film, sports, music, television, etc. But, I often find myself looking for me in the different media and pop culture I consume, and I know I’m not the only one.
Granted, for the tiny bit of Latinx media I find, there are more people who look like me who are given the better roles, but I empathize for darker people of color who don’t get represented honestly.
Film and television are two of the biggest sources of entertainment for us, and even though the U.S. is full of diverse groups of people, most of film and television is still majority white!
Why is that?
It isn’t due to lack of demand or reactions, because we’ve seen huge success for movies and shows like Black Panther, Crazy Rich Asians, Jane the Virgin and so many others. Just this summer, Crazy Rich Asians turned out to be the highest grossing rom-com of this decade with $170M in domestic gross just 57 days after being released.
The problem is the production companies in a white dominated industry. It’s not that there aren’t writers of color, or queer writers, or women writers, they just get pushed to the side by these companies because they don’t have faith in the success of art and media produced by diverse writers.
People barely caught their break this year at successes like Greta Gerwig – the first woman nominated for an Oscar for Best Director since 2013 – and Jordan Peele, who was also nominated for his success on Get Out.
The Academy itself is barely taking strides to become a more open space for different representative voices, as opposed to it’s history of counter-movements like #OscarsSoWhite and their members being comprised of 90% white people.
In 2018, we’re finally seeing a difference. Over 900 people were invited to join the Academy this year, which raised the numbers of women who are members of the academy to 31 percent and people of color to 16 percent, which still isn’t enough – but it’s a start.
The proof is in the pudding, and if they won’t listen to our voices, then they better listen to the money. We have to go out and give our support to representative media. Movies with more representative casts are more likely to bring in diverse audiences.
With more diverse groups of people coming to watch these films, more money will be brought to production companies. More money to production companies means more representative entertainment.
When we see representation for a specific group, it’s a win for everybody. These films and shows make room and open up the space for other groups to finally be recognized and represented.
Representation isn’t just having an all white cast with the token ethnic/gay character. Not to mention these token characters are often based on cheesy – and most times offensive – stereotypes. Representation means having a culture or lifestyle accurately represented as the main focus without having to rely on stereotypes.
The beautiful and talented Riz Ahmed said it best, “diversity is just the fries to the burger.” Representation has to be the main course. We need to look for representation because diversity is just something “sprinkled” over something else. So let’s go out there and support our representative media.