Diversity is important for many. Not only does it show minorities that they are truly being represented on screen, but it includes many other stories that have never been told before. Unfortunately, it is easier said than done.
Industry giants and companies claim to want to go feature diverse stories with diverse actors, but behind the scene it is the exact opposite. The same stories get retold and remade into another version while great original writers (especially POC writers) who don’t have a budget get sidelined.
This is the reality of our time. It is rare to see diverse and well thought out stories stories to make it onto our screens because Hollywood is worried about backlash, but yet have no problems publicizing stories that can raise a few eyebrows. Take for instance “The Help”. At the surface it seems to be a good hearted tale about racism, but underneath the story minimizes black women while putting white women in a “white savior” role. This does not help black women and certainly wasn’t as uplifting as how the movie first appeared.
Movies like above are marketed as studios being “diverse” but in actuality does not help with the diversity of movies, tv shows, or short films as it first appeared. Why? Why do the studios do this and how can it be better? There are many different reasons and few solutions that can be implemented in Hollywood today.
It all comes back to money and tolerance. The rise of black sitcoms really kick started the whole process of accepting diversity in media today. The very first hit black sitcom was the Bill Cosby Show. Other black sitcoms started to show up from True Colors to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. These shows were bringing in so many viewers that studios just kept them coming. Some were more successful then others, but there was a market for it. Overtime, tv studio discovered that they can “skim” a little bit from that line. They started hiring and starring black actors who were lighter. Essentially, executing colorist practices in order to make the show as “white” as possible without losing the “POC” or “exotic” vibe of the character and have it count as “diversity”.
Nothing had changed these last 20 years. There’s still many tv shows that feature entire poc culture or characters. Any that appears that they do, don’t have the writers that can make up what is seen on screen. The Kim’s Convenient Store was cancelled on a short notice, leading others to question why. Simu Liu aired some of what went behind the scenes. One interesting note is that he mentioned was how while there might have been representation on the screen, there was rarely any representation for the story and crew behind the scene. Due to this, many ideas and scenes were created from an inauthentic source that didn’t have Asians in their best interest for this show.
I’m not sure what will happen in the next 20 years, but many are demanding for better representation. Not just any representation, but media that can authentically tell our stories and who we are. Gone are the days where we take what we can get. We know our worth, and we know we have amazing stories to tell and give voice to our experiences
