Acting as if it’s Still Okay

Representation and Chill

“No one could ever know me

No one could ever see me

Seems you’re the only one who knows what it’s like to be me.”

I’ll Be There For You — The Rembrandt

Scotts Valley, California, 1997. Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings want to sell something over the internet, but what? Hastings grumbles, still frustrated from the $40 in overdue fines (Apollo 13 is a great movie). A lightbulb goes off. Movies.

And Netflix was born.

Since its creation Netflix has since expanded from a subscription-based delivery system to a boundless bounty of movies and shows, all accessible from your pocket. It has spread from computers, to phones, to televisions, to our lives. It has grown from a special treat for a family night to a part of our culture that is just ingrained in us. They made so much money giving people shows and movies to watch that they now essentially make their own.

What the actual fuck.

Netflix has been distributing quite the cornucopia of original, independent content (think glorified YouTube). Working with actors ranging from to Jennette McCurdy (iCarly) to Idris Elba (the guy that should be James Bond by now), to directors/creators/producers/writers like Jenji Kohan (Weeds) and The Wachowskis (V for Vendetta). They have shows and movies you can’t get anywhere else unless you subscribe. So you do.

Because everybody’s talking about them.

“The cultural performers I am considering in this book must negotiate between a fixed identity disposition and the socially encoded roles that are available for such subjects. The essentialized understanding of identity (i.e., men are like this, Latinas are like that, queers are that way) by its very nature must reduce identities to lowest-common-denominator terms.” (6, Performing Disidentification by José Esteban Muñoz)

Please welcome our “performers” for the night.

Masters of None. Created by Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang, an American-born Indian comedian and an American-born Asian screenwriter, producer and director.

Orange Is The New Black. Created by Jenji Kohan, a Jewish female writer known for her strong female characters.

And last but not least: Sense8. Created by The Wachowskis, a team of director siblings (one being a white male, the other being a white trans woman).

Examine shows like these three, you look back at shows like How I Met Your Mother and Friends and your eyes hurt. The whiteness is too bright. But, like Muñoz said, performers have to figure out if they want to play into “safe” stereotypes or stand alone with the possibility of failing. For broadcasting networks like ABC and NBC, this can be quite the gamble given the setup of cable networks and how audience views are a huge factor in almost every decision. HIMYM and Friends are about normal people (albeit quirky). The majority of the cast, if not all, is caucasian. This sets an expectation from viewers to see more shows like that. This is where Netflix differs. Due to the subscription based service and large range of titles, Netflix is able to distribute almost any kind of content they want.

That means content that starts conversations.

Content that people write essays about (wink wink).

Our first performer: Aziz Ansari, known for his stand up comedy and role in Community, stars in Masters of None, a show focused on Dev (Ansari) who is an actor who is trying to make a life in New York City. Episodes range from Dev considering having children to trying to understand feminism. One of the episodes in the newly released show consists of Dev and his pal Ravi (another indian-american) auditioning for different parts. The first issue that arises is when Dev reads for the part of a taxi cab driver and does so in his normal speaking voice. The casting agent then asks Dev to read the part again using a stereotypical Indian accent. Dev refuses, and is therefor asked to leave. Later, Dev and Ravi audition for the same part and the casting agents can’t decide which one of them to pick because “There can’t be two indian guys. There just can’t!”

Biased casting and lack of roles for persons of color is an ever growing discussion, and Ansari and Yang take the chance to really delve into the world of casual racism. An exploration of if it’s okay not only to ignore the racism that is stereotypical casting but use it to further your career. The openness and honesty that comes from the dialogue of this episode provides a “breaking” of a “representational contract” wherein “the social order receives a jolt…” (Muñoz, 6). When someone of such cultural capital questions the system that has been in place for so long, the system that is normal, it can be a bit jarring for some. Interestingly enough, the episode itself is directed by Eric Wareheim (a white male, and another actor in the series), instead of Ansari or another person who has experienced this racism first hand. Does this take away from the message that is being sent? Does it discredit the dissection of the social institution that is casting a tv show? As a person of privilege neither I nor he can really answer these questions. But the discussion is raised on how to be a good ally when in a position of privelge. Wareheim is shown to be very involved in the show, working closely with Ansari and Yang to produce an accurate and unbiased portrayal of events.

Although Sense8 has some of the strongest female characters the world has ever seen, our second act, Jenji Kohan’s Orange is the New Black, has a flare to it that makes it unique. With a very diverse cast of strong women, OITNB has been a popular topic in pop culture along with one of it’s stars: Laverne Cox. A transgender woman, Cox plays exactly that in OITNB. Sent to prison due to credit card fraud, her character arc includes her dealing with prejudice due to who she is. She is abused, teased, and even denied hormone medication. Cox, from the success of the show, has become a front runner for trans rights. Similar to Masters of None, the honesty of that situation surprises viewers who have never even thought about something like that. Not only does it draw attention to the struggles that come with being a trans woman, it highlights the issue of the casting of trans people in Hollywood and the fight for trans rights in general. If someone like Laverne Cox is out there, how many other great actors are being turned away due to who they are? OITNB raises that question.

And now finally, our closing act for the night: Sense8. This show consists of 8 main characters, all vastly different people. From a closeted latino movie star to a trans woman activist and hacker, a white Chicago police officer to an African matatu driver, a hindu pharmacologist to a professional german criminal, and an underground Korean kick boxer to an Icelandic female DJ. All of their stories are independent and unique while staying connected. Each character points out a flaw in our current social constructs and institutions. Sometimes these constructs and systems are even used by some characters to get what they want. Lito, a gay movie star in Mexico, pretends to be dating a close friend of his (a woman) while actually hiding his real relationship. Nomi, the trans activist, is even detained by the main antagonist due to how society views trans people. She is kept in the hospital by her doctor (who is secretly working for the main antagonist) and also by her own mother who is not in support of Nomi’s change in gender. Sun, who is a business woman by day/kick boxer by night, challenges stereotypical views on a woman’s physical strength without being beefy and masculine-looking.

Each character in the series challenges stereotypes whether it be race, class, wealth, gender, sexuality, or mental health. This is representation. This is the jolt to the system, the bright light that shines on the ugly parts of normalcy. Asking if our “normal” should actually be our “normal”.

Going back to Muñoz and his statement about recognizing stereotypes in order to be an individual, it’s apparent in these shows. That’s why Netflix is so important. It’s not normal. It allows for people to explore the way we view the world. It allows for the performers to have a platform to be an individual, to break away from stereotypes, to even use those same stereotypes to make points. And it allows for us to have the honor of witnessing it.

Services like Netflix are changing what our normal view of media is, with shows like the one’s mentioned to an ever growing supply of diverse and unique titles. This freedom that Netflix has to distribute content that is not normal maybe even one day will be. Whether that will end up being a positive or negative thing, I can’t say.

So I guess we will cross that bridge when we come to it.