Truly Outrageous
I’m tired of the media apologizing for oversights when it comes to the misrepresentation and lack of inclusion in mainstream culture.
I was a toddler when Jem was at her peak and I therefore began wanting toys near the end of Jem’s reign. I’d watched the show once or twice but my parents actually committed us to Barbie and the Rockers dolls during that time. These dolls were knock-off attempts by Mattel to ride the tide of the frenzy that a band of female rockstars in edgy clothes were marketable to young girls. I recall older cousins and churchmates talking about the Jem cartoon and the dolls which made me, as a younger kid, dream about being a rockstar one day (which by the way is still on my bucketlist). In fact, the marketing was so awesome back then, that each doll came with her (or his) own tape! How rad is that?
Fast forward a couple decades and I seemed to have indoctrinated my daughters to rise as the next generation of Jem loyals by way of Netflix. We binge watched series and talked about the plots and continually debated if everyone really knew that Jerrica was Jem. We actually liked the Misfits and wondered if they would ever best Jem and the Holograms. There was so much drama in every story, I thought I was watching an adult soap opera and not a kid cartoon. The original show had made its way back into my life and had created a beautiful opportunity for my daughters and I to share our love for kick ass hero chicks and cool pop songs about love. So when we heard about the Jem movie, we were filled with an immense amount of excitement and anticipation. Despite all the poor reviews we were determined to go to the movie. And then I watched the trailer and then my daughters did too…
“Mom, where’s the black one?” my daughter asked. I was searching too. By the black one she meant Shana. It’s happened again… Some mindless or purposeful casting director has whitewashed a movie in an attempt to create a marketable and appealing product. But that’s a lie. Jem was marketable already. And although this new franchise has the freedom to make their changes, the characters’ look and feel should be recognizable.
Jem’s bandmates were very diverse, in fact they were Jerrica’s family. Kimber was her blood sister. But Shana Elmsford- a dark-skinned naturalista African American, and Aja Leith- Asian American, were adopted by Jerrica’s parents from Starlight House orphanage. Raya Alonso was Mexican American and later joined the band as the drummer. Did the director and casting lead not watch the show like ever? The movie missed the mark in this very diverse environment we live in… It’s like they decided to take a white spray paint to all the characters and erase every ounce of diversity that existed in the show… Like diversity isn’t marketable or appealing in 2015.
Are you saying that the new Jerrica/Jem has no diverse friends? Does she live in a safe homogenous neighborhood where those different from her are just different enough but still white and safe enough for her to accept as her peers? What are you telling white girls today? Choose friends that look only a little bit different from you because they are safe and familiar-ish? What message does that send to the “others” of us? It’s time for us all to yell out and use our voices and not stand for bullshit like this, “We were on the fucking tv show. Put us in the damn movie”.
This should not be dismissed, it is a big deal. I’m sure my daughters were not the only ones who were disappointed that brown skin and natural wooly hair was erased. And because of unconscious bias or because of a conscious decision that those in charge in Hollywood made, I will once again be put in the place to help them navigate the confusion.
In an era where natural hair, blended families, multi-racial adoption and a multitude of other awesome culturally inclusive practices are the norm, it seems like the Jem movie missed an opportunity to incorporate a host of visually appropriate themes that would have been in line with current, mainstream conceptions of self in the communities misrepresented by this casting failure. Maybe in 2015, we are still telling our girls of all colors that bleaching ourselves is far more appealing than proudly accepting ourselves for who we are. It’s a new era and visual media inclusion is not only important but also reasonable in a world such as ours. If we could have such wonderful diversity and perspectives in the 1980s, then I’m confused by the deliberate oversight when we claim that we’ve made so much progress as a society.
