The movie industry is failing minorities
There is no question that the movie industry is dominated by white men who give big roles to fellow white men. In 2016, the Oscars went two years with only white nominees, known as the ‘whiteout’.
It was baffling to experience something like this in the 21st century with the age of individualism and everyone coming to terms with who they are and where they come from. For an industry as influential as the movie industry, one that has an impact on public opinion and big enough influence to insight real change, it is disappointing that there is such a lack of representation.
There is an abundance of minority men and women who have already taken the world by storm, so why is it that there is a lack of representation in big roles that are nominated for Oscars?
When asked about why representation matters to her community, a young black woman, Kennedy Sledge, said, “It gives them the power to dream.” She goes into more detail by adding, “If they see someone on screen that looks like them, brown eyes, dark skin, full lips, maybe they will think to themselves ‘I’m gorgeous. I’m worthy. I’m pretty.’”
When talking about representation in movies, it goes far beyond just any role. Ever since the beginning of film, it can be seen that all representation is not good representation. Many black men who were first hired to be in productions often played roles that belittle their character as a black man. It was entertaining for white audiences to watch their racists stereotypes being played out, and that still shows today.
Sledge was asked about harmful stereotypes when it came to the black community that are present today. “Tyler Perry,” she said immediately. “I do not want to take away from his accomplishments, but his movies all portray the same harmful tropes. The black boy who deals drugs, the wife who is being abused by her husband and the man who won’t take accountability and be in his children’s life,”
She goes on to explain while, of course, these tropes can be accurate and some families do experience these things, it is harmful to always portray black families in this light.
To people who are outside of the black community, they watch these films and base how they feel about black people on these stereotypes. While, no one should do that about any group of people, it is no question that movies have that power to influence a person’s perspective on anything.
Another community that seems to always be misrepresented is the LGBTQ+ community. Often played by people not within the community is a slap in the face already, but then proceeding to play as a stereotype makes it even worse.
When asked about these stereotypes, a queer woman, Diani Alston, says that it always seems to be the same tropes when it comes to queer woman characters. Alston said that the most harmful one is the way feminine lesbians or bi women are portrayed. She said, “When femmes are portrayed, they are typically very promiscuous and unfaithful to their partner.”
No matter what the stereotype may be, it can be seen that they are extremely toxic to communities when viewed from the outside eye. It is easy for someone who is not in a community to make rash judgments about people who they do not understand.
In this modern era, it is hard to believe that the movies being produced are still feeding into these clichés. Why is it taking so long to change to script and accurately portray these minorities as well as many others?
Alston said it is the fear of backlash from loyal customers while Sledge takes it a step further to say that it is because the people in charge have their own biases.
No matter the reasoning behind why they are taking so long to flip the script, it is obvious that with some good research, different perspectives and open minds, it is extremely possible to represent minorities in films accurately without any harmful stereotypes. All we need are people willing to put the work in.
