Variety: I can barely read the news these days without seeing headlines like “An Inclusion Crisis” or “An Epidemic of Invisibility” — describing the current state of Hollywood. To be fair, we see more LGBT and people of color on television and film than ever before; but unfortunately, and all too often, they lack significant backstories or thoughtful character development, leaving their presence to be little more than window dressing.
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I definitely agree with this article in that, unfortunately, LGBT characters in TV and movies are few and far between, and are far too often simply stereotypes/ one liners. Only 2% of speaking characters on screen are gay or bi? Personally, I don’t think this just affects the general population’s view on LGBT people, even though this is definitely important, since far too often, people who don’t have an openly gay person in their lives look to TV and movies to develop their schema of what a gay person is like. However, not every gay person is Ellen Degeneres or Neil Patrick Harris. I think this onscreen representation is also important so young, closeted gay/ bi people are able to have someone to look up to to see that they aren’t abnormal. I know that, for a lot of people, their first outlet into the beginning of their realization of their sexuality happened because of a character from a TV show or movie, and that this helped them to realize that what they were feeling was natural and normal. This is so crucial because this may be something that the other people in their lives aren’t telling them. Because digital media is so prevalent in our everyday lives, especially in the lives of young people, I think it’s so important that the cast of characters we are ingraining ourselves in daily is an accurate and diverse reflection of what our world is like.
I am so glad someone finally came out and said this. While it is nice to read articles of companies planning on making their staff and cast gender and diversity inclusive by 2020, I can’t help but think to myself, this inclusion could start every day, or at least every new season. This article is so correct in its statements to representation, within the LGBT community and in regards to minorities, for some people the only picture they get in their head of people that are different then them is in movies and films. That’s why it is so important to show all types of people as leads with character dimensions and development, the same way you would do for a Caucasian.
I will say I think the reason the inclusion problem hasn’t happened yet is very clear, although we all act pretty hush hush about it. You see it right here at CMU. The people they let in are fit white people. I look at the school doing shows like cloud tectonics, which is a great show and I’m glad Kevin Carol got to do it. But they couldn’t’ t cast it with Hispanics people because the school hasn’t let any Hispanic people in.
I know that the casting process here is much different for that in the real-world, for I’m guess we want our students to have rolls that challenge them, but it is undeniable that there are a whole lot of white people on the performance side. SO what I’m getting at is that we can change this easily! Casting agents can change the faces of media easily. And I know CMU is a business trying to find people that they can make successful but I feel that we can rewrite that business, that we can change the game. But for some reason, casting agents here and inn Hollywood appear to simply not want to.
I think this article is really relevant, especially on the day of the oscars which had gotten so much press about not having any non white people in the acting categories this year. While this is horrible, and there is absolutely something the fix within the system of the oscars I think this article is right in saying that the problem is much bigger than we ever care to acknowledge. Women aren't treated fairly in Hollywood, the LGBT community isn't treated equally, and any non white race has a huge uphill battle, one of the largest in any industry. I think it's crazy that we are supposed to be the forward thinking creative part of the world and we are still so stuck in a time that just doesn't exist anymore. I will fully support those who chose not to watch the oscar today, or who make the choice to only do films by women, or African American writers, that is how change gets made, and it is going to be a slow climb from here. But I really do believe that the fastest way to make the change that we all seek is to get to the top, and start getting involved with the people who make the big decisions. Because it doesn't matter how many female directed movies George Clooney does in the next 10 years, if everyone above him keeps picking men. I look forward to a day where the oscars and all award shows are a reflection of talent, not race, or gender, or sexual orientation.
The issue, for me, is a tricky one. Certainly there should be an equal (maybe proportional, but definitely something that’s fair) amount of representation amongst all of our races genders and creeds in society, yet apparently this goal hasn’t been met in 40 years. So clearly we need to start writing more stories that include characters who fit these minority demographics, but the trick is, you can’t just do that, you have to make sure you’re not portraying anyone in bad taste, and definitely not in an unfair way. Meanwhile, if you have a great story, you don’t want to just jam a gay or trans or black character in there for the sake of having a minority character, that’s not fixing anything it’s a cop out. So yeah, I think there need to be more stories written about these different types of people, and these stories need to be made into movies and television programs.
As for women, that’s something a little different. You can dance around the fact that minorities are in fact minorities, and therefore there are less of them, and therefore there will be less marketability/fewer stories etc. (not saying it’s a good argument, but one can be made). 50% of all people are female (actually, I think it’s a tad higher), and so you’d think that there are just as many stories to tell (and sell) about or including women. But again, we don’t exactly see that reflected in the movies or on TV.
This makes me think that the problem is one not only with Hollywood, but with the patriarchal nature of American society. The change is one we’re going to have to make on a cultural level, one that will have to be a change in the way society works. Once that happens (and it’s coming, just taking way to long) there will be more fairness, and more fairness in scripted portrayal.
Now (and I’m almost done, I promise), that doesn’t mean we should be reactionary. A big part of the role of art such as film and television is to begin the shift in culture. So really what it is is that we need to start a positive feedback loop of racial, social, and gender diversity. The more we put into reaching this ‘goal’, the easier it will be to enact social change, the easier reaching the goal will become. It starts with us.
I think it is important not to underestimate the degree to which TV and film define our culture. Like this article mentions, complex LGBT characters is important because many people don’t know anyone who is LGBT and the media is their only basis for perceiving LGBT people. Similarly, there are many racially homogeneous areas where the only people of color they have seen are people of color in the media. Even in more diverse areas, people often tend to mostly interact with people of the same race as them, and might not have many close relationships, if any, of people from other ethnic backgrounds. Having more complex diverse characters in the media can contribute to having a society where people are more likely to view other people in a complex way and treat them as more than a stereotype. More importantly, it also allows currently underrepresented groups to see themselves represented in a complex way, which could help counter people feeling like there isn’t a place for them in a society that tends to ignore them.
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