The Mary Sue: As part of the What She Said speaker series, Ava Duvernay recently gave a talk at the W Hollywood. She touched on her experience with A Wrinkle in Time, her career in the film industry, and Hollywood’s progress on diversity. While she believes this is “a dynamic time right now, [where we’re] telling our own stories,” she also cautioned against pointing to successes like herself or Ryan Coogler and declaring the problem of racist exclusion over: “When you can name us all on two hands, that’s not change … We sit on top of a broken system.”
2 comments:
Ava Duvernay makes a really good point that this article highlights heavily. Hollywood has no right to pat itself on the back for the representation of color and diversity we are currently witnessing on the big screen. Movies like Black Panther, A Wrinkle in Time, and Moonlights are anomalies, as are the people of color that are represented in them. The gap in diversity in the entertainment industry is still extremely prevalent and that gap won’t close for sometime. However, that does not discredit that we are witness micro changes. Especially because of recent female movements, people are voicing their qualms within the industry. People are no longer content with sitting silently. We are in a time where people are more than comfortable to speak up and share. Duvernay is right to not congratulate the entertainment industry yet, however, this is definitely a small step in the right direction. Women, black and otherwise deserve to be accurately represented on the big screen, on stage, and through any other medium.
“These are moments that are not sustainable unless there’s systemic change. We sit on top of a broken system. Unless there is systemic change, we’re just the sparkly stuff on top that makes people feel good.” Ava Duvernay, and in turn this article, point out critical facts as Hollywood faces ridicule for how it has been run and functioning for the past years. With movies that are coming out with more people of color represented across the screen, the TV/ Film industry as a whole is feeling like they are in the right, and that we made progress just for that. Black Panther is one of the few movies that people can name in our current time that is compromised entirely of people of color and reached peak success in the box offices, but even then, there are many other incredible films and talented people of color out there that are not receiving recognition. Yes, progress has been made, but we, as a whole of society, cannot truly give Hollywood any credit for these small advances until true gender and racial parity has been reached.
Post a Comment