Friday, November 13, 2020
Lena Waithe on Being a Queer Black Woman in Hollywood
Variety: Lena Waithe said embracing her identity has ultimately helped her navigate Hollywood.
“People assume that because I’m Black, or because I’m queer or because I’m a woman, those are going to be the things that I’m bumping up against all the time,”
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Representation in Hollywood is of the utmost importance. In our media-saturated world, everyone looks at movies and television. We absorbed what we see. If I saw someone who looked like me or was like me in Hollywood I would be so happy. Some people are close but no one can fully incapsulate my identity and experience. Lena Waithe provides so much representation for Black Queer women because no one else is really like her. She has unique experiences that only people who share her identities have had and when she puts them on screen so many people can see themselves in her. I hope that in the future as Hollywood grows more diverse more people can have their "Lena Waithes". Someone they can relate to on a deeper level, who can be a role model. I hope that in the coming years I will be able to see someone in Hollywood who is just like me telling a story that is just like mine.
Having artists like Lena Waithe in writer’s rooms. directing positions, management positions, etc., is so important for young black and brown creators everywhere. Especially within the LGBTQ+ community. I can’t even express how happy I get just to see representation for myself as a black woman, but representation for my brother as a black gay man. The only thing I will comment on in this article is the way Waithe describes her barriers now. I know that she has experienced many hardships to get where she is but I don’t want young artists to think that it’s all sunshine and rainbows once you get your foot in the door. There is always room for queer black and brown people in those positions that Waithe is in but there are still racist and prejudice people giving those positions because they have to fill a certain quota. I understand the comment but with that large of a platform you really have to be careful how you’re speaking to the younger generations that look up to you.
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