Representation Matters.
"When I was nine years old, Star Trek came on, I looked at it and I went screaming through the house, 'Come here, mum, everybody, come quick, come quick, there's a black lady on television and she ain't no maid!' I knew right then and there I could be anything I wanted to be.” - Whoopi Goldberg
The media shapes the lens through which we see the world. Everywhere we turn - we see beauty reflected and distorted. The media is one way we interpret reality, and we can't be what we can't see.
Why does representation matter?
Because when you Google "beauty," this is what you see.
Because when you Google Vogue magazine covers, this is what you see.
Because when a dark-skinned actor is placed on a magazine cover, this and this and this is what is done to them.
Because actors of color are placed on the backs of magazine covers.
Because the first black Disney Princess was a frog for 95 percent of the movie.
And because in Hollywood, Asian-American actors are often cast into the same stereotypical roles. Mike Hale from the New York Times describes how even famous actors like Maggie Q and Lucy Liu are not entirely able to escape the mold of the "sexy nerd" or the "dragon lady." Systemic racism is extremely prevalent in our entertainment industry.
We need representation so that people, especially young children, can have role models that look like them, and grow to be proud of who they are and what they look like. Because even today, this is a problem.
So if the existence of people of color are erased in the media in favor of white heroes, what impact does that have?
When we demand representation in the media, we must demand depictions that do not promote or exacerbate stereotypes. We need complex characters who have identities beyond their race, because only then will people start recognizing themselves, their friends, their families, and their communities in the media around them.
We should all feel welcome and represented in our media. Representation matters.
Why does representation matter?
Because when you Google "beauty," this is what you see.
Because when you Google Vogue magazine covers, this is what you see.
Because when a dark-skinned actor is placed on a magazine cover, this and this and this is what is done to them.
Because actors of color are placed on the backs of magazine covers.
Because the first black Disney Princess was a frog for 95 percent of the movie.
And because in Hollywood, Asian-American actors are often cast into the same stereotypical roles. Mike Hale from the New York Times describes how even famous actors like Maggie Q and Lucy Liu are not entirely able to escape the mold of the "sexy nerd" or the "dragon lady." Systemic racism is extremely prevalent in our entertainment industry.
We need representation so that people, especially young children, can have role models that look like them, and grow to be proud of who they are and what they look like. Because even today, this is a problem.
So if the existence of people of color are erased in the media in favor of white heroes, what impact does that have?
When we demand representation in the media, we must demand depictions that do not promote or exacerbate stereotypes. We need complex characters who have identities beyond their race, because only then will people start recognizing themselves, their friends, their families, and their communities in the media around them.
We should all feel welcome and represented in our media. Representation matters.