We really gotta talk about this subject. Because people still don't believe this is a thing. Because people are still gonna dismiss this article as bitter and unnecessary. So before I even get into anything, I will say flat out:
**There is a racial bias in media (film, television, modeling, music, sports, etc.) that favors white people.**
It's been this way since television was a created. What I mean by bias is that: white people are still being seen as or used as the default race in these mediums. White actors are still getting casts as colored people, the world is still be held to white beauty standards, colored characters are still limited to sidekicks or background characters. This is a real thing and it is a problem.
Let's use some recent events as examples:
Actor Idris Elba, as of November 5th, has been named People Magazine's 2018 Sexiest Man Alive. This is a huge deal because he is the third colored man to be named this. And the second black man (after Denzel Washington in 1996) and Dwayne Johnson kinda. But, out of 33 men awarded, only three of them were non-white. Not saying that since 1985 when the first man was named there haven't been sexy non-white people. I guess they were just not sexy enough to note.
Much talk has been around actress Viola Davis and her comments about her upcoming film, "Windows." Davis comments about how many people in film are not truly committed to interracial relationships and that there should be more black women seen kissing hunky white men. Davis was commenting on the media normalizing the fact that colored women are attractive and can be attractive to white men. She flat out tells us "You don't see that!"
Everyone has heard about what's been going on with Bill Cosby and R. Kelly. Both of these men are known for their work, contributions to the black community, and they used to be powerful, positive black figures. Now, both their careers have been defaced (by their own actions of course). Yet, Charlie Sheen still has shows airing on television, Donald Trump was elected our president.
Y'all wanna talk about why "Moonlight", or "Crazy Rich Asians", or "Hamilton" are so important? When do you ever see an Oscar winning movie about black people (that's not a slave movie), let alone one about LGBTQ black people. When's the last time you saw a mainstream movie with a mainly Asian cast? How did "Hamilton" tell a prominently white narrative with a completely colorblind cast and become one of the most popular Broadway musicals of all time?
Have you ever Googled "beautiful women" or "male models"? See who pops up.
The point I'm trying to make is that very seldom are narratives outside of white narratives, of white people, depicted in media. Unless the content is created by colored people. So we have incredible people like Tyler Perry, Tyra Banks, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Shonda Rimes and such who are creating projects to include minority groups because they are a part of them. But what this is saying is, no one is thinking of us except for us.
That brings up a good point. Should colored people expect non-colored creators to include them in their material? The answer is yes! We exist in the actual world, don't we!?! It's one thing to write a narrative that completely has nothing to do with the colored world. There are stories we can't tell. Just like there are narratives that have nothing to do with white people. There are stories they can't tell. But the superhero isn't always a Christian Bale. The hot girl next door isn't always Jennifer Aniston. But when these are the only types of faces attached to these concepts, what do you expect people to think?
So this is why this whole thing is so detrimental. One-sided depictions cause people to develop false ideas about groups of people. People don't wanna believe that the media has that much impact on our thinking, but it does! What this means is that, if you only grow up seeing movies where white guys are the heartthrob, you might grow up to only be attracted to white men. If the only representation you have of black or Hispanic people are the depictions you've seen of them as thugs or criminals, you're going to think that's who they truly are.
The way to remedy this is:
Artists, we need to find ways to create narratives that are true to our experiences but that don't ex out other demographics. This is a huge world we live in, it's stupid to only include one group of people. And consumers, don't ignore projects that have to do with other groups. It's dangerous when we dismiss a project as a "black movie" or even a "chick flick". Although it may not have been created specifically for you, there's always something to be appreciated and learned.
