In our Film 100 class, the assignment we are currently tasked with is learning about representation in cinema. Our main question is why representation in film matters? So, for this blog post I plan on answering that question, starting with my own opinion.
I think representation in film matters because it adds new perspectives, viewpoints, cultures, and dilemmas. If whole bunch of people who share similar values, ideas, and morals made a whole bunch of movies, they would become too similar over time. Yet, when directors or actors who are a part of a different ethnicity, gender, or race than I am bring in their own values, ideas, and/or experiences, the film becomes eye-opening. Futhermore, everyone's voices deserve to be heard. It is always nice to feel like you are noticed, seen, or understood within a movie or tv show. Either that character you can relate with draws you deeper into the movie, or the plot itself becomes understandable and powerful. Diversity adds new ideas, widens the audience, and explores difficult topics that make a film so much more.
According to the online book, Moving Pictures, what you see in a movie shapes who you are and confirms that you belong. Media as a whole has that affect on people. No one likes feeling left out, or different. Being different makes people want to change themselves to fit in, when in reality they didn't even need to. When someone can relate with a person that is displayed to society, they will be more confident in their identity. Yet, misrepresentation does not count, or one person acting as a different ethnicity or race. If an actor is not the same ethnicity or race as their character is, it shows. Then the ethnicity or race does not become represented properly, which in some cases may feel the same or even worse compared to if it was not represented at all. Back in the day when white actors used to paint themselves black to appear like a black person, although common for the time, nowadays it appears to be absolutely disrecpectful.
Although, there are even stereotypes that exist today that try to be more socially acceptable than those in the past. But, the problem stems from the presence of roles more so than the roles themselves. For example, even with black actors gaining more representation in movies, roles are now being written for black actors specifically. This is a problem because it allows directors to put those characters into specific stereotypes, which changes the way people see not only that character but the race, or in some cases ethnicity, they represent. The best way to add more diversity into media and film, is to assign actors to characters without having a particular ethnicity or race in mind for them. Also, the diversity within directors needs to increase as well so more people are given the opportunity to share their ideas and values with the world.
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