I have made two separate questions in one main question but here it's go. I be noticing in this era majority of people both men and women tend to prefer that they can have diversity and seek people who looks like them and have certain traits that themselves have. I been wondering lately how important is the thought of diversity is to you do you wish there were more people just like yourself who can make you feel comfortable being in society if there are people just like yourself?
Next up is my other question of diversity, is fictional characters who share certain traits and qualities of you. I give you an example I am a black American male who has a disability, and I know that some people who also fit in that description. I may not care as much if there wasn't a character who fit those characteristics but other might care and definitely want to have that certain character to feel represented. My other question for you ladies and gentlemen is do you actually want representation in the media you consume basically have a male or female character who has certain aspects that you have.
I do enjoy the thought of diversity but I logically don't really care for diversity as much, I can live if there aren't any black men in my tv shows as long the story is still good but that's just my opinion how about you ladies and gentlemen do representation matter in your eyes, and if you do care please list off characters you wish would get created? Remember there isn't any right or wrong answer only your personal opinion!
How important is representation in your eyes? Do you wish there were a character who can perfectly represent you?
Representation matters a lot. Whether you like for example (sorry it's my favorite show) Bridgerton they include every ethnicity and it doesn't change anything in the story! Sadly we are in 2022 and it's considered revolutionary to come to the conclusion that actors of whatever ethnicity are talented and if we are open minded enough it fits perfectly! And yes I would like someone to represent me. I am an aspiring actress and I am constantly refused due to my physic (let's not sugar coat it) I am fat and I do everything in my power to change it, the way I eat, exercise nothing changes. Doctors don't know what to say and come to the conclusion that I need to be happy to lose weight. In order to be happy I need to do what has been my reason to survive for my whole life, acting. But because of this "curse" (I started gaining weight without understanding why I always had an healthy lifestyle) I can't access to that said happiness. So I wish there would be a lot more actresses that are curvy, overweight and all to see that talent isn't a size but something that you have and work hard to perfect it
Organic diversity is great. Lando Calrissian in Star Wars made complete sense because you would naturally have all kinds of people in that universe. The problem is when it is forced in insultingly activist ways, such as the black Anne Boleyn - a historical character.
Shows set In the modern day in the US or Europe should have a diverse cast because we have diverse people in those places. Making a show set in China with an 80% white cast would be insulting, outside of a few specific examples (say, the Flying Tigers, who were American volunteers who defended China from Japan in the air in the late 1930s and early 40s, before the US officially joined the war).
Similarly, a fictional universe like Star Wars, where diversity extends to lots of non-human creatures should certainly have a range of humans too.
But if you are telling the story of, say, Blackbeard the pirate, fighting against the British Navy, making the cast 30% black and 20% Asian or Latino, and 20% female, is insulting, because it's grossly historically inaccurate - and because it's being done purely for political purposes by activists.
And the rules issued by the Academy trying force this diversity Into every movie is also insulting.
I'm a minority, and my ancestry is under-represented in most US media, but I have no trouble relating to characters who don't look like me - I have trouble relating to characters with wildly different values than my own, and to depictions of gross historical inaccuracy.
Hollywood loses money - and lots of it - every time they push a woke agenda, but they will twist facts to blame the loss on something else. Warner Brothers is billions of dollars in debt and they keep losing movie after movie, and eventually they will be sold or shut down. Universal won't be far behind, and Disney is badly infected as well, due to previous CEO Bob Iger. The new CEO wants to get Disney out of politics, but there are too many activists in the company with influence, because of Iger, that he doesn't have the power to make that change quickly.
I don't need to be "represented" by a fictional character, I am already my own person and an individual as well
I have never "needed" to relate to anything fictional either, at least not in the concept of ethnicity, nationality and such...
when it comes to entertainment, I just want to be entertained, and see something engaging, whatever that is, comedy, action, drama... whatever
when I enjoy whatever is on the screens, I do not make it about race... it's never been my priority...
I know and understand that for others it might matter or they might feel like it matters... but especially nowadays when it feels so forced and not genuine, and even at the expense of causing controversy... a lot of things are just not enjoyable anymore and I've stopped watching them because of this I just don't find it entertaining when it is badly done and something that was supposed to be fun, turns into a lecture about something you never did wrong in the first place but others did... forced representation for the sake of representation is not the best way to go... and I say this from the "minority" perspective I have because I am
You definitely got it right with the force part, the representation has gotten way too much that we are just literally focusing on representing groups and not on the core story but it's cool I understand that people actually like feeling that a person who looks like them is on their screen. But I technically don't care as much
I actually really enjoyed Speedy, I ain't Mexican so of course I don't have a full day on how actual Mexican people feel but I definitely understand how that sometimes work. Like one specific black character who actual black people don't find offensive is Static Shock actually we enjoy the character he is one of my favorite superheroes.
I don't care and I'm not a narcissist or a boring blank-slate of a person with no personality that I would need to care. Only boring losers care about "representation" in TV and movies because they can't relate to anyone beyond the most superficial skin-deep traits about a person that shouldn't matter.
These people don't even care for "representation," by the way. They just want to co-opt and eventually take over the thing they pretend to be fans about. As we've seen with Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings, and so on... 20+ years, they were never fans and didn't care. But all of a sudden in the 2010s, they want "representation." Aka, "I'm a narcissitic asshole who thinks all TV shows and movies should revolve around me and the characters should all look and act like me." Give me a break.
I don't find it important, because I don't attach myself to characters over my sexual orientation, identity or ethnicity, etc. I attach myself to characters over relatability and shared experiences or personalities.
I will always see myself in characters that tend to be smart asses, that have similar goals, or have had similar life experiences to me because I lived it and embody those traits, which is why I enjoy characters from across the board because of who they are and can appreciate them in that light.
Representation in itself isn't bad, it's how it is being carried out. For example, why not take new characters and introduce them and have them grow on who they are and what they stand for and build upon a foundation as opposed to assimilating or commandeering a character that has been established and has a huge following because of who they were?
That is why it is hard to connect with specific characters because they are being framed to fit a mold for a specific individual or group. It is a cutout in a way that it is all they are. They are just a token character.
I think it's worth considering. Our media should represent all of us.
But if you need the hero to have the same skin color as you to enjoy the movie... you're the racist.
Imagine if I said I was gonna do a boys in the hood remake where I made them white because I wanted the characters to look like me. That would be fucked up.
I look up to Morgan Freeman, Fredrick Douglas, Clarence Thomas, Amala Ekpunobi, The Rock, Bruce Lee... Countless totally made up characters that aren't even human... my cat...
Most of my heros don't look like me. Because most people don't look like me. We all look different. If you wanna be a movie star go for it. Do it. I'll pay to watch it. If Hollywood won't hire you that's fucked up but they are super woke now and they are rewriting stories just to include more black/gay/alternative heros.
I think it's good that we are making a greater effort to make sure our media reflects how we really are. I'm all for that. But I don't support taking existing films and TV shows apart to "make them less white" any more than I think we should make a white version of Boys in the Hood.
I think diversity is great, but the fact that people are out there telling kids they can only have heros who look like them and have the same sexuality/skin color is really disturbing and points us in the wrong direction. I grew up watching sesame Street and Hispanic kids hang out with dragons.
And maybe that's why I Didn't see color till I was like 20 some and the word went crazy over race.
Hmm I see it as important but only if it’s genuine, virtue signaling which is the same as product placement in movies.
When it came to movies , let’s use Marvel. When the shield mantle was passed on to Sam Wilson from Steve Rogers. As a man , growing up in this world and country, I truly identified with Steve Rogers philosophy of standing up for what’s right and trying to stay true to moral values. Then , I’m also a black man in America, Sam Wilson as the new Cap voices the feelings of African Americans who struggle with their patriotism due to the history of this nation.
So in short , yes but how you do it matters just as much. Don’t force it like bunch of white people wearing African cloths and taking a knee when you weren’t doing it before until it helped you get votes. I can only speak from an African American perspective so I can’t truly speak others but this quote represents America unfortunately. “America isn’t a nation, it’s a business, it has been since day one”
Nah such things aren't important. It irks me to no end when they try to rewrite history for historical pieces. I don't want to see something not accurate to history. This can be for all things. The wrong race or sexual orientation, yeah that's annoying. But also how they dress and all that. Like they had a black Achilles which was annoying. Just imagine a white MLK Jr or Malcom X or Shaka Zulu. You see what I mean? It's annoying and it's trying way too hard. It feels unnatural and it's something I can't overlook this overshadowing the whole project and thus I can't watch it. It's different for super heros and stuff I guess. But I only watch period pieces mostly.
A white mlk sounds like milk and yes I don't enjoy how they change actual historical people. They should either find people who looks like the real people or don't make a movie on that historical person it seems more disrespectful to change the race and gender of a person.
Very much so. You can get away with it for movies like 300 because it was told as an epic based in both truth and myth. Basically how the Greeks would have seen the situation. Most ancient Greeks we're extremely xenophobic and their society as a whole was very very xenophobic the point all other so called "whites" as we know them today were savages good for slavery or to just wipe out. They even saw specific city states that were also Greek the same. So the idea of black and middle easterners being Greeks or accepted by them is laughable. And look I got no issues with people of any race. But let's be real the ancient world was brutally Xenophobic in Europe at that time. Carthage, Egypt, and Persia were much more welcoming of foreigners. Rome too was not mutli ethnic till the fall of the Republic. Caesar was actually a huge reason Rome became multi ethnic because he got non-romans senate seats. So for all the crap talk about Caesar among people who say he was a tyrant he actually diversified the government and citizenry
Yes that is also just as laughable if we were doing a movie set in a ancient African setting and basically have tons of Asian characters or imagine a movie about Persians but the characters are all white I be laughing my ass off. But I always enjoy talking to you man glad you came back
So I will show the foothills here on gag when I have time but yes the burritos are amazing. There's so much Mexican food it will make your head spin. I also really loved San Diego
I know we get a lot of Mexican food because we have a lot of Mexican immigrants in our state, but that is good that you are currently enjoying your stay in California
Ya been here for almost 4 months. Only issues are the taxes, expenses, and the homeless. Man the homeless are all over in some really nice areas actually. So sad
Yes I know it is depressing seeing so many homeless people, but I definitely recommend going to Disneyland whenever you get the chance trust me Disney will always bring your sadness down and make you happy even if our housing prices are through the roof. But remember before you moved here I did warned you about our problems though
I prefer realism and sticking to the source material. I'd have no problem watching a film based on the life of ancient Chinese with nothing but Asians. Similarly, if a film is meant to represent medieval Europe then I'm expecting to only see white people as citizens (others could be foreigners). Especially when you know that people would riot if they casted a white actor to portray a black character. More over, if a character is female then I expect to see an acress portraying her and not a man dressed up as a woman (and vice versa). When it comes to modern times then yes, I think there should be a representation that matches the composition of the nation that it's representing. I can't watch the majority of modern tv, I don't like being manipulated or lied to.
This is a very woke question. No, I don't want a representation of me nor I care about diversity. I dislike Bridgerton for example. I don't need that crap. I don't want to see that every movie or series has the compulsory lesbian/gay couple, one trans kid, one Asian, one black, etc. It's not even representative of real life. I read a lot of novels so I can "live" thousand different lives, also, I watch all kinds of movies that are really far from my "identity". I honestly didn't understand for example the outrage at Rebel Wilsonlosing weight. A lot of obese women said they lost their representation. What?
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Anonymous
(30-35)
+1 y
what interesting is if abcd lgbtq+tothesecondpoweroftherubicon actually gave a shit about representation... then why are all the movies that are hamfisting them into failing so miserably? The eternals was supposedly supposed to save lives because it was so diverse... it flopped so hard that it literally ended careers. Disney only pretends to care about gays... in the USA. I mean hell in ALL the promotional art for black panther in the middle east and china Chad Broswik was never with out his mask because if the chinese and mslims knew black panther was a black man they would not have went and seen it. Any hint of any gayness is removed... because China and Saudiarabia/islam largely hates homosexuals. If you really gave a shit about representation. why don't you hammer Diseny on why they bow down and removed blacks and gays from thier movies to appease the chinese and muslims instead of standing loud and proud with thier gay and black brothers and sisters?
I have never seen or met anyone like me, so obviously I've never been represented. Which I always found absurd if people think they are represented by their race, gender or sexuality. Are you seriously not more than your gender, your race or your sexuality? Like sure, it would be nice to not feel entirely alone in this world by seeing or meeting someone just like yourself, but to demand such things from media or entertainment I always thought was so silly.
If anything too, i kinda find it demeaning to reduce people into race, gender or their sexuality. It's kinda insulting really, even more so if people fill in those things in movies, shows or whatever to meet some quota of sorts.
1. I don't like already established characters being changed for "diversity."
2. I would like more characters to be more realistic representations. For example, for a family sitcom, they should have a big, strong, AND intelligent White father. In modern shows the White men (that in real life invented 91% of all man made things) are portrayed as incompetent. they often are less capable than their own children intellectually. They also show them as dumb if they are strong. Many strong people are intelligent. I am big, strong, and intelligent myself. I am only the third person in my entire school district to pass the CSET (content exams for teachers) on my first attempt. Out of close to 450 teachers, I am only the third one to accomplish that. Hundreds of the typical looking weak nerdy men and women failed multiple times, yet those types of people are frequently portrayed as more intelligent on TV.
I dont mind, as long as the actor is good to play the role. A dud actor ruins a film. So regardless of race as long as the actor is good and believable thats all that matters. But producers are getting a bit silly with their casting, a black girl playing ariel in a disney movie is OK as ariel is make believe from an old hans christen Anderson fable, what is not OK is a black actress playing the most famous redhead in history, Elizabeth the first, being redhead myself and being in the tiniest minority in the world I find that offensive, sorry I do. Redheads in the past have been subject to ridicule since time began, you being black would know discrimination and before anyone points out the obvious that redheads are white, if that's the case then why so is it OK for everyone to ridicule and mock us? so it's not often a strong redhead is portrayed and when it is its taken away.
I couldn’t care less about representation. I just wanna see entertainment for the sake of entertainment and a form of escape from reality. I don’t want to see identity politic bullshit in my entertainment meant for the sake of “representation.” It has absolutely nothing to do with the story plots. It’s just shoehorned in for sensitive girls who think being involved is important when it leads to the exact thing they’re fearful of. Judgement and criticism. Just enjoy entertainment for what it is! You don’t need to feel represented in entertainment. You just want to feel represented for no real reason. Learn the difference between your needs and wants and stop being a little brat
Do not care. A quality well-written story with good characters is more important, and made better when it offers adequate escapism as opposed to some idiotic fantasy depiction of the real world.
It DOES matter! Why do you think we unconsciously view black people as criminals and thieves. Go look at studies. How you are represented matters and whether you are represented at all matters! You make everyone white and you end up with problems. Look at tiktok. Black people making the dances but white people get the fame for doing the dances. You think that is just random? You think black girls feel un-pretty is random? I understand white people saying they think it is un-important because I dont expect much from them about being aware on these types of things but anyone else needs to go do some digging.
I don't give a fuck. Look at the heroes in show and games. They're talented, strong, most of them are muscular, or not even the same sex. If I had to play games only with people who look like me, I wouldn't play anything. All I care about is the quality of the game, or the show. And anyone who cries because they don't have a character that look like them is a fucking idiot. That's probably the least important part of any production, and if playing someone from a different race or watching a show with a lead of a different sex is enough for you to not like it, you don't even deserve to have it in your hands in the first place.
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Anonymous
(18-24)
+1 y
representation matters, especially for younger children. while i turned out okay without representation of my race/ethnicity, it would have made my childhood a whole lot easier if there was even just a disney princess like me. i went through a lot because of questioning my race and representation would let me have an easier childhood, so i definitely think it's improtant other children today have that chance.
@Lost_in_the_Woods there was not a disney princess or any prince or any characters that were the same race as me, but all of my friends had princesses like them. it didn't have a profound impact on me, but i'm saying that IF there was a princess of my ethnicity, i would not have been as insecure about my ethnicity later on in life. also, i loved all the princesses too :))
I like a lot of people who don't look like me, but it would be uncomfortable to realize nobody like me got to be a hero.
But don't let that sink in. For two reasons, one because your culture probably has heros too, and two because you can always be your own hero! You don't have to follow someone else. Go out there and do it!
I think representation matters, but I also think I'm unqualified to write a script for a Hero from a culture I know little to nothing about.
I think the real problem comes down to money and power more than race. It's not that Hollywood is racist. Maybe they are, maybe they just happen to pick people who look like them. The problem is regular people can't afford to make their own movies and tell their own stories.
We need to stop giving our time and money away to Hollywood and youtube and start supporting more independent films.
If we focus on diversity in sources racial and gender and cultural and sexual diversity will come naturally. The problem is we have a small group of people who make the vast majority of our media.
I don't want everyone to represented by seeing someone who looks like you say lines written by Hollywood elite. I want to see people from all sorts of different backgrounds making movies!
I bet they would be more unique and exciting, and the inclusivity would happen naturally.
@Lost_in_the_Woods this is a really interesting perspective! for sure, hollywood does feature mainstream a lot more. the idea of independent films is interesting and it would probably promote diversity better. thanks for sharing your viewpoint, it was eye opening!
10.8K opinions shared on Society & Politics topic.
I never gave this much of a thought but It would be cool if I chose someone to represent me I think people should be able to have one represent them if they want so
It’s not important to me. I look for honour, integrity, compassion, empathy, etc in characters I watch. I’m sick of all the depravity, immorality, manipulation, selfishness, etc. I don’t expect characters to look or think like me. But they do have to not be totally despicable. If all characters are shady, in denial, justifying their b. s., that’s when I’m out.
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