What should be done to ensure representation of unrepresented communties are accurate ?
In the past few years we have seen an outstanding increase in demand surrounding representation of underrepresented communties. Communties such as the LGBTQ+ and people of colour have been asking for more accurate portrayals of their communties. This simple demand is quite frankly the bare minimum, so it’s incredibly irritating having to consume media, which self proclaims to be more inclusive to all communties yet still actively continue to be very inaccurate.
I say this not to say the attempts to represent members of underrepresented backgrounds haven’t been made, it’s simply these attempts are not current or accurate to the times we are living in. My main concern is that those in the writers room of streaming shows are using outdated ideas of specific communities and merging them with portrayls they think we want to consume. I found that many people dislike attempts at making teen shows politicaly correct, simply because this isn’t what we are watching shows for.
Majority of young adults consume media as an escape from the harsher realties they’re facing, so incorporating a scene about the black lives matter protest is incredibly overwhelming and disingenious. We see beyond the cliché attempt at “representation “. As a member of the black community I understand I cannot speak for everybody, but the general consensus that I have gathered from social media is ,the majority of us find this to be excessive as well as incredibly performative. Not to mention outside of protesting for our lives to matter, black people have lives that aren’t solely based around struggle. We would like to see more black characters experiencing joy instead of it being turmoil and terror.
Black people do have fun outside of social indifferences and we have the same issues as most people anyways. Exercising this need, to show as a non black person you understand our struggle is unecessary in this instance, especially when it’s being done repeatedly . We have “Roots”, “Emancipation”, “I Am Slave” & “When They See Us” along with many other movies about black lives. It’s not always necessary for black young adults to be constantly reminded of their unjust reality. We need representation for the LGBTQ+ black kids, the neurodivergent black kids, the kids suffering from mental illness, the rich black kids etc.
Black people are not a monolith… we have different personalities that don’t all derive from the same blueprint. We aren’t all outspoken, R&B singers, soon to be in the NBA or whichever idiotic, stereotypical gimmick that is incorporated into teen shows. What about the black girls that are into computer science ? And the cis black boy who likes fashion ? Representation in this case, just means representing the fact black people aren’t a monolith and aren’t always having to face issues regarding acceptance, let us have fun storylines , or if you’re bold enough the main leading role in a romance or drama.
In regards to the LGBTQ+ community I feel it’s always amplified in media a lot more than it truly needs to be. The community in question isn’t asking for every single charcter in a show to be part of the community or create a character who will simply spew heterosexual ideoligies of what” it is like to be gay” and the reasons they should be “accepted”. Why not ask a gay actor to just play that character ? Or if not why not ask the LGBTQ+ community what it feels like to be gay instead of regurgitating information from Quora ?
The scripts seem to be written by people that have never had a conversation with anyone from the LGBTQ+ community. Even I know there is no special magnifying feeling to being part of the LGBTQ+ community… there is a sense of community yes, but they are just like you and I heterosexual people, not personified exhibits in a museum.
The reason why I feel it’s such a pathetic attempt of representation is that they don’t emphasise enough that LGBTQ+ people are not a subgenre of people that you “learn” to accept. They are simply people like you and I who have different sexual orientation. Within teen shows they should simply be accepted and seen as “normal” characters as that’s exactly what they are. When we ask for more representation, we simply mean to give us more of a platform to coexist in a fictional world without it seeming cliché.
The representation provided to us simply isn’t aligning with Gen-z, and the easiest way to understand how Gen-z works is to simply ask us what we want. We can easily tell what’s genuine and what isn’t which is why specifc teen shows such as “Skins”, “My Mad Fat Diary” , “Shameless”, “Glee”’ “Sex Education” “Grand Army” as well as movies like “Kids” are still heavily consumed now. These forms of media are enormously respected due to their attempts at creating enaging and accurate portrayal’s of young adults.
With the series I listed you have an immense amount of representation of underepresented communties without it seeming forced, a couple of the shows I listed were created more than 10 years ago which is insane that they’re still so current. In contrast to these shows we have forms of media such as “Euphoria”, “Gossip Girl 2021-23” , Never Have I Ever”, and “Xo Kitty”. In several of the shows I listed there is a strong lack of genuine representation, it seems to be something they’ve done in order to tick the “diverse” & “inclusive” checklist.
Shows like “xo kitty” which was sold as showcasing the journey of a girl who is from mixed heritage (American and Korean) that travels to Korea for educational purposes, whilst also learning more about her late korean mother. Audiences were led to believe they’d have more insight surrounding life as young adult in Korea, but were left underwhelmed . This same feeling I am all to familiar with regarding “Gossip Girl” and their portrayals of the black community along with black women. Within the show there is also a harmful narrative surrounding bisexual people and this stereotype that implies when you’re attracted to both genders you’re open to having multiple sexual partners at once or engage in sexual encounters with more than person.
Representation should not be executed in this way especially when pertaining to kids in high school ! If the message is that a charcter is gender fluid it would be better to have them simply state this or show us their journey into finding themselves and realising they don’t fit a label.
Lack of accurate representation can also be found in “Never Have I ever” , initially it was advertised as a display on the Indian- American girl experience, but this also was inacurate and left many people from the community in question disapointed.
The representation is definitely being done in the sense that people of colour are being casted, they’re having more roles with the chance to have a storyline surrounding the trials and tribulations we face, it’s simply the way these charcters are written aren’t accurate, together with being exceptionally corny. Why would I sit down and watch a series about a black girl who does not represent me or anybody I know ? Not to mention a lot of the times it’s very rare I see darker skinned women within media that I can see myself in.
Gen-z audiences want something real, something we see everyday, charcters that we can see in our communties, as well as accurate portrayals of us. The show Grand Army did an exceptionally great job at this, as they tackled a multitude of issues surrounding race, identity, sexual assault and the diverse portrayals of experiences women have depending on their outward appearance, as well as backgrounds. Grand Army unfortunately wasn’t renewed for another season which is a shame, but I feel this show is the blueprint when wanting to have a show which shows represention. Sex education also is a series many can relate too and is one directors should take note from.
In my opinion the best way to communicate represention of specifc communties, is to simply have young people from those communities involved in the creative process of writing said charcters. As young people are the future, we know how things should be portrayed correctly without it being uncanny. Gen-z is the same generation of people that grew up with technology evolving right before our eyes, which consequently means our thoughts, as well as ideolgies are always evolving for the better. We are preaching for a better world that accepts everyone for who they are.
The representation you can give us is only going to be accurate by listening to us, instead of observing us and taking your own spin on it. Lastly I will state that my points initally were not to dimiss and demonise creations that have been made, but more so to critique and share why I feel young people feel so disappointed with the representation that’s provided to us.
