Representation In Media: Why It Matters

Recently there’s been some discourse surrounding the fact that a black woman has been cast to play Ariel in the live-action version of Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid’, and Scarlett Johansson has defended her right to play the role of a transgender man.

Many people, myself included, feel that the first is a wonderful thing, and the second is very much not. So, why is that? Is this “Social Justice Warrior” gatekeeping? Do liberals just hate white, cisgender people? I’ve seen some suggestions that the different reactions to the two castings are a double standard, and I’d like to explain to you today why I disagree with that.

To start off this conversation, we’re going to have to go back in time significantly to examine the concept of privilege in society: which communities have been historically underprivileged, and which have had the upper hand for centuries. Let’s start with race inequality.

People of colour have been systemically oppressed by white people in the Western world for centuries. Between slavery and segregation, people of colour have had fewer opportunities and fewer rights than white people for generations upon generations. While things are better now than they were, racism is far from a thing of the past. Current political leaderships have even arguably made things worse again in places such as the United States, and the UK. Despite changes in laws, a 2013 study found that employment rates for black people in America had been consistently half that of white people for the past 60 years. Racial prejudice is rampant in the justice system, and there is significant evidence to show that white people like myself still very much hold a privileged place in society. So, what does this have to do with a cartoon mermaid? 

The TV and film industry is a massive part of the world today. We see promotional images and media for movies everywhere, and we can subconsciously view the types of people we see in movies as who we should aspire to be like, or look like. The disproportionate number of white people in media compared to any other ethnicity is a problem not only because it is yet another way in which people of colour have fewer job opportunities, but it also denies people the chance to see themselves represented on-screen.

As much as we can study statistics about racism in the workplace, I ask you to put aside all that for a minute and just think about the impact it has on young children not to see people who look like them in their favourite movies. Children can internalise the message that if they only ever see movie stars who don't look like them, it must be because there's something wrong with looking the way they do. Children deeply desire a feeling of belonging, and we have the opportunity to provide all children with that feeling through diverse casting. So why wouldn't we?

I've seen complaints that it's "not realistic" casting to have a black person play Ariel. I understand this because I, too, am disappointed that Disney didn't hire a real mermaid. In all seriousness though, while I understand that they are saying Disney should stick to the source material, I think we need to consider a few things. Firstly: the source material will still be there for you to watch. Nobody is going and replacing all copies of the cartoon movie with a different character you didn't grow up with. Secondly: the classic original Disney movies were made in a time when diversity in media was not a priority for many people. It's now 2019, and with Disney making so many of their movies into live-action versions, what sense does it make to retain racial bias of the last century in the name of "tradition"? White people have plenty of other movies to look to if they want to see someone who looks like them, and black people simply do not. There is no good reason to perpetuate inequality in the workplace and lack of diversity in media because of how someone chose to draw a cartoon a few decades ago.

Now, let's move onto the ScarJo situation. Oooooooh boy, have I had some frustrating conversations about this. Let me break down how I see it:

A white, cisgender actress thinks that her getting a chance to challenge herself creatively is more important than offering a platform to marginalised communities who have actually lived through the experiences she's portraying on-screen. She said she should have the right to play "any person, or any tree, or any animal" - and although she has since claimed these comments were taken out of context, she hasn't changed her stance much (if at all).

Transgender people have been fighting for basic human rights and to be allowed to be themselves for centuries. They've been erased from history books and had their stories written over. Now that we're finally getting some media representation for trans people, and the LGBT+ community in general, it's simply not good enough when these roles do not go to actual trans people. Media representation isn't real representation if you're not giving the roles to people who are actually part of that group. There are plenty of trans actors out there, and a cisgender actor taking the role means literally taking an opportunity away from someone else better suited to the role. I've seen people arguing that perhaps ScarJo just is best suited to that rule - but I would argue that no, she isn't. She can't be. Casting choices like this are inappropriate, and they perpetuate the marginalisation of the LGBT+ community. They mean cisgender people stealing stories they have no claim to, and making bank off of them too.

The key difference between this and the Ariel situation is that being transgender is a real experience that people live through. So much pain has been caused, and so many lives have been lost, due to transphobia. A children's tale about a mermaid is not telling a story that any real human has lived through. The movie itself is about a fictional species and talking fish. Nobody is having the opportunity to tell their story taken away from them. Trans people have been through so much oppression already, and that struggle continues today. Is it not the least we can do to let them tell their own stories? Do we not owe it to them to give them the platform they've been denied for so long? 

The TV and film industry already has plenty of roles for plenty of white, cisgender actors.  It's time we balance the scales out so everyone has a chance to feel represented in media, and so we can raise a generation of children who feel empowered seeing Disney princesses, and a multitude of other characters, who look like them. 

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this - but, fair warning, any transphobic and disrespectful comments will be deleted. 

Love and hugs,

Isabel 

xox