Why is representation in media important? I believe positive media representation can be helpful in a numerous amount of ways, such as self esteem, exposure, it can help in reducing stereotypes of those groups that are underrepresented and it can provide both validation and support. Media representation matters because we live in a society where factors like gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc influence our life experiences and the issues that affect us. If the same people are producing and representing roles in television, movies and print media, only certain stories from the perspective of majority groups get told. If minority or underprivileged groups are depicted by the majority group, it is often done in a very narrow or stereotypical manner.
How people are perceived by others, and how they perceive themselves is shaped by everything around us, including what is consumed through media and entertainment. When considering movies, news, televisions series, etc. it is not difficult to imagine a white male protagonist, as successful, as a superhero, as rich, as handsome, as the cowboy hero, as the saviour, and the list can go on and on, because there are infinite amounts of visual evidence to support the white male in this positive role.
However, on the contrary, minority groups are sometimes more often than not depicted in a negative light. If all one ever sees of a certain group of people, or of themselves is in a negative light, then it is easy to assign a negative connotation to that particular group of people. Representation is important because it allows a full picture of a group of people. It makes it harder to believe that all of a group of people behave and are a certain way. Most importantly, it allows those who rarely see themselves in a positive light, an avenue to imagine, that they too can be whatever they set their minds to.
Another factor is that one of the biggest contributes of bigotry is fear of the unknown, so exposing people to “minorities” in a non threatening way like entertainment is a really good way to break down that barrier. Furthermore, it's a good opportunity to breakdown stereotypes and show that all minorities are just people like everyone else. That our differences just make us interesting not scary. People are many things, but a lot of people are impressionable. They absorb information from many external sources, sometimes without considering the validity of what they’re hearing. But by far, the most gullible demographic are young children. Children have a tendency to be easy to influence, whether it be in movies, by their parents, religion, or TV shows.
Some people (especially young children) just don't have the ability to differentiate between art and real life. Unfortunately, there's too many of these people in the world. And that's something we’re stuck with for now. However, with media representation younger audiences and those who are uneducated will be more likely to embrace minority groups of any kind.
Which is why we should make a conscious effort to make our art broad and diverse in our ability to represent people. I don't think that Hollywood and movies in general are racist, per se. Most of the time when they’re misrepresenting someone or something, it's just a case of lazy writing.
But it's vital to making sure that the next generation of children don’t end up being racist bigots. The world isn't a neutral space that values different cultures, physical characteristics, etc equally. Whiteness and eurocentrism is held on a pedestal, and minority groups all over the world grow up hating themselves because of it. Therefore, this is proof media representation is vital for those misrepresented and underrepresented groups.
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