Diversity in Media and How College-Aged Writers Can Get There

By Symone Henry on February 28, 2017

Growing up, she and I were twins. Her three pigtails mirrored mine even down to the small bow-shaped clips that held them in place. She was witty, intelligent and, to top it all off, she looked like me, and my mom, and my aunts. We were like long-lost sisters despite her being a cartoon character from the Rugrats.

Susie Carmichael was an influential character for me because she portrayed something I didn’t see a lot of — an average little girl of color. It is important for aspiring college writers and producers in television and film to invite diversity in their work because it not only engages a broader audience, but it is also imperative that marginalized groups of people see proper representation of themselves in order to end a legacy of discrimination among people who share a part of their identity.

Representation in media isn’t just about portraying a specific group of people realistically; it’s about giving young writers, illustrators, and readers inspiration to make creative spaces that invite people of every background. Through this, we will be able to combat controversial topics like sexism, racism, colorism, ableism, etc.

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Mike Mosley’s article, “Is America Witnessing a Black Film Renaissance?” in The Grio, argues that portraying more characters of different backgrounds can challenge people’s preconceived ideas about race and gender, and create constructive dialogue that leads to a more inclusive society.

He writes the following:

“In 2016, shows like ‘Atlanta,’ ‘Queen Sugar,’ and ‘Insecure’ have challenged our views on masculinity, homophobia, intersectionality, mental health, black identity, double standards in dating, black ownership, code-switching and white fragility. They’ve also managed to do this while being unapologetically black. And while the aforementioned shows are being discussed in our news feeds daily, we’d be remiss to not mention the prominent rise of black nerd culture, often dubbed ‘Blerd.’ We’ve recently seen a rise of black characters playing historical comic book characters in projects such as Mike Colter in Netflix’s “Luke Cage” and the all-Black cast of Black Panther featuring the likes of Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, and newly added Angela Bassett. Oh, and let’s not forget John Boyega’s amazing job in Star Wars.

Writers like Toni Morrison, in her books The Bluest Eye and Beloved, tackle racism and spirituality while writers such as Junot Diaz use their skill to discuss sexism and relationships, like he did in his short story, Alma – published in The New Yorker. Writers, whether novelists or screenplay writers, should embrace diversity in their projects because doing so makes literature and media more inclusive of the readers that support it.

Writers usually use past experiences and research to create their works, so it’s not always easy to incorporate a broader demographic in their work. Here is a short list of suggestions for college-aged writers to diversify their work.

1. Change your character’s description. If you’re not writing with a historical time period in mind and are just writing something fun, change your main character’s physical traits.

2. Step out of your comfort zone and create spaces where you can ask questions. No one is expected to know everything about all groups of people so asking questions about unclear topics can help.

3. Do some more research. Oftentimes, especially when people are writing historical pieces, they don’t realize that some people have been ignored in historical pieces and so they don’t write about these people. For example, the Blockbuster hit Hidden Figures follows the story of three African-American women who helped America win the Space Race. Their story was never told in textbooks so bringing it to light now encourages young women of color to pursue careers in mathematics and engineering.

Young writers who are working against discrimination are critical to developing a more inclusive society.

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