Time Magazine tells us the story of a casual moviegoer taking her father of Mexican descent to see the latest Star Wars installment at the time, Rogue One. The first thing her dad noticed was that the protagonist, Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor, had a thick Mexican accent. When they got in the car after the movie, he turned to his daughter and asked, “Did you notice he had an accent?” to which she replied, “Yep, just like yours.” He then proceeded to ask if the movie made a lot of money and if it was well-received--and the answer was yes to both, of course. After a bit of silence, the father said, in awe, “And he was the main character.” He was in a state of bliss.
The urge for representation of minority groups in media is often difficult for people to understand. “Why should it matter?” is the biggest question on a skeptic’s mind. That’s a fair question, and quite frankly, there is no single answer to it. After all, so long as we hire the best actors for the job, the ones best suited to tell the story written on the script, does it really matter if she is black rather than white? Stories are just stories, right? Stories are just stories, but they are also a reflection of human nature and identity. When we watch a film, we hope to be seen by the narrative it is telling. We hope to relate. When you grow up seeing nobody like you on the screen, it’s easy to fall into the trap of “I am an other. I am an exception.” Why did that woman’s father pay such close attention to Diego Luna’s accent? He had never seen such a thick accent represented in an American film. And it was his accent. That character, the one who saved the galaxy through an adventure of epic proportions, could've been him. It was him.
Of course, representation is not only about the audience members but the actors and actresses as well. People of color deserve to find work in the entertainment industry, point-blank. They should not struggle to find characters that suit their skin tone or have to conform to a stereotype in order to get paid (By the way, Karan Brar from Disney Channel’s Jessie completely faked his Indian accent. And it was used for laughs. In retrospect, it does seem a little weird that his foreignness was so heavily exaggerated and then used for comedic purposes, doesn’t it?). Black women have recently begun to spark conversation about how much they are paid in the industry. Chicago Tribune details the speeches that Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Tracee Ellis Ross, and more have given on the disparities in the wages of black women and their white and male counterparts. If some of the most talented and qualified actors in the industry right now are facing such discrimination (with Davis and Spencer both Oscar winners and Ross a Golden Globe winner), it’s hard to even imagine the difficulties that fledgling actresses of color face in trying to get work and get paid even remotely fairly.
Representation is still a difficult concept for many to grasp, and that’s okay; understanding comes with time. What we can all agree on now is the belief in fairness. If I were to ever pursue a career in film (which would never happen, by the way) I should still be able to find opportunities for myself as a brown woman, the same opportunities that anyone of any race or gender would be able to find. That doesn’t mean I don’t have to have any skill. It doesn’t mean free handouts. It means that space is being made for everyone. An equal opportunity and an equal chance.
