Flipping the Script: What Makes Good Media Representation?
- amelwani02
- Aug 30, 2024
- 3 min read
Have you ever watched a show that portrays its only Indian character as smelly, out-of-touch, and heavily accented? Or a movie about Black teenagers centered around drugs and gang violence? The way that different groups of people are portrayed on the screen impacts not only how we think about others, but also how we think about ourselves. Let’s talk about what makes good media representation, and why it’s crucial to the making of a truly inclusive society.
“Good” is usually thought of as a subjective term, but there are certain indicators that a piece of media contains objectively good representation of a group. Firstly, audience members who identify with the group that’s being represented should find the content relatable. If a new movie aims to convey the experiences of people who practice Islam in America, Muslim Americans expressing that they saw aspects of their daily experiences reflected in the film is a good indicator that the media effectively represents that group.
Another way to tell if any given piece of content represents a marginalized group well is if the stories of those characters are centralized. The storylines of characters of color, LGBTQ+ characters, and those from other underrepresented groups are often tossed aside or portrayed as less important. When stories that are less often told get put front and center, it’s a definite signal of progress in the world of media representation.
In terms of the process of making media itself, it’s always beneficial when character development is informed by research, understanding, and facts. When members of the represented group get to be involved in the creation of content about them, their perspectives don’t get filtered through others’ and their true experiences get to shine through, ensuring the best representation possible.
Though focusing on what makes good representation can help us progress towards a more inclusive media world, it’s also important to be able to recognize markers of poor representation.
If you’ve ever watched or read a story about a marginalized group where the main focus was the excessive suffering of that group, it probably wasn’t the best example of effective representation. Exploiting trauma for audience entertainment is both unhelpful to the represented group and triggering for those who have had similar experiences. While it’s essential to shed light on the discrimination marginalized people are subjected to each and every day, those experiences should not define them or their story.
We also discussed stereotypes and their harmful impacts in a previous article; one way stereotypes can inflict harm is when they’re portrayed and perpetuated through the media. Stereotyping is considered a form of misrepresentation as it pushes certain traits on people because of an aspect of their identity, even though those traits often don’t reflect reality. When stereotypes are integrated into storylines and broadcasted to thousands of people, they only become further entrenched in society, hurting marginalized groups and minimizing their opportunities.
Lastly, another prominent issue in media representation is a practice called tokenism. Tokenism is when a piece of media includes a character from a generally underrepresented background essentially just to “check a box” and achieve surface-level diversity. Tokenism is harmful because it avoids creating a full and important story for the character and doesn’t provide the benefits of effective representation.
Now that we’ve established what constitutes good representation versus poor representation, we can discuss some reasons as to why media representation is so significant to our society overall. First off, diverse and effective representation affirms the perspectives of a wide range of audience members, most of whom rarely see themselves reflected in the media they consume. Television shows, movies, books, and publications all have the power to show people they’re not alone through the stories they choose to spotlight.
Effective representation can also reshape conversations around identity by increasing understanding of those who differ from us. When we see someone’s story play out in front of us, it’s easy for us to empathize with them and realize we have more in common with them than we may have initially thought. People who enter the media experience from a place of prejudice or bias could come out with their perspective changed.
A product of diverse representation that benefits the insiders of the TV and film industry is the destabilization of the demand for white, heterosexual, cisgender actors and, in turn, an increase in opportunities for actors from marginalized groups. Putting these powerful but often unheard artists in lead roles creates richer, more complex stories and allows more audience members to feel seen.
Paying close attention to the media we consume, as well as the messages that media conveys, will allow us to move towards a world where everyone feels accurately and effectively represented. By being conscious of stereotypes and tokenism, diversifying the kinds of content you consume, and remembering that multiple stories can exist and hold value at once, you can play a role in making that change.
Comments