According
to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, diversity
is defined as, “the condition of having or being composed of differing
elements; the inclusion of different types of people (as people of different
races or cultures) in a group or organization.[1] Today, many advocates push
for diversity in schools, workplaces and even going so far as Hollywood. As
American continues to grow, different cultures and races blend together to form
what many people know as the “melting pot”. We often times use our own cultures
to define others and deem them as “normal” or not. This may in the long run be
harmful because we cannot seem to shake the negative stereotypes of others or
the bias against a particular culture. Diversity in big name media, such as
video games and movies seemed to be an issue before, albeit a very small issue,
however recently has largely become a hot topic for many media enthusiasts to
discuss. Because superheroes have always been a fascination for the young and
old alike, and recently been the fascination of Hollywood, the diversity (or
lack thereof) has become under fire by many critics. The DC Entertainment and
Marvel Entertainment companies have been producing film after film of beloved
superheroes, including Superman and Spiderman. A topic of debate however is who
is winning the great diversity race between these two entertainment titans?
They both admittedly have their own issues, nevertheless one should be doing
better in the diversity department, correct? The answer may not be as simple as
one thinks. It is the same with the recently booming Star Wars franchise, in
which many have been praising the producers for their inclusivity of casting
actors and actresses of different backgrounds and ethnicities while casting a
female as one of the star roles. Despite this, many people are also finding
that Star Wars: The Force Awakens,
released last December was still lacking in diversity. This December we will
see the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars
Story. Many Star Wars aficionados find themselves excited for the story
while others have seen that the main character is a woman and majority of the
rest of the cast are Asian, Pakistani, and Mexican and feel that the movie will
be a flop. What does this say about the movie industry as well as the people
paying to see these films?
The media does not just consist of
films, it consists of video games and even literature. Yet, books and texts are
not the ones lacking in diversity. Video games severely lack diversity in which
many of the protagonists consist of white males. Hispanics, Asians, African
Americans, and many other ethnicities are underrepresented. Sexualities are
erased or glossed over. Gender is discriminated against. How often do video
game developers gloss over these important storyline characteristics because a
few gamers may feel uncomfortable?
But backpedaling back to Hollywood
and the lack of diversity in the films. The research and debates done on this
topic is massive and may take years to compile. However this is an important
topic to think about as numerous people find the lack of culturally, racially
and sexually diverse characters offensive and backwards. In the recent casting
of Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One, a traditionally Tibetan character from
“Doctor Strange”, fans were outraged and felt that this was considered racist.
“It turns out that the filmmakers scrubbed the Tibetan origins of the character
from the comic book altogether, in large part over fears of offending the
Chinese government and people…”[2] Actor George Takei wrote
on his Facebook page over hearing the news, “You cast a white actress so you
wouldn’t hurt sales… in Asia? This backpedaling is nearly as cringeworthy as
the casting. Marvel must think we’re all idiots." [3] Hollywood consistently
casts white actors and actresses to portray Asian, Hispanic and even Native
Americans roles. On the positive side, however, there are the few diverse
moments in these entertainment productions. Wonder Woman is getting her own
film in the DC Universe as well as she was always a key member to the Justice
League. Deadpool was confirmed as pansexual by writer Gerry Duggan in the comic
books and again by director Tim Miller in the films. There are so many
superheroes with diverse backgrounds, cultures, races, ethnicities, and
sexualities that Hollywood refuses to portray simply because it may shock the masses. The pros to this
research topic are that it helps us to understand this and thus helps us to
change the way Hollywood thinks. People want
diversity now and are upset when there is an absence of it. The cons of this
topic is that it is so massive, there are thousands of superheroes out there
that can be researched and analyzed. They each have their own personalities,
genders, ethnicities and sexualities and it would possibly take years to go
through them all. The research paper for me in this topic could focus on the
few most diverse backgrounds. This could include Jaime Reyes, the Blue Beetle.
This Hispanic character in DC’s television show Young Justice had a story arc that revolved around his family and
friends, something that Hispanics in media often do not have the best
representation of. Another could be of a woman who breaks the gender barrier,
such as Wonder Woman, who was mentioned earlier. As a key member to the Justice
League, she is vastly different from Black Widow in the Avengers who does not
get as much positive attention.
The massive universe of Star Wars
has recently be both praised and criticized for the diversity included in the
recent film The Force Awakens. As the
three main protagonists were all diverse, Rey is female, Finn is African
America and Poe Dameron is Hispanic, many felt that this was a big step in the
Star Wars franchise. In the movies before, majority of the characters and
protagonists were white, including Anakin Skywalker, Leia Organa and Han Solo.
Critics still are uncomfortable or upset that there is barely any Asian or
LGBTQ representation. This research topic too has its cons in that it is a
massive universe and would take possibly years to go through the hundreds of
characters that the universe provides. However the pros are that this
particular subset of media is improving rapidly on the representation and
diversity department. Rogue One’s
main protagonist Jyn Erso is a woman, Poe Dameron is implied in the novel that
he’s not completely heterosexual and Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue
One is portrayed by Donnie Yen, a famous Cantonese actor. There are many
possibilities to explore on this topic in this universe, however it is just
such a large topic.
The video
game industry has always been the subject of criticism, toward those who
advocate diversity and to those who do not. Many “straight white male” gamers
are happy with the white male protagonists and are happy to play them. We
however cannot speak for all of them, because many do indeed enjoy the few
times that they are able to play a female or a character of non-white origins.
This research topic again is massive, and there are many possibilities, however
it would take quite a long time to compile even a list of all the diversity
problems and achievements. Again, in order to work around this problem, the
paper could focus on the few characters that do have that diversity and the few
characters that do not. It could focus on difficulties that arise when trying
to create diversity in video games. In 2007, Mass Effect was released to the public, but not before it faced a
torrent of controversy in including not only romantic scenes, a playable female
protagonist, but including a character that would have been bisexual. It face
so much controversy they took that storyline out of the game. In the third game
of the trilogy, they brought back that storyline because the influx of gamers
that wanted to explore this possibility. The game also included the gamer’s
choice of playing as a male or female protagonist, and many were angry that
even being able to play as a woman was unthinkable. Video games face a flurry
of controversy revolving diversity, but it is important, especially to the
newer generation simply because it is happening all around them in the real
world, it is only sensible it happens in the virtual world as well.
There are so
many diversity problems happening in the media, which affect how we as people
can view others. Whether it is disrespectfully or courteously it depends on the
media we consume and what we deem as normalcy because of what we seen on the
big screen. The media influences our thoughts even without knowing it.
[1] “Diversity.” Merriam-Webster. Accessed September 12, 2016.
[2] Wong, Edward. “‘Doctor Strange’
Writer Explains Casting of Tilda Swinton as Tibetan.” April 26, 2016. The New
York Times. Accessed September 11, 2016.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/27/world/asia/china-doctor-strange-tibet.html?_r=0
[3] Takei, George. April 30, 2016. Facebook. Accessed September 11, 2016.
https://www.facebook.com/georgehtakei/posts/1561565090539605
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