Media representation matters. There is no longer any question about it. But how that representation should be expressed in the film industry, now that is something we have yet to agree on. Particularly when it comes to the representation of Black people in America, Hollywood has made big strides in the last few years. Only a few decades ago, to have a big blockbuster with a mostly all-black cast would have been unthinkable. Today, Black Panther(2018) has surpassed the $1 billion mark in worldwide revenueandMoonlight(2016) has won the Oscar for best picture in a ceremony that made history by breaking the record of wins for Black Americans. But as Black representation reaches new milestones year after year, one cannot help but wonder if the new diversity trends in Hollywood will actually lead us where we want to go.
The history of Black representation in America has an atrocious past. The toxic depictions conceived by the racism of minstrel showsand the exclusion of Black people from the industry were perpetuated and consolidated by Hollywood filmsduring the first half of the twentieth century. Even as filmmakers became more conscious about diversity, the “fixes” that Hollywood offered to the representation problem led to further stereotyping and to the development of tokenism(the hiring of a small number of people from under-represented groups in only a symbolic effort for racial equality). These mistakes have proven that representation must be done consciously and carefully lest it createsmore harm than good.
Today, much of the debate that surrounds representation in Hollywood has concentrated on casting choices. Which actors get to be cast in which roles and how much race dictates that decision has been a subject of discussion for filmmakers and audiences alike. The debate between colorblind vs. color-conscious casting(whether or not race should be taken into consideration when makingcasting decisions) has shown that representation is a much more nuanced issue than the number ofBlack faces we see on the screen. While colorblind casting did give us the wonderful Idris Elbaas Heimdall in the Thorseries, that decision stillmeansa Black person playing a part written by and for a White man. And while color-conscious casting allows for more storytelling that takes into account racial issues, how can we just sit and expect a majoritarily White industryto go for such stories?
The bottom line is: while casting does make a difference in representation, it is not the only angle from which to tackle this issue. In the music video for Jay-Z’s ‘Moonlight,’director Alan Yangoffers a taste of what the Hollywood trend is today by giving us a replica of a Friends’episode with an all-black cast. The video, however, subverts that trend by questioning the intention behind the re-telling of a White story with Black actors. Yang’s ‘Moonlight’ suggests that the answer to representation is not in which color we see on the screen, but in who gets to tell their own story.
By casting Black actors who wrote their own shows (Jerrod Carmichael, Issa Rae) and referencing the wonderful filmMoonlight(2016), Jay-Z’s video is an ode to new black creative voices. It is the statement that true representation in Hollywood means diversity not only on screen but from the moment of creation.