Ever have an argument about something that was an obvious reality to you but completely wrong in the eyes of the other party? Your opposing debater refuses to recognize your perspective for no valid reason at all? Almost as if they chose to be intentionally difficult or perhaps even had a stake in the topic at hand? Frustrating, right? So you hit ’em with stats. But they just dig in more & circle the wagons as if to protect the sense of the reality they cling to which your contradictory position threatens to debunk.
Well that’s what’s been happening between visible minorities & Hollywood for decades.
Last week, McKinsey released its assessment regarding the state of Black representation & inclusion in the film and television industry. The McKinsey Report establishes a familiar statistical foundation that finds Black professionals proportionately underrepresented both on & off screen. The authors note that “the prominence of certain films & TV series with Black leads obscures that fact”.
“FACT“.
Now in their defense, the Gatekeepers have never really outwardly refuted under-representation, non-inclusion nor bias either in their offices, business models or productions. Instead, it’s usually a one-sided conversation the industry leaders simply don’t engage in. This behavior epitomizes the phrase “actions speak louder than words”.
In the past handful of years, as once private studios have become assimilated into publicly-traded corporations, there was such anticipation about change being imminent because the scrutiny of such perceived biases & missteps could result in legal action that most certainly would displease shareholders. Those voices were again silenced when those desired changes still didn’t happen, then raised up again when regression occurred instead (remember #OscarsSoWhite?)
I won’t be so daring as to suggest we have turned the corner on this matter, but there has been a notable uptick in the number of talents getting an opportunity to write, act, direct & oversee projects who are POC. Fact. The success of Black Panther, anything Jordan Peele touches & the emergence of projects like Our Kind of People, Blackish, Queen Latifiah’s The Equilizer & Them have quelled the notion once touted by some Hollywood deciders that Black led (or Afro-centric) projects can’t “do well”.
I’ve commented before that despite this industry being so enshrined in long-standing, sometimes unfavorable practices, it’s also often been quick to pivot & adapt to the latest changes in technology, the global market & society. That’s what makes this lingering, painfully slow transition of representation even more ridiculous & prompts one to wonder if inclusion is even an objective at all. Time will tell.
In the meantime, stop trying to argue with that guy about why he’s wrong. It’s enough sometimes to leave people to their own devices when it’s evident they refuse to at least reasonably consider another perspective. Reality eventually crashes in around them. Hard.