Why is accurate representation in the media important?
For centuries, legends of characters such as Robin Hood and Dick Whittington have been passed down generations of families and communities by word of mouth. The Epic of Gilgamesh was the first legend to have ever been written around circa 2100-1200 BC. It is an ancient Epic poem from Mesopotamia which recounts the story of an ancient hero and king. The story features mythical creatures, kings, gods, and themes of human relationships, loneliness, friendship, loss, love and revenge. In short, it is entertainment - it's what people wanted to see. It contains relatable themes that exist in our everyday lives centuries later because people like seeing themselves reflected in the stories they read and in more modern forms of media too. Half the attraction of certain books, films, and TV shows is seeing yourself in these stories, whether that be a part of your identity or a similar experience.
Accurate representation reflects society as a whole, not just a very niche or idealised part of it, and in the relevant roles that certain groups play in society. So, this means a TV show that shows racial diversity to reflect how it is in society, or one that accurately reflects the mix of queer and heterosexual people in society, or another that accurately reflects diversity of gender identity in school or the workplace. In our society, we have a huge mix of people, who are different races, genders, sexualities, religions, have different disabilities, come from different economic backgrounds and have different cultures, and it's important that this is accurately reflected in the media we consume. Shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Superstore are examples of accurate representation because they show a realistic mixture of queer characters, characters of colour and genders in workplace scenarios.
Inaccurate representation is representation that does not reflect society, and would likely consist of a very niche, idealised or unrealistic view of true social diversity. This could include all characters having a common trait that not everyone in society has, e.g. being straight, being a woman, being wealthy, etcetera. This does not accurately reflect society. Friends is not an example of accurate representation, because all the main characters are straight and white, which is not what all of society looks like. If a random group of people were picked off the street in the UK or the USA, it would be a diverse mixture of people who identified as different genders and sexualities, people who were different races and ethnicities, people who were different religions, and more. Inaccurate representation is where media doesn’t reflect this.
All bigotry comes from ignorance. People who are uneducated on what it means to be LGBTQ+ are a lot more likely to be homophobic and transphobic, because they do not have the knowledge they need to have an informed opinion, and they only have the influence of other’s opinions to form their own viewpoint. For years, people have been campaigning for better black history education in schools, because learning about races and cultures different to your own is the foundation of a society with less racist prejudice. Knowledge is power. Having accurate representation normalises other identities to people in a very easy and natural way, and can reduce the prejudice people hold towards marginalised identities. In people who aren’t seeing themselves represented, it can cause a lot of insecurity and anxiety surrounding their identity, which is detrimental to mental health and the confidence people should hold in their unique identities.
When examining data Hollywood published in 2020 about film leads, we can see that the overwhelming majority of leads, 60.3%, were portrayed by white actors. Latin people held 5.4%, alongside Asian people, Multiracial people held 7.6%, Native Americans held 1.1%, and Middle Eastern/North African people held 1.1%. This data also demonstrates that leads were not equally split in gender: just under half the white leads were women, which is relatively accurate, but a majority of the black and Latinx leads were men, and a majority of the Asian, Middle Eastern/North African and multiracial leads were women, with Native Americans having an even split. We can also tell that very few genderqueer, non-binary and gender non-conforming people were leads in Hollywood films in 2020. However, when we compare these statistics with American society, it is by far not an accurate portrayal. According to the 2021 American census, 59.3% of the population are white, and yet white people take up over 60% of film leads. Contrastingly, Latinx people only have 5.4% of film leads, yet they make up a whopping 18.9% of the American society. This demonstrates how inaccurate media can be in reflecting the makeup of society. The percentage of writers and directors is also completely skewed, and as these are the people making the stories for actors to tell, it is important that they are also an accurate reflection of society. This ensures that everyone has not only equal employment opportunities, but also chances to tell their stories.
At the end of the day, everyone loves to see themself reflected on their television screen, whether that be watching characters the same ethnicity as you or characters who have the same interests as you. We all like to feel seen, marginalised and oppressed or not, and it is vital that everyone feels they have a place in society where they belong which is reflected in films and TV shows and books.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_ethnicity_in_the_United_States
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