Conversations with Grace: Diversity in Media

Diversity representation in the media is a hot topic right now. When movies, shows, or books intentionally introduce people of color (POC), is it respectful and necessary? Dangerously rewriting history? In line with a biblical perspective? I sat down with my Black 20-year-old daughter Grace to discuss this. Grace is currently a junior-year history major at Biola University. 

Mom: When do you first remember being impacted by racial diversity in media? 

Grace: The 2014 version of Annie. [Grace was about 8 years old.] I grew up watching the other one; I loved it, and that was all I knew. So when they came out with the new version, it helped me to know that there was another way this story could go. There are children of all colors in foster care and orphanages all over the world. I thought, “Hey, I’m not alone in this, and it’s not just children from Africa or China who are orphans.”  

It was also significant that William Stacks (like Daddy Warbucks) showed a person of color who was affluent and successful and that was cool too. I realized I loved seeing movies with people who looked like me, and not just as a background character. 

Mom: What do you mean by “background character?”

Grace: There’s a joke among Disney fans [of the popular “tween” sitcoms] where there’s always a “token Black friend” (or person of color) who is funny, has snappy remarks, and can either dance or sing. Like “Willow” in Liv and Maddie. 

Zendaya was on “Shake It Up,” but left because there wasn’t adequate representation of people of color; then Disney came up with “Casey Undercover,” which has all POC as main characters. The best friend is white. Now there are shows with kids of all different sizes and colors on the Disney Channel. 

Mom: Why is this significant?

Grace: Media affects so much of people’s worldview and how they look at the world and other people. And even history. For people who look like me to be represented but then also portrayed as protagonists and as people who matter, that communicates that we are valuable. That our contributions to the world are worth caring about. 

Me: What does it subtly communicate when there aren’t any POC characters? Like Hannah Montana? 

Grace: It communicates that there can be a “perfect world” without anyone like me in it. Like, we’re not needed. Like, we exist, but there’s no need to make mention of it. 

Mom: Is this why Tiana is your favorite Disney princess? 

Grace: Yes! She has a skin tone like me. I didn’t see the movie until I was older, but she was the first princess that looked anything like me. It was amazing that Tiana not only had my skin tone, but she was also a hard worker and really smart. 

I could try to envision myself in Cinderella’s dress or in Belle’s dress, but it didn’t feel right. So when I saw Tiana, I could see myself wearing a dress that fancy too. 

Mom: What we see in pictures is communicating a view of the world to us. 

Grace: Tiana helped me see myself as worthy of being royal. There are Tiana fans who have created re-imagined pictures of her with natural hair, instead of straightened hair. I love these new ones. Now there really is no distinction between her and me. 

Mom: I think it totally makes sense that a girl would connect with a character that reminds her of herself. My favorite Disney princess was Belle, because she was not only a brunette but also bookish and strong-willed. She reminded me of myself. 

You didn’t watch The Princess and the Frog or Disney sitcoms until you were a teenager. Can you remember another time when diversity in media impacted you when you were young? 

Grace: I really loved The Jesus Storybook Bible, and that Jesus is not white. The angel Gabriel is dark-skinned. Often times when there are crowds of people, more of them had darker skin tones than lighter ones. 

When I was around 10 years old, I had another book on women in the Bible and the art was beautiful and that’s why I loved it. But there was only one little girl who was white and the others were other colors and nationalities. All of the Bible women portrayed had an olive skin tone. 

Mom: If there was none or little diversity representation in American media, now, in some spaces, it’s swinging to the other side of the pendulum. Media producers are inserting diversity where it isn’t actually historical. 

For example, you love the Broadway show Hamilton and even credit it with getting you excited about studying history. Lin-Manuel Miranda chose an all-POC cast even though all the Founding Fathers were of European descent. You are a history major, so what do you think about that?

Grace: I listened to Hamilton constantly in middle school (that is, the songs I was allowed to listen to!). I knew every single word before I ever saw it performed. 

The first time I saw a clip was the year I got Hamilton tickets at 13. A friend showed me videos of the Broadway production. That was the first time I saw the original cast and I was like, “Wait a minute! They’re all people of color, people who look like me!” Pretty much everyone in the cast looked like me! And that was so cool! 

I understand why Lin-Manuel Miranda made this decision. The things the Founding Fathers were going through and what they were doing are so much easier for people from other countries and POC to understand because everything was new. There was no precedent. It was a new country and they had to figure out how to do life. And this is what immigrants and POC understand. So it makes sense for them to represent these characters. 

[The actor] Christopher Jackson [who is Black] played George Washington, went to Mt. Vernon, and wasn’t sure he could portray him [because Washington was a slave owner]. Washington was always so praised. Jackson visited the slaves’ quarters and he realized that was where he would have fit into that part of history. Jackson came to the conclusion that we can’t make people out to be all hero or all villain. The Founding Fathers were still amazing men who were forging a new way of life the world hadn’t seen before. 

Mom: What about the Regency Era movies? Your favorite book and movie is Pride and Prejudice. What do you think about the recent trend to insert POC into movies from this era? 

Grace: When it is a fully fictional story, I feel like it shouldn’t be a big deal. 

I love the movie Mr. Malcolm’s List [a Regency Era movie set in England with an all-POC cast]. Maybe it would have bothered me to have a POC cast in Pride and Prejudice, because I had a preconceived idea of what the characters looked like. I love Pride and Prejudice with all my heart, but I’ve been conditioned to imagine people of that time period as white. So when Mr. Malcolm showed up as very dark-skinned, I loved that. 

It’s comforting, even though I know it’s not real. I love the Regency Era. Before that movie, I could only imagine myself in it “in my wildest dreams,” and now it’s just “in my dreams” because I’ve seen it for myself. I love the dresses, and before that movie I couldn’t really imagine myself in those dresses, but now I can. 

Mom: Movies like Mr. Malcolm’s List are sort of creating an alternate universe. Do you feel like it messes with your perception of history? 

Grace: Maybe for other people, but because I love history, no. So I clearly know that this could never happen. Of course, I love it so much. If they were to make a Mr. Malcolm’s List with all white characters, I would much prefer to watch the one with characters that look like me. Even though I would know the other one would be more accurate. 

Mom: I can get on board with movies that portray an alternate universe. I struggle more when a film is clearly trying to be historically accurate, but then throws in some random POC for good measure. For example, I absolutely loved The Other Bennet Sister, but felt that the POC actors detracted from it because they weren’t portrayed in culturally historical ways. There were POC in England during that time period (in fact, Jane Austen’s unfinished novel, Sanditon, includes an upper-class girl of African descent) and I would love to see a Regency Era film that deals with that subject historically. I kind of feel like it should be all or nothing: give us an alternate fantasy universe, or a historically accurate one. 

Grace: I agree. When real life is being depicted, I think, as a historian, that’s important to represent the people as they were. So I’m fine with a historical ball scene in the 1800s having everyone white because that is accurate for that time period. 

But historical accuracy needs to go both ways. Just as POC shouldn’t be inaccurately put into historical media, they shouldn’t be erased either. So if there’s a movie about Thomas Jefferson, it should show his slaves. If we don’t show it like that, people will think, “Slavery couldn’t have been that bad.” We need to tell the truth about history. 

I can remember watching an older educational video of the first Thanksgiving and you can see all white people and maybe one Native American. History shows that there were twice as many Native Americans at the first Thanksgiving as white people. 

If it’s meant to be a realistic movie, we need to portray it honestly and not gloss over things just because it makes people uncomfortable. We need to tell history correctly. 

Mom: What do you think is a Christian perspective on integrating people of color in media?

Grace: All humans are made in God’s image. That is one of Christianity’s biggest arguments. Unfortunately, it’s been twisted. But because we believe so strongly that a divine God is reflected in us, everyone needs to be valued. Including people who look like me in media is one way we can do that. It’s a way to value people of all colors and show them their worth. 

I think that arguing or complaining or discouraging somebody’s artistic work, because of what they look like, knowing full well that they are image-bearers of God, is not acceptable. You can’t say that everyone is equal and then be angry about someone portraying someone in a movie. 

There are obviously gray areas. It’s also not helpful when people on the inclusive side go so far over to that side and start excluding white people, almost in a reparations sense. Like, “We’ve had so much of the spotlight that there should only be POC representation.” That just defeats the purpose of what Jesus called us to do, which is to love everyone. We’re supposed to be bridges. We choose to walk across a bridge and not tear one down. Christians should be in the middle of the bridge, creating a brand new community.  

Other conversations with Grace:

American Sprinkled with African
Black History Month
Navigating the Emotions of Adoption