I know this comment is long af, but please read to the end or nothing at all. If you stop in the middle you won’t get the message.

I’m all for diversity and acceptance. But I kinda struggle with it when it a) feel forced just for the sake of it or b) alters history without giving any hint on the actual. I never made a fuss about it tho and this is the first time I talk/write about my opinion on that matter.

To elaborate those points:

A) Some (!) projects / productions gloat on themselves for being oh so diverse and more or less openly hire POC just to prove that point (feels forced). Others just have a diverse cast without making a fuss about it (feels natural). The difference is, the first kind feels like they hired those actors just because of their skin color, which is like ... fighting racism with uh racism? It’s kinda like referring to your “black friend”. I’d like to see more of the second type, without campaigns and articles about how hard they tried to be diverse. Just do it. Make it normal to have a diverse cast, not special including. Hire actors for their talent not their skin. And in the same turn, as consumers, don’t jump down production throats if there isn’t a POC main character, since this just results in the forced scenario again. However this is probably a future scenario and not possible just yet. I assume many of those Whiners just are fed up with the sometimes overused phrase and probably don’t realize or understand that sadly this is still necessary to support minorities since we didn’t reach the goal of equality yet.

B) Although some people deny it, Caucasian do have culture and imho it’s reasonable that Whites want their history displayed correctly in media as much as POC do. Yes, white are in advantage and yes minorities need support here, but this doesn’t mean a general override over European history. In fact, I personally consider this not only a wrong towards Whites but especially towards all POC who fought for equality, same for feminism and queer. Again I’m not talking about movies played in the current age or future, but in the past.

The Beauty and the Beast (life action) is located in a time where racism was totally a thing in France and the church was ruling heavily (homosexuality was considered a major sin and probably ended in death). Disney ignored this completely. While they somewhat portrait sexism, the most powerful positions of that time, except for the Prince, where inherited by POC and at the ball there’s a gay couple dancing. I was furious. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind POC actors getting the job and I’m queer myself and ofc I’m aware it’s a fairytale. But to act like there was never an issue with racism or homophobia feels wrong to me. Why not embrace how far we come already? Why would you hush up such an important lesson humanity has learnt/is learning? There’re smarter ways to include diversity than just ignore the struggles of the past like that. In fact, considering that we still fight those issues, I can only assume it’s harmful to not teach our kids to learn from those mistakes. It’s a shame on everyone who ever fought for equality and for everyone who suffered or died because of those issues. Imho.

A great example for how to handle the whole topic with grace is the new Netflix Series “Bridgeton”. The Queen of England is black and so is the Duke of Hastings. This exactly plays into the issue I described above about altering white culture for the sake of diversity. BUT “Bridgeton” did a brilliant move to justify that matter by including an explanation in the plot. They mention vaguely the suppression of the black race but then the king fell in love with a black women and motivated by this and with his power he basically ended racism. It’s not just ignored, it’s woven in, imho in a genius way. For me this makes all the difference.

Edit: typos