I always say authentic representation matters, but what does that even mean?
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What is Authentic Representation?
I define 'authentic representation' as a carefully minded, deliberate and honest approach to inclusion and diversity in media. It is achieved by 'doing your research' and in some instances consulting with experts in any given field and/or people with a lived experience of any given aspect of life that you are trying to convey. But I think in order to understand what makes representation 'authentic', we must first look at what representation even is.
During my first year of film school, I was taught that representation is something that stands in for or takes the place of something else. That 'something' is usually signs such as (but not limited to) language, images and so on. Essentially a representation of something is NOT the actual thing itself, but rather a sort of perception of that thing. So when we look at representation in media, we're looking at a multitude of perceptions about anything and everything.
Whatever it is you see as 'representation' was crafted by an author or authors to either serve a specific purpose or depict a certain issue and/or concept. If we go with this definition, the stories we hear and see in the news are not even the actual events as they happened. Rather, they are a re-telling or re-presentation of events that have already conspired, seemingly through the lens of whoever is telling the story.
This is not to say that everything we hear, see and read is fabricated by some mega-corporation trying to take our money (although that is sometimes the case). Instead, think of it as the old saying goes: "don't believe everything you read on the internet". Sometimes what is represented to us as fact or truth is, in fact, not the truth. And because truth is subjective half of the time, who is to say what is true and untrue? I'm speaking philosophically, of course. The earth is not flat and climate change is real. Those are undisputable facts that can be proven without relying on various representations of what is 'true'.
However, even if those things are true, how we come to understand them as ordinary citizens is through the stories of people who have actually studied them and through the way we each talk about them in class, on the bus home from work or online.
So in a world where access to media and media production technologies and/or platforms has become commonplace, how do we as consumers even begin to evaluate what is 'authentic' and what is not? And for those of us who are content creators, writers, artists and/or storytellers, how can we make sure that the way we approach representation is authentic?
I do not have all the answers, but I do know of a few suggestions that might be beneficial to storytellers who want to make sure that their work is at the very least honest and respectful.
Tips for Storytellers
1. Write what you know and be yourself
Many, if not most writers, have heard the saying: "write what you know." The best kind of stories are the ones that feel personal and intimate. One of the reasons I enjoy reading memoirs and autobiographies is because they are designed to give the reader a glimpse into the psyche of the author. Good books in general have a sense of heartfelt emotion that can only be because the author intentionally put a little of themselves onto the page.
The same goes with any piece of media you are trying to create. If you draw from your own experiences for inspiration, you might end up with a story that is rich with emotional depth because what you're creating is something that you've actually lived through. In other words, just be yourself. People can generally tell when you are trying too hard to be something that you are not.
2. Research, research, research!
If you know next to nothing about a topic, culture or community that you are trying to include in your stories, then doing research probably goes without saying. For instance, if I wanted to create a YouTube video series about the history of colonialism in China, I would need to do lots of research on the topic. There are people out there who have more knowledge on the topic than I do. If I can even find reliable sources online and use them to my advantage to make sure that I know what I'm talking about, then I am already on the right track.
All media is trying to communicate something. You want to make sure that what you are trying to say does not fall short due to a lack of preparation and research. Just be aware of cognitive bias...
3. Be open-minded
Perhaps the most important thing you can do when trying to include a topic or experience you know little about is to have an open mind. This means acknowledging that you do not know everything and being willing to listen and understand different perspectives and views from your own. If you can do this, then you can tell any story.
Storytelling is all about exploring for the storyteller. Whether we are exploring our own emotions and thoughts or the vast expanse of our reality, we tell stories so we can learn something new. Keep that in mind when creating any kind of content that will be experienced by multiple people.
4. Ask yourself 'who is this for?'
An older writer once told me, "whatever you write will be offensive to someone. Some people will like it and others won't. You can't please everyone."
Knowing who your audience is will not only be helpful in terms of focusing your content, but it will also challenge you to refine your content so that you can subvert your audience's expectations. Our collective pop culture is obsessed with trends and the 'new'. While subverting expectations is not a new phenomenon, the varied results of challenging audience expectations are fascinating and numerous. At the very least, knowing what your audience is expecting means you could easily play it safe and live up to those expectations, or you could be daring and leave them wanting for more by taking a different approach to representation.
The choice is ultimately up to you, but always remember that before you are a storyteller you are first an audience member.
5. Know that storytelling is a collaborative process.
Getting representation 'right' can be a daunting feeling for any storyteller. Luckily, you are not alone. As a filmmaker, I am convinced that storytelling is a collaborative process. No director can make a successful feature-length film on their own. They need a whole team of professionals with various specializations to carry out unique tasks in order to bring the project to the big screen. Every aspect of filmmaking should be approached with a collaborative mindset, including representation.
The same goes for all other media as well. Talk and engage with other creators; ask how they approached representation. Schedule a meeting with a consultant who specializes in a specific topic if you are interested in incorporating that topic into your story. Engage with your audience and readers online and/or in person and get feedback on what works and what does not. By doing this, not only are you cultivating a community of your own, you are also allowing yourself to be held accountable by people who want the best for you. If you slip up, these people will notice and make sure that you know of it so that you can do better moving forward.
Some Examples of Authentic Representation in Mainstream Media
Based on the criteria outlined above, I believe the following media to be authentic in the way the represent various people, ways of life, beliefs etc. Nonetheless, please note that these are only my subjective opinions.
Pretty Brown Skin (feat. EUGENE KIING & Mav City Gospel Choir)
Being a celebration of Black women and girls, this song holds a special place in my heart. What's striking to me in particular is the fact that it is sung from the perspective of a Black man. I've noticed multiple Black female artists sing songs uplifting Black men in a non-sexualized way enough times to know that there are not that many Black men out there doing the same for Black women.
The message is simple, Black women of all shades are beautiful and should not have to feel insecure or worthless because of how they look.
Moana
The amount of detail that went into this movie is incredible. The creative team behind Disney's Moana took it upon themselves to do a lot of research on Polynesian culture in order to bring this story to life. They also made sure to hire a cast with Polynesian roots in order to stay true to the characters. Western animation has a history of casting White actors in 'coloured' roles, so I'm just thrilled to see that this is changing for the better.
Go ahead and watch the following video too. It will give you a glimpse on what a collaborative approach to representation looks like in music and film.
Heartstopper
Everything about this show is perfect. Okay, but in all seriousness, this show is a masterclass on how to approach representation. From the writing down to the casting process, this show does a wonderful job of portraying the 'queer teen experience'. Not only are there multiple cast members who are apart of the LGBTQ+ community themselves, there are also several members of the crew and production team who are also a part of the community.
Heartstopper shows us that representation is just as important behind the screen as it is on the screen. Having people from the LGBTQ+ community contribute their skills and input makes a huge difference on the overall project. We have the voices to tell our own stories, all we need is a mic so we can be heard.
Molly Burke
Molly Burke is an American digital creator and inclusivity advocate. At age 4, she was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa and fully lost her vision by the time she was 14. Now you can find her subverting myths about blindness on her YouTube channel and sharing her experiences as a blind woman in America.
What I love about Molly's content is that she is just being herself. She always prefaces her videos by stating that she is only one blind person and her experiences are not representative of all blind people everywhere.
She has successfully garnered a large and diverse following on YouTube alone (not to mention her other social media handles), and her videos are really powerful for changing perspectives on blindness. Before watching her videos I thought I knew what blindness was, but after subscribing and listening to her stories, I've come away with a much more nuanced picture.
Molly Burke teaches us that sometimes the best approach to authentic representation is to just be yourself. You never know how many people you'll impact just by doing that.
Avatar The Last Airbender
Although set in a fictional world full of magical powers and creatures, this show demonstrates what authentic representation looks like on screen. The subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle references from East Asian culture throughout the show are handled with care and not forced in for the sake of inclusion. Rather, their presence in the show is woven within its very DNA. ATLA is a show with themes that are heavily inspired by Eastern philosophies and teachings such as the Taoist concept of Yin and Yang and the Hindu concepts of chakras and spiritual energy.
ATLA also has a diverse set of characters. Most action shows like it during the early 2000s were marketed towards boys and usually failed to depict strong leading female characters. ATLA is one of the exceptions with multiple female characters who are just as prolific as the male protagonists.
The show also depicts a handful of topics not normally shown in children's media at the time such as toxic masculinity, genocide, spirituality, colonialism and tyranny. For a show that came out over 17 years ago, it was certainly ahead of its time and paved the way for more inclusivity and diversity in children's television.
Some Examples of Failed Representation in Mainstream Media
Same as before, these are only my subjective opinions of what I think to be failed representation. I say 'failed' instead of 'inauthentic' or 'bad' because in each of the following examples, an attempt at inclusion and authenticity was made. However, due to a handful of shortcomings here and there, they ultimately fell flat.
Eternals
Marvel Studio's Eternals was a polarizing film for many fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When it first premiered, there were reports of mixed reviews as audiences did not really know what to make of the Kirby-inspired ensemble of all-powerful beings. Regardless of whether you liked the film or not, it is obvious that Marvel was trying to push for diversity in this film. I mean, this is the movie that gave us the MCU's first Indian superhero and first deaf superhero. There are a lot of firsts, but the quality of representation cannot be measured by firsts alone.
I think Marvel's approach to diversity in this film is shorthanded by the sheer scale of the story at hand. Trying to condense thousands of years of history and culture into a 2-hour film is no easy feat. And when you have to resolve the plot so that the audience can walk away satisfied, there are a lot of things that can end up feeling rushed or even forced.
The inclusion of these 'diverse' characters is not the issue. The entire cast is talented and none of their performances feel forced. The issue comes with how much time we actually get to spend with these characters and on the themes introduced. The MCU has a history of sidelining characters from underrepresented groups such as female characters and BIPOC characters. This was an opportunity for them to flip the narrative and do something different like they did in 2018's Black Panther. Instead, we spend the majority of the film hopping around an already complicated timeline, all the while trying to figure out what is going on and why we should even care.
When crafting stories that span thousands of years of history, it is important to center on a few key focal points, especially if you are trying to communicate the story in under three hours. Perhaps if Eternals was a serialized show with multiple instalments meant to be consumed over a longer span of time, there would have been enough time for each of these characters to shine.
The Kane Chronicles Book Series
Rick Riordan's Kane Chronicles book series is a must read for all YA fantasy lovers out there. There are, however, certain things pertaining to the representation of Black people in the series that rubbed me the wrong way when I first read it.
In The Throne of Fire, Riordan describes one of the dark-skinned Black characters to be of a complexation of "hot chocolate". I don't know about you, but hot chocolate is not that Black. Some of the hot chocolate I have consumed is not even dark brown. While Riordan's intentions were in earnest, this is not the best way to describe dark skin tones.
I think many of us can attest to the fact that it is rare to find a description of a dark-skinned African in Western literature where the author does NOT compare the shade of their skin to a food or drink. I am so used to it now because it has become commonplace, but I am always impressed when authors find more creative ways to describe skin tone without having to rely on the food comparisons.
I get it. Black people are really tasty, but we're not just snacks. We are human beings that deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.
For real though, to all my fellow authors: find more creative and descriptive ways to describe different skin tones. It's not that difficult.
Disney's Mulan (2020 Live-Action Version)
Disney's live-action Mulan consists of breathtaking visuals and an invigorating score. Unfortunately, none of these aspects could save the film from being a massive flop. There are so many things wrong with the way Disney handled representation in this movie, that it requires a separate post. Fortunately, other creators have already discussed the many ways this movie fails at authentic representation.
While the cast was actually Chinese for the most part, much of the creative team behind the camera was not. This lack of behind-the-screen representation is written all over the clunky dialogue surrounding the Chinese principle of Qi. To make matters worse, parts of the film were filmed in a region where atrocious human rights violations against Uighur people have been taking place under the authority of the Chinese government for years.
To understand just how much Mulan (2020) gets representation wrong, I recommend watching the video commentary below.
As emphasized earlier, research is key to nailing authentic representation. Mulan feels like a movie that was poorly researched, if at all. As a result, it comes across as culturally insensitive and disrespectful. For a company worth billions, Disney had more than enough resources to properly produce this movie and yet they squandered it by trying to pander to Chinese audiences instead of trying to tell an honest, meaningful story.
Final Thoughts
In my blog post about why stories matter, I discussed the power of storytelling. Stories have the power to shape our perceptions of reality and they can influence the way we think.
That is why this conversation of authenticity in media is important, particularly when it comes to representation. Ingenuine representations can be damaging to an audience. We've seen it over the course of history with stereotypical tropes and popularized misconceptions of various cultures and communities. Just take a look at the history of minstrelsy and Blackface in American media. Those misrepresentations of Black people facilitated racism and justified the oppression of Black people for generations. And that's just one example of how poor representation can have long-lasting negative effects.
We have a responsibility to make sure that the art and stories we create for whatever purpose, are genuine and respectful.
What are your thoughts on authentic representation in media? Let me know in the comments below!
