Question #6,7
RuPaul, POSE, Cristela, and Bad Bunny
I see many of my experiences of main characters reflected with my own but also using my existing platforms or privileges to bring awareness. Steven Universe, a plethora of anime, Sense 8, Love Victor.
These projects resonated with me because they represented diversity in cultures. Steven Universe touched on non-straight relationships with implied (and in some cases explicated) gender fluidity / non-binary representation. Love Victor and Sense 8 also touched upon queerness while also bringing in non-white cultures. Anime also touches on collectivist mentalities that a lot of American shows I watched growing up did not dabble into. With regards to how it could have been better, that would take an essay. But in short, I feel like they can always do more with bringing in other cultures and further delving into the cultural nuances that make up the protagonists worldviews. It's hard to list specific bodies of media which have resonated with my experiences as related to my marginalized identities but I think a lot of the ones which have often are created by people with similar identities. For example, Afrobeats is a genre of musics by African artists which often reminds me of home, my family, and upbringing; I grew up watching Nigerian movies, etc. And on the one hand, while these media would not be considered popular media, but they are the media I consume the most because I can relate to the stories. It's less which forms of media and moreso being intentional about what the media is trying to do.
I like media that is honest. And the examples I gave above are an honest representation of my identities, cultures, etc. Television
I’m a pretty visual person and I’m a fan of character driven stories so I gravitate towards television. I wish shows as a whole had more people of color working on and off the screen. Educated - Tara Westover
The Half Of It The Tale - HBO There is not a lot that I connect to. But I really do enjoy memoirs.
I think because they just tell the person's story without an agenda and maybe I hope for that. The L Word is a TERRIBLE representation in so many ways, with so many rich, White, slim, queer cis ( for the most part ) women, but you can't deny it was a huge moment for us lesbos. The new Generation Q was slightly better in representation but still, so far from reality. Never Have I Ever did feel like a pretty familiar recent representation of Indian-American culture, although again, problematic. Indian Matchmaking definitely was not!!!! The Namesake is a great book, less so for the movie, that does really well represent Bengali-American culture.
1. Court Duel by Sherwood Smith, especially the main character Meliara (or Mel)
2. Carrie Pilby (more the movie than the book) 3. Chloe from the TV show Lucifer. The book Court Duel by Sherwood Smith - Now, some of her more recent books have queer characters, but I'm not sure if she wrote the female protagonist Meliara as an aro and / or ace. I discovered the book when it was published in 1997 or 1998. Mel is a strong character who literally fights back against evil forces to protect others. Early in Book 1 (it was first published as two separate books, but now published as one big book), Mel and a friend are talking about their Flower Day (I'm assuming that's like a sweet 16-type birthday celebration), and while the friend is excited to start flirting and dating, Mel has no interest in that. She likes going to dances for the fun of dancing. And there's no hint of romance for her in the rest of the book. And then in Book 2, there is more talk about romance & relationships, but Mel is still not interested in that stuff. She does unexpectedly wind up in a courting situation where she is writing to an Unknown, and she and Unknown do wind up happy together, but nothing about how Mel is written would exclude her from being aro or ace despite the relationship & marriage at the end. There's deep trust and friendship and I don't know if Mel is an aro and / or ace, but when I first read that book as a teen over 15 years before I realized I was an aro ace, I felt a real kinship with Mel. I hadn't read a book with a strong female character who was more interested in helping others than finding a boyfriend, etc. I find I love the book more and more as I grow older, and every time I read it, I want to start over at page 1 immediately. Not sure how it could have been better. A part of me wants to ask the author if she meant Mel to be an aro ace or if she just wrote the book with the sex and romance interest because she was writing for teens, but I'm not sure I want to hear a denial if that's the answer. The film Carrie Pilby. To be honest, it's based on a book that I own and started to read, but it was a bit too heavy for me to read. But after accepting my aro ace self, I've been interested in finding anything and everything aro ace related, and somewhere someone mentioned Carrie might be aro & ace, so I watched the film. Carrie is a prodigy. Now I'm not, but if my parents had pushed me, I could have been a prodigy in one area; additionally, I've been pretty good academically, especially on academic tests, which qualified me for those gifted student programs. So, I felt a kinship with being a brainiac. And while some of the awkwardness & not wanting relationships & sex could be that she was so much younger than the people around her, I think she was genuinely not experiencing romantic or sexual interest in anyone. And it was nice to watch a character not understand the people around her, their crazy need to put themselves through hell because they wanted romantic or sexual stuff with someone. I felt I could relate to her in a lot of ways, even with the age difference. Not sure what could have been better. To be honest, I've seen the movie once, so seeing it again would be good. I think it's a little tough to watch in a couple of places, because she is manipulated and used by her professor, and that abuse might be used to explain her aro & ace self. But, I don't know. Funny enough, the show Lucifer, based on the Neil Gaiman comics, not so much the Bible. I'd friends who loved the show and were desperately trying to get Netflix or someone to pick it up once Fox cancelled it after 3 seasons. So I started watching once Netflix got it, before the new season. I wasn't sure what to expect and had it on in the background, but soon found myself watching it. The show is very LGBTQIA+, which is fantastic. Also, great puns & writing. But, I found myself identifying with the character of Chloe, who's a female detective that intrigues Lucifer and becomes work partners with him. Turns out Chloe and her husband are headed to divorce, but you don't see any hint of sex or romance early on, which I thought was rare. And then Chloe and her ex are divorced, but she's not necessarily hopping back into the dating pool or looking for physical gratification in bars, etc. Now, season 3 had forced a bit of a relationship with Chloe and a colleague, but honestly it didn't work and in one scene where the 2 of them have sex at work, I felt that wasn't true to the character and writers were forcing conflict & lines, etc. And you see Lucifer evolve over time, from being hyper-sexual to realizing there's more to life and relationships than just the physical stuff. Also, Chloe winds up being a miracle, and yet she has not been portrayed as religious. Initially I thought she was an atheist, because of the lack of church & religion & cross necklaces, etc. but an interview I watched had the actress denying the character was an atheist. Maybe agnostic or skeptical, because the character is very logic-driven, but religion wasn't important to her. Now, things took a little turn when she discovered Lucifer is the actual devil, but even after that, in general she's not wearing crosses or going to church, etc. She's still who she is. So, I appreciated that. How it could be better? There's a new season coming out in the near future, and I'm not sure how they are going to deal with the new relationship with Chloe and Lucifer. They are together, but they haven't had sex yet. And I'm not sure how the show will handle the relationship and physical stuff. I know other fans have been vocal about wanting sex scenes, and I'm just not sure how I'm going to react to whatever comes up. Now, granted, they have things in their way, and the writers may have found ways to prevent Chloe and Lucifer from being together again, but I don't know. I just think of the one relationship Chloe had on the show was awkward and forced and didn't feel true to the relationship that I'm not sure how I'm going to feel with those characters together or not. The TV show, Brooklyn 99, is one of the few media examples I have seen in which marginalized identities are simply part of who someone is, and are not sensationalized or represented inaccurately. It also integrates challenges that marginalized identities experience, which I've found rare when consuming media.
It's completely non-problematic; jokes aren't at the expense of an individual or identity and representation is accurate. I don't think there's anything I would change. Podcast, Trans Field Guide, has realistic stories and messages of hope. Some of the Instagram spokespeople have good stories but they look like models. There are too many books to name here, but in today’s high paced world those stories have been lost. Even movies make it seem like there are only one way to transition.
In each case it was authentic. There needs to be commercials on Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook getting the message across or a positive PSA. Nothing too long. The PBS special, Asian Americans
It tells a perspective that myself and many of my fellow Asian Americans have experienced. It’s not a let’s make light of things or portray us as things we are not for someone else’s gain. Ramy on Hulu
Authentic, modern, relatable as a first-generation. Would be great to see more support behind this and not be the only one. More recently, in the past 3 years, I have found that movies have resonated with my experiences as an individual holding some or all of my marginalized identities. Specifically, I found that "Love Simon" was more representative of my experience in adolescence.
Movies tend to have more time to develop character descriptions, and so identity portrayals are not limited to stereotypes. I wish it could be more focused on some of the topics I described in the past couple of prompts. UNSONG - a web novel
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets I identify as part of a community that sometimes refer to ourselves as rationalists, and a great deal of the thought leaders in that community are, at least culturally, Jewish. A web novel, UNSONG, by one such thought leader was an incredibly deep and complicated dive into the Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, and gave me a much greater understanding of not only the Kabbalah but also the work of rabbis and those who study the Torah and its various commentaries. I don't think it could have been better. Valerian could either have updated or removed the ridiculous stereotypes it used. There are a variety of other problems with the film including but not limited to casting, pacing, and character development, but those aren't really relevant here. The movie Stand and Deliver, which was based from true events that happened at the high school which could've been my second choice high school. Knowing that students from Spanish speaking countries are able to succeed even when the odds are against them.
It resonated because I had friends that went to that high school and it was known as the "ghetto" high school in East Los Angeles. Also, the outcome of the students' high scores on state testing was great to see, especially considering it was based on true events. "Grey's Anatomy" and Sandra Oh's character, Dr. Cristina Yang. Awkwafina.
It's always great to see strong and creative Asian women in popular media. I also appreciate representations of Asian women who are outspoken and open-minded. Multiracial, Demi & Heterosexual, Demi & Heteroromantic, Secular Humanist, Unmarried, Childless6/20/2020
TV: Dear White People, Roots (2016)
Movie: Belle (2013) Poetry: Anthony McPherson "What Are You?", Ariana Brown "Curanderismo" Music: India Arie, Cardi B, and Lizzo. I resonated with the TV media because of the conflict the characters felt regarding their racial identity. They were between worlds and they didn't fit neatly into either of them. However, the characters were between two worlds rather than the four I usually feel pulled in, and the media would have been more relatable if the characters were more than two races. I love Lizzo's music because she expresses positive and uplifting messages about female independence, success, and self-fulfillment in a way absent of men. India Arie also does this in an entirely different genre of music. Meaning some female artists produce content that is in response to a breakup, sexism, or some other event that has to do with a man that takes away from the message of uplifting women. I love Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and Ariana Grande, but some of their most iconic work celebrating "girl power" still centers around men and how a woman is better, stronger, etc. when she loves herself, leaves someone toxic, etc. Lizzo and India Arie's content is about them growing, thriving, and being strong women, and they don't have to mention men at all to show this. Female artists could do better by putting out music that breaks down the narrative that says: women are not complete without relationships and we don't have to sing about men to prove that. I resonate with Cardi B's work because she subverts the typical picture of women's economic dependence on men, and she touts her financial success as a product of her own work ethic and ingenuity. The poetry are two works from biracial artists who speak about their challenges to navigate their racial identity and take ownership of it when they're receiving so many outside messages about what to be. I resonate with their experiences because I feel the same way. Mostly in media, movies, and television.
This resonates with me because I turn on the news or find a TV show in Spanish that are all the same. There are struggles and the cartel is real but that is all you see today. Call Me By Your Name. Brokeback Mountain. Alex Strangelove. Outlander.
I loved that there were movies about people close to how I identify. Brokeback Mountain and Alex Strangelove made me feel like I had a community of people who appear however they want and still have the identities that they do. Call Me By Your Name is the only place I have seen a bisexual couple and it hasn’t been a big horrible deal. Outlander, later in the seasons, shows me that it’s ok to still feel pain from being a survivor. Call Me By Your Name and Love, Simon are movies that I think of right away and Modern Family would be a good TV show.
The LGBT+ community is represented in a way that is not inherently sexual and can show the human side of a community whose voice isn't usually heard as loudly. On television, Modern Family portrayed a healthy and loving multi-ethnic family consisting of two gay men raising children.
I would have preferred had one of the fathers been of a different race, but the extended family had other representations. Schitt's Creek has a character, David, who talks about how he is attracted to all people.
I think that is the first time I have heard a character come out and say it, not have it be sexualized, and have the rest of the scene move on and not dwell on who he is attracted to. TV Series: Master of None, Fresh off the Boat
Books: Everything I Never Told You The media above portrayed characters with similar identities to myself going through and reconciling their minority identities with the culture around them. To expand on this, "Master of None" follows an Asian American adult trying to make his way through life. During the course of the show, his ethnicity at times becomes a focal point either to pay respects to it or as a point of contention. I recall there being an episode where they explore two of the Asian American characters cultural and familial roots as well as how it clashes with the local dominant culture, American. Furthermore, there are many scenes that involve aggression towards his ethnicity. One said scene involves having him having to decide whether to demean himself by acting in a stereotypical manner complete with accent and all in order to get an acting job or to keep his pride. "Fresh off the Boat" is very apt to my own life. It follows a family of 1st and 2nd generation Asian immigrants to America that own a restaurant. My own life mirrors this very well. In this show, the children are attending a school which is predominantly white. Just in general, a lot of cultural clashes in this show resonated with myself. Although I will admit that I stopped after half-way through the second season. "Everything I Never Told You" is a story of a biracial family and their relationships to one another. It explores a lot of subtle means of discrimination throughout all kinds of identities. There are instances where the characters have to reconcile the fact that there are biracial and the parents themselves have to contend with the fact that they are only of one race. Furthermore, there's a lot regarding social pressures when it came to their identities as well. |
Please visit the Media Recommendations page for more information or access to some of the media folks have identified in these responses.
See All Posts or Organize by Identity
All
|