Many problematic portrayals on screen
Stereotypes add to lack of diversity
Early this month, Serena Williams was denigrated in a Jim Crow-era cartoon for standing up for herself.
Sure, Williams was not all sunshine and daisies when she demanded an apology from US Open final umpire Carlos Ramos for penalising her; I understood her frustration. If I spent the last year of my life dealing with a difficult pregnancy, defying death and pandering to what patriarchy thinks I should wear – trust me I will be a very pissed off contender at my final match. The Australian artist responsible for the appalling portrayal of Serena was Mark Knight of The Herald. When many called Knight out on this, The Herald defended it by claiming freedom of expression. This raised an interesting question about those who complain about the “politically correct generation”. Are we really a sensitive generation or are we privileged power players capitalising off the back of minorities in the name of humour? In 1915, DW Griffith created his propagandist feature film, The Birth of a Nation. While the epic has inspired many styles in filmmaking, the movie managed to reignite the Ku Klux Klan, misrepresent American history and came to define the damaging stereotype of black folk on a global proportion. Over a century later the lack of diversity, not only on screen but in writing rooms, has continued Griffith’s legacy. Stereotypes of certain characters seem to be the only acceptable way to portray minority groups and when faced with backlash it is quickly discouraged.
At the flick of a wrist Martin Lawrence and Eddy Murphy paraded as problematic black women who often made the life of a male protagonist difficult.
The colourism seen in many of their shows and movies like Murphy’s iconic Coming to America and Lawrence’s eponymous series Martin depicted dark-skinned women as violent opposites to male leads or light-skinned women.
LGBTQ+ characters are often portrayed as lascivious and immoral men or women.
The actors who play a majority of these roles are cisgender actors. Take Warren Masemola who has been praised for his ability to portray a gangster in a number of series and movies and still (for some miraculous reason) play a flamboyant gay man in SABC1’s Ses’ Top La.
While many gay men are flamboyant, the series shies away from developing the character other than depicting him as comic relief.
So before you retweet, repost or regurgitate what patriarchal pundits foie gras you or add your two cents’ worth to Knight’s portrayal of Serena consider the many questionable portrayals of minority groups. Think about how history has played out for the person you feel has no right to express disdain on how they are portrayed.
The conversation on marred representation is not over, neither are the many on the complexities of queer people of colour. The fight against problematic privilege in entertainment cannot end when it has just begun.