Diversity and Representation in Media

The examples she uses to criticize Gina Rodriguez just seem...very weak. There’s one brief, also meaningless interjection of an actress being inspiring for women and two instances of mentioning the underrepresentation of Latinas (one specifically in reference to the MCU, where it’s certainly true). And in in terms of statistics, Latino and Latina people do have less representation in Hollywood than black people.

Because of the weakness of her examples, when she refers to Rodriguez’s tears at being called “anti-black” as “summoning up crocodile tears” (i.e., accusing her of just manipulatively acting like she’s hurt rather than feeling actual emotion), it just comes across as unfounded resentment and hostility, driven more by the author’s negative experiences with her own racist family members than by anything Rodriguez has done.

Maybe I’m missing something and there are other statements by Rodriguez that give grounds to the author’s criticism, but I’m not seeing any notable issues based on what’s in the article.

Edited by Galadriel on Jan 26th 2019 at 8:59:23 AM

Leaving Neverland, the Michael Jackson sex abuse documentary aired at Sundance and audience reactions are very strong. Trigger warning for talk about sex abuse and more in the link.

Power of Thor!

redirect warning

New theme music also a box

Even having been cautious of MJ my whole life having heard the reports, the details laid out are devastating. One of the strongest audience reactions involved someone confessing to being a victim of child sex abuse.

Between Jackson, Singer and R Kelly, this year’s off to a gross start for sex abuse stories, even if everyone knew about them for years.

Power of Thor!

A more blunt, upfront article.

Gina Rodriguez: For Colored Girls Who Had Anti-Black Sentiments and Black Twitter Decided Their Tears Weren't Enuf.

"Somehow the hated have to walk a tightrope, while those who hate do not."

As a Latino, I agree with Galadriel. We're underrepresented and while Afro Latinos truly deserve representation, non Afro Latinos also want more.

THIS

Edited by KazuyaProta on Jan 26th 2019 at 10:07:23 AM

Watch me destroying my country

The article clears up a couple things. It points out that some of the black characters in the MCU are Afro-Latino, which explains why someone could see Rodriguez’s remarks about lack of Latina representation in the MCU as erasure. But it still seems to be blowing things all out of proportion and treating innocuous things - like Gina citing an accurate statistic that Latina women are paid less than white, black, or Asian women - as attacks.

The author says they’re talking about intersectionality and the need not to tear down other minorities, but in practice they’re attacking Gina for advocating for Latinas when Gina hasn’t been attacking them. I don’t see the value in going after someone that way for comments that are basically innocuous, and it frustrates me when progressive politics degenerates into that kind of circular firing squad mentality.

(Also, I really dislike the idea that crying is an act of manipulation rather than an involuntary reaction to emotion. It plays into loads of anti-feminist stereotypes about crying being women’s tactic to manipulate their romantic partners, so that being hurt by someone’s words or actions is turned around to make the hurt party the guilty one.)

Edited by Galadriel on Jan 26th 2019 at 10:10:52 AM

Plus, the stereotype of Latinas being drama queens.

She really acussed her of being racist for poiting that? The heck?

Anti-Blackness is a issue in Latinoamerica, colorism is a truly nasty stuff. But...damn, we don't need to play Opression Olympics when discussing Media made-in-USA.

Edited by KazuyaProta on Jan 26th 2019 at 10:16:49 AM

Watch me destroying my country

Given that Afro Latinx people face a lot of discrimination, I’m not willing to brush off Gina’s comments as harmless. She can ask for more Latinx rep without throwing Afro Latinx people or black people under the bus.

Finally reading it, yeah, Gina Rodriguez do seem to have a issue with her obsession to trying to play Opression Olympics, throwing herself in events designed for Black woman.

Thought the article shared...wans't exactly better.

One Latina is most well paid actress = Latinas aren't discrimined. Is literally the logic of "Obama was president, racism against blacks is gone". Is nonsense.

Edited by KazuyaProta on Jan 26th 2019 at 10:49:15 AM

Watch me destroying my country

Or, more to the point, the fact Will Smith (a black man) was the highest paid actor in Hollywood for a considerable chunk of the 00s and early 10s didn't mean black actors didn't get the short end of the stick.

"All you Fascists bound to lose."

For all commentaries that I've read about this, everything this has done is start a online Race War via Opression Olympics between Afro Americans and non black Latinos.

Nice.

Plus, there a deep Broken Base regarding Sophia Vergara, she is a white latina that embodify many of the sexy Latina stereotypes.

Edited by KazuyaProta on Jan 26th 2019 at 10:57:49 AM

Watch me destroying my country

Well, the specific criticism that was raised towards Rodriguez's citing of demographic pay statistics was that it was unclear if she was speaking of employment general or in Hollywood. Which, in general it's true, in acting it isn't.

So since there seemed to be doubt within reason that Gina's cited statistics were accurate in a non-Hollywood context, I didn't post about it here back when they were topical last fall. Several months later there appears to be more of a pattern, which are worth more attention than incidents in isolation.

That note lacked context. As in shown the relevant link (the Mic one in my first paragraph), it's actually that Vergara is eight slots higher in pay than the next Forbes WOC actress (Mindy Kaling and Kerry Washington). It isn't saying either demographic no longer is lacking.

Edited by Tuckerscreator on Jan 26th 2019 at 8:00:42 AM

Honestly, the part that I'd feel more personal is the idea that Afro-Latino should be enought for non afro Latinos.

Issue is, Afro-Latinos aren't the same as non black Latinos (and that without getting into nationality).

A Afro-American isn't the same as a White American and that is the same in Latin America (where besides, you get the divisions of white, mestizo and natives..and that's without getting into other smaller groups such as Asian-latinos). And more importantly, American media almost always ignores the Latino part of Afro-Latino.

Plus, the Black People in twitter telling that Latinos should shut up is just...dickish. Apparently, we should be glad with beign secondary characters and/or literal aliens.

Yeah, that is totally going to convince Latinos.

Edited by KazuyaProta on Jan 26th 2019 at 11:16:18 AM

Watch me destroying my country

...nobody said Latinos should shut up and be happy with only supporting characters and aliens. No one. It's more a "don't point to our success as a problem, it's not taking away your space."

Edited by Tuckerscreator on Jan 26th 2019 at 8:19:46 AM

I’ve frequently bemoaned how few Latinos are present in the MCU and DC films (and the limited options for such), but going after other minorities does nothing for that cause. It is a problem. We shouldn’t just shut up and be happy.

Edited by Beatman1 on Jan 26th 2019 at 11:22:27 AM

This is sensitive topic so hopefully I explain my opinion well. Forgive me and politely check me if don’t.

I don’t really think Gina Rodriguez is anti-black, but I’m aware that that’s not really the problem. Personally, as an African American (and a male one at that) I can’t really say too much on this topic but I’m mostly in agreement with @wisewillow on this one. There’s no reason to throw Afro-Latino (or other women of African descent) under the bus. It just reeks of this gross crabs-in-the-barrel mentality that I just cannot stand.

Even though I do think that marginalized demographics have a right to (and should) point out the disparities regarding representation, anti-blackness is a real problem that I’ve seen firsthand. I will say that the situation does seem just a teeny bit overblown. Gina is problematic and it’s really disappointing how tone-deaf she’s being about the situation. However, I feel like the anger (while justified) is a little misdirected. There’s a larger and deeper problem here that needs to be discussed.

I am absolutely terrified to watch this. Michael Jackson was a weird guy but I’m a massive fan of his music. However, this might ultimately sour his entire catalog for me. I want to believe he didn’t do what he was accused of but good God do I not know what to believe anymore given recent events.

In other news, earlier this week at Sundance Dr. Stacy Smith of USC issued the "4% challenge" for Hollywood members to work with a woman director within the next 18 months. Among those who have agreed to take up the challenge include Tessa Thompson, Jordan Peele, Kerry Washington, Amy Schumer, Paul Feig, Franklin Leonard, Angela Robinson, and it's continuing to pick up steam.

Nice, that’s a good idea!

The producer of Captain Marvel says he hopes that there is "more story to tell with Monic Rambeau".

For those not familiar with her, Monica Rambeau is an African American female superhero from Marvel comics who has the ability to change her body into different types of electromagnetic energy. She has had a number of different aliases over the years but is notable for actually having the Captain Marvel name three decades before Carol Danvers. She also lead the Avengers for a time.

She was also the closest thing to a team leader and protagonist in Nextwave. I say the closest thing because calling the Dysfunction Junction in Nextwave a "team" is a huge stretch.

Edited by M84 on Jan 27th 2019 at 8:16:12 PM

Disgusted, but not surprised

I can honestly say that I never even heard of this comic book/group….

It was a limited series that was sort of a rib on how ridiculous comic books can be. It ends up being pretty damn hilarious and fun as a result.

x3 - See this is exactly what I mean.

Edited by Beatman1 on Jan 27th 2019 at 11:04:30 AM

Sorry what were you referring to with this?

The earlier conversations about their being plenty of Afro-American and African roles in the MCU with hardly any Latinos. There just has to be a better way to make those roles than complaining about the aforementioned roles that community has.