representation in media which characters in film, tv and books do you most identify with? why? what...
TRANSCRIPT
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Representation in Media
Which characters in film, TV and books do you most identify with?
Why? What traits do you share with them?
How are they different to you?
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Harry Potter and the Lack of Diversity
JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series intricately weaves myths and legends with a World War Two/Holocaust analogy that sends a message of love and tolerance…
…but it’s come under criticism for a lack of diversity in its characters and in the films’ cast
Do you think this criticism
is fair?
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Diversity and representation
What characteristics do you think make up the most common type of characters in fictional
media?
The most common traits of characters in fictional media are: white, male,
cisgender, heterosexual, able bodied, no mental illness…
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Women: TheBechdel Test
Bechdel says she was inspired by a friend, who in turn was inspired by Virgina Woolf. Woolf argued that fictional relationships between women
“are too simple” and that women are only “shown in their relation to men”.
It has to have at least two women in it,
who talk to each other, about something besides a
man
Created by cartoonist Alison Bechdel, the Bechdel Test assesses the representation of women in film.
Seems fairly simple, right?
Do your favourite films
pass?
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Transgender representation
Eddie Redmayne has been cast as a transgender woman, Lili
Elbe, in a biopic film about the painter
This simply reinforces damaging views about trans women, as well as taking
work away from trans actresses
“I know as a trans woman that when we’re misgendered, that is
an act of violence for us. It’s a part of the violence that lead to
Islan’s death.” – Laverne Cox, actress
[Islan Nettle, a trans woman who was beaten to death in a transphobic hate
crime]
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Racial representation
“…And most hauntingly, a twelve-year-old girl from District 11. She
has dark brown skin and eyes, but other than that's she's very
like Prim in size and demeanor…”
Reactions to the portrayal of Rue’s race in The Hunger Games film were
poor:
Despite this description from the books:
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The Harry Potter films seemto have a problem with race…
Lavender Brown in her second year herbology class, as played
by Kathleen Cauley
In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Jennifer Smith played the role of Lavender- a keen student of
divination
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,
Lavender’s role went from that of a
background character, to a major secondary
character, playing Ron’s first girlfriend. She was played by
Jessie Cave
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Disability
Glee’s Artie Abrams is portrayed as physically disabled, and uses
a wheelchair.
The writers of Glee have been criticised for making Artie have frequent dreams where he can
walk, dance and play football, as well as a plot line where his
girlfriend asked Santa to “fix” him.
Why do you think this is problematic?
How many disabled characters can you think of who have
positive representation?
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Sexuality
I always saw Dumbledore as gay…Dumbledore fell in love
with Grindelwald…. Don’t forget, falling in love can blind us. [He] was very drawn to this
brilliant person. This was Dumbledore’s tragedy.
Why do you think many fans were angry that
Rowling never
included this in the
books?
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Well, the books are from Harry’s
perspective- and why would
Dumbledore tell Harry he’s gay?
We should just choose the best actors for the job- so what if they happen to be white, male
and able bodied…?
It’s a children’s book! Why would we
expose them to LGBT issues?
Maybe there are loads of
disabled people at
Hogwarts- we just haven’t heard about
them, because we’re focused
on the Wizarding
War!
Why do we need a minority character?
The story’s not ABOUT that issue!
People like to make a lot of excuses for a lack of diverse representation
in media
How would you respond
to these excuses?
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Why is Rachel Rostad angry at
JK Rowling’s portrayal of Cho
Chang, a Chinese girl who is Harry’s first
girlfriend?Think about a part
of your identity that could be
stereotyped. What stereotypes do people assume
about that aspect of your identity? How does that make you feel?
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Why is positive representation so important?
“So many students have said, trans students have said, “Now I can have a point of reference when I talk about who I am. My friends are like, ‘Oh, like Sophia from Orange is the New Black?
and they’re like, ‘yeah,’ and then they just move on and it’s not an issue.” I got a letter
from a young, from a trans youth’s mother who said that he transitioned because of me and
because of seeing me on the show it gave him the courage to talk to his parents about who he was and they’re supportive and loving and now he’s started his transition. It’s really beautiful.”
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#WeNeedDiverseBooksBecause
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Fandoms, canon and AUs
• Fandom: a community- often online- which shares an enthusiasm and passion for a particular TV show, book or film.
• Canon: something which happens within the story. • Sometimes extended to things not explicitly in the story but
confirmed by the writer/s. Eg. Dumbledore being gay.
• AU: alternative universe, sometimes known as a headcanon, in which members of the fandom adapt elements of the story, often to address issues of representation and diversity.
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Why do you think AUs are popular in
fandoms?
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• Think of a TV show, film or book that you enjoy
• What’s the representation like? Remember:
• Inclusion of one form of representation does not mean it’s necessarily fully diverse.• Eg. A piece of fiction can be good at showing race, but not show
diversity in sexuality
• Not all representation is positive
• What headcanons and AUs would you include to make it more representative?