At the time of writing, we have a new live action version of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" that has recently premiered on Netflix. Unlike the film adaptation from 2010, "The Last Airbender," this version has a much more diverse cast. We can argue about the relative quality of the productions, but I already count this as a major win and a welcome sign of the times. Part of the reason I started this blog back in 2010 was because I needed somewhere to vent about how Hollywood was handling "The Last Airbender" and other projects where Asian characters kept being cast with white actors.
And now it's 2024, and the old practice of whitewashing POC characters is firmly outdated and unacceptable. Despite some setbacks, we are consistently seeing more representation of minority groups onscreen. Moreover, it's common practice to cast POC actors in roles that previously went to white actors, which has sometimes caused a lot of controversy. I've already written posts about this topic, like Who Gets To Exist in Fantasy Media?, so I won't rehash it all here. But to sum up, I don't think that the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction, and I strongly believe that Hollywood still needs to be mindful of inclusion and representation.
The past few years have been very encouraging as we've watched the talent pool diversity. These last few months have been all about Native American representation, with "Killers of the Flower Moon," "True Detective: Night Country," "Echo," and the last season of "Reservation Dogs" all making waves. A year ago, the big push was for Asian-American talent to be recognized, with "Everything, Everywhere, All at Once" and "Beef" getting lots of attention. However, even when the attention dies down, the awareness remains. The actors and filmmakers get more work and more opportunities. Other projects about Asian-Americans and Native Americans and African Americans and Latinos and other minority communities get made. Could "Joy Ride," a raunchy comedy with four Asian-American female leads, have made it to the big screen five years ago? How about a "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" adaptation with an interracial couple, neither of them Caucasian?
It's being proven over and over again that there is room for everybody. And it's so much better when there is room for everybody. You simply can't make the excuse anymore that a POC lead or a POC story won't sell, because after "Bridgerton" and "Black Panther" and "Crazy Rich Asians," and "Abbott Elementary," and "Ghosts," it's clear that they do. You can't argue that the talent isn't there to cast POC roles correctly, because now we can point to excellent Middle Eastern leading men and South Asian leading ladies, and there are more breaking out every day. I love that up and coming stars like Ayo Edibiri and Charles Melton aren't automatically being talked about in terms of their race or their skin color like they might have ten years ago. I love that there's less ghettoization of media - there are plenty of shows made with specific audiences in mind, but I'm not going to be asked why I'm watching that "black" show or movie, the way I remember being asked when I was a kid. And since "Squid Game" conquered Netflix, American viewers finally seem more willing to explore foreign television.
At the same time, there have been massive strides in LGBT representation over the last fifteen years. For a point of reference, "Modern Family" started in 2009, a year before "The Last Airbender" movie. Transgender representation in particular has made such significant leaps that cisgender actors playing transgender roles isn't really okay anymore. It feels like we're still taking baby steps with nonbinary representation, but it's been exciting seeing that community start to make some progress too. None of this is happening in a vacuum and all of this matters.
Of course, the culture war rages on. There are people who want to pretend it's still 2010, and being white, male, straight and cisgender is the default. And there's still plenty of media to cater to their tastes. Half of this year's Best Picture nominees hardly have any POC presence at all. When you get past all those nicely packaged narratives about how representation matters, and look at the numbers, there's always plenty of room for improvement.
I celebrate our victories, but I believe in constant vigilance.
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