Meningkatkan representasi di layar dari populasi yang secara historis dikecualikan tetap menjadi Bintang Utara bagi industri media, dan kemajuan sedang dibuat. Namun, kemajuan itu diukur dengan menggunakan lensa yang sangat umum. Meskipun AS adalah rumah bagi berbagai kelompok identitas yang semakin kaya, dibutuhkan lebih dari sekadar sapuan luas untuk mengubah representasi di layar untuk menangkap beragam kisah dan budaya kita di layar.
Bagaimana orang mengidentifikasi dan memandang diri mereka sendiri adalah hal yang paling penting secara pribadi, kedua setelah bagaimana orang melihat diri mereka sendiri di dunia di sekitar mereka-termasuk di media. Label etnis dan multikultural secara umum tidak dapat menyampaikan keunikan dari setiap individu, namun kekayaan yang mendalam dari populasi kita tetap dikategorikan dengan beberapa istilah umum yang luas, seperti Putih, Hitam, dan Asia-Amerika.
Kelemahan dari representasi dan inklusi melalui istilah-istilah yang digeneralisasikan ini adalah bahwa hal tersebut menghambat orang untuk melihat diri mereka yang sebenarnya tercermin dalam dunia di sekitar mereka. Pada musim TV 2020-2021, misalnya, talenta Asia dan Kepulauan Pasifik yang tampil di layar memiliki porsi 2,9% dari layar di seluruh siaran televisi. Namun, orang-orang yang mengidentifikasi diri mereka sebagai orang Asia Tenggara, jauh lebih sedikit melihat diri mereka sendiri ketika mereka menonton.
South Asians are, however, increasing their prominence in Hollywood, with Kingo debuting as the first South Asian superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Indian-born Anupam Tripathi delivering a breakout performance in Netflixโs Permainan Gurita. For South Asian men, their increasing portrayals in TV and film have brought their share of screen in line with their share of the U.S. population (2.3%). The same cannot be said for South Asian women, whose share of screen stands at just 0.3%โdespite progress in recent years by stars like Mindy Kaling, YouTuber turned late-night talk show host Lilly Singh, Never Have I Everโs Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, and Avantika Vandanapu, who most recently starred in the 2021 Disney Channel original movie Spin.
Importantly, representation isnโt just about being involved or included. True representation involves accurate portrayalsโnot generalistic stereotypes. For South Asians, many on-screen portrayals have focused on specific character types, such as nerds, cabbies and convenience store managers like The Simpsonsโ Apu. Thatโs why itโs important to understand how audiences see the characters and roles they engage with on TV and in filmโto assess whether representation strides are being made in tandem with those associated with inclusion.
News and reality are the most inclusive genres across the top most inclusive programs for South Asians, highlighting a significant shortage across the wide range of other genres, especially those depicting everyday lifeโtopics that would help break stereotypes and appear more authentic. For example, superhero Kingo in Marvelโs Eternals lives on earth as a Bollywood star, but the movie drew criticism from netizens claiming the filmโs Bollywood dance sequence was outdated and shouldnโt have featured English lyrics.
Opening more doors to talent behind the camera is one way to ensure that more stories are told with authenticity. Writer/director Urvashi Pathania, who won the 2021 APA Visionaries Short Film Competition for her film Unmothered, said โI decided to make this film because I didn’t want to play into the South Asian stereotypes. So often, South Asian diaspora films portraying India can veer on poverty porn and I didn’t want to tell a story that didn’t feel authentically mine.”
Avoiding stereotypes is on the path toward the North Star. In a recent interview, casting director, producer and podcast host Keertana Sastry discussed how diversity and authenticity can be accurately portrayed by simply casting South Asian/Asian/BIPOC people for roles. In that way, she says youโre simply โadding a cultural lens without really having to bring it up. Automatically, you are telling a story that becomes universally relatable, because specificity is relatable.”
Dengan kemudahan casting talent yang representatif dan tema-tema kisah kehidupan nyata, penggambaran di layar akan lebih akurat menggambarkan kehidupan yang kaya dari penonton yang beragam-membuat mereka merasa diperhatikan.
For additional insights, download our recent Being seen on screen report.
