During this creepy time of social distancing, due to
the Coronavirus, people are watching films and TV now more than ever. However, watching movies and television shows
is often quite emotionally draining for me, as a person who deeply believes in
Patty Berne’s 10 principles of disability justice. Berne’s first principal of
disability justice called Intersectionality states, “We are not only disabled,
we are also each coming from a specific experience of race, class, sexuality,
age, religious background, geographical location, immigration status, and
more,” (Sins Invalid, 23). The majority of the time though, we see able-bodied,
thin, white, actors and actresses in starring roles. Now, I am not only talking
about the old shows, like “Sex in the City,” (where Sarah Jessica Parker who
played Carrie, Kim Cattrall who played Samantha, Kristin Davis who played Charlotte,
and Cynthia Nixon who played Miranda,) all fit this profile. Several of the movies
nominated for Academy Awards this year also have this same makeup of its casts,
including “Bombshell,” a film that exposes the story of the women who were
sexually harassed by Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, and “Little Women.” Why couldn’t
a more modern version of “Little Women” have more diversity in its choice of
actors? Why was it so important for Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth, (played by Saoirse Ronan,
Emma Watson, Florence Plough, and Eliza Scanlen respectfully) to be able-bodied
and white?
A lot of the queer media is honestly not that much
better. The 2008 movie, “Milk,” which is about the first openly gay man who runs
for City Supervisor in San Francisco, still follows this trend of having an
able-bodied, white cast. “Any Day Now,” (2012), is a heartbreaking film about
two gay men trying to adopt a young man who has Downs Syndrome in the 1970s,
which also does not have any of the main characters who are played by people of
color. This film is inclusive though, in that the director hired Isaac Leyva, a
young man who truly has the disability. Isaac is a member of John Paizis’ Performing
Arts Studio West, the most wonderful program that always encourages the
entertainment industry to include actors with disabilities in its content. Thinking
about inclusion in a slightly different light, the 2018 television show,
“Pose,” could be considered one of the best. First, the director hired mostly
trans people of color as the principal roles. The beautiful MJ Rodriguez, a
half African-American, half Puerto Rican, trans, actress, stars as Blanca.
Indya Moore, a gorgeous, Haitian, Puerto Rican, and Dominican, trans,
performer, who played Angel, and the stunning, Dominique Jackson, a Tobagonian-American,
trans, actress, who played Elektra, are two of Rodriguez’s amazing co-stars. “Pose”
additionally discusses a wide array of intersectional issues that are not often
talked about on mainstream TV. For one, we gain a pretty deep understanding of
what it’s like to be a poor, trans woman of color who is struggling with
HIV/AIDS, through witnessing Blanca’s experience. Additionally, the show paints
a very vivid picture of transphobia, by presenting an episode where Frederica,
the white landlord, takes away Blanca’s ability to have her own nail salon,
just for being trans. We need to support “Pose” and other media like this, as a
way of celebrating diversity and inclusion.
