Dark skinned actors and actresses dominate media

Brea Jones/ Staff Writer

For a long time, African Americans were underrepresented in movies and television shows across the board. Given typical small roles, black actors and actresses never consistently had the chance to showcase their talent.

It was a good movie maybe once a year. Black people are finally being portrayed as “high status” in movies, tv shows, and other media platforms.

With more young black writers and producers like Issa Rae, Jordan Peele, and more fighting for more inclusion and fair representation there have been a lot of changes in the film industry that are hard to go unnoticed.   

The latest movie that shows is the movie Little, starring Issa Rae, Regina Hall, Marsai Martin and more.

When I first saw the trailer for this movie I was truly amazed.

The strong presence of a dark skinned actress in all of the lead roles was very inspiration. When the trailer was over I had chills.

Normally when little black girls get movie roles they are portrayed as naive, ghetto, or incompetent. This is no longer the case. I am seeing the stereotypical barriers finally being broken down.

It has been a long time since I have seen a young black girl in a role where they are portrayed as functional highly intelligent people. Not only does this unreleased movie, “Little”, disregard the basic stereotype, so does the new show on Fox, “The Passage”.

The first two episodes showed three strong willed black female leads that you are rooting for from the start.

The main character, Amy Bellafonte, is a little black girl that has to survive against all odds.

In a way this show means more because I see myself in this little girl. Our matching skin complexion leads me to root for her characters’ survival.

Our survival skills, reactions, and mannerisms are the same which has lead me to connect to her in a way I normally am not able to. Because we think and move alike this show, and others like it, have begun to mean more to me. This is why representation matters, it makes it more relatable and real.

It is way past time for more equal black representation in mainstream media.

The ratings of “Black Panther” proved that many agree it is time to bring more predominantly black casts to the big screen.

The movie racked up $22 million more than “The Avengers”, according to Variety.com, which made it the highest grossing MCU Film in the first week. Not only that,  “Black Panther” has won 60 different awards, and it became the first movie to be shown in Saudi Arabia after a 35 year movie ban.

These accomplishments have led black children to finally be able to see themselves portrayed as something other than a problematic character.

African-Americans have been robbed of the consistent relatable, real, and raw experience in cinema for years. Even though it is only the beginning, I pray it is finally time we begin to see a change.

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