11 Things We Must Protect in 2017

Promotional Photo: Columbia Pictures.

Representation

This topic is one I simultaneously cannot believe we have to keep talking about in a fundamental way AND one about which I can’t believe we finally have platforms to discuss and audiences willing to hear us out. Representation in the media, namely in TV and film has been, in short, an embarrassing appalling nightmare. Every time I see a TV show that has all white people in it, I think, “Oh cool so no black people even exist in that universe great fun wow.” Every time I see a movie trailer that’s all straight dudes stomping around and probably punching cars or something, and a woman appears at the end in a leather bikini, I think “Oh wow sweet so this writer/director has never looked at a human woman on the street and seen anything except a gigantic vagina waddling toward him, hope his mother is proud, hope he never has any daughters.” In short, ARE YOU KIDDDDDDING ME, WORLD?!?!

It is so, so, SO easy to write a story that’s representative of the actual reality in which we all live but for some reason only some of us are willing or capable of seeing. Know how I know? BECAUSE I HAVE LITERALLY DONE IT, AND ALSO BECAUSE I HAVE TWO WORKING EYES, TWO EARS, AND THE BRAIN POWER AND HUMAN EMPATHY TO COMPREHEND THAT STORY IS NOT LIMITED TO THE NARRATIVES OF STRAIGHT WHITE DUDES AND THE STRAIGHT, ALLEGEDLY CONSISTENTLY HORNY BRAINLESS WHITE WOMEN WHO SURROUND THEM.

And you know who else had the capacity to see all those things? So many wonderful lovely blessed creators in 2016. Despite the usual garbage we had to hear our uncles talk about wanting to see, we also got many female-helmed, people of color based, gay-heavy narratives out into the world. TV, theatre, and some movies (but srsly movies, get it together) have taken gigantic leaps in the past couple of years, not only in telling stories of underrepresented folks, but also in telling stories of just human people and hiring actors from underrepresented groups to play them. And it makes my heart feel as good as your brother-in-law’s felt when he found out about Sausage Party.

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No more sausage parties in 2017. No more sausage parties literally ever.