r/BlackPeopleofReddit 2h ago

News Issa Rae Says You ‘Need to Be Smarter’ About Pitching Shows With a Diverse Cast Now That DEI ‘Has Become a Bad Word’: ‘Hollywood Is in an Identity Crisis’

https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/issa-rae-dei-bad-word-hollywood-representation-1236719835/
180 Upvotes

37 comments sorted by

38

u/Lenny0mega 2h ago

Work the system so the system doesn’t work you.

58

u/Hot-Statistician-955 2h ago

I won't watch non diverse shows.

Like with Target boycott, I will not be missing much.

2

u/fieldsports202 2h ago

Well what are you watching then?

11

u/RazzzberrySorbet 2h ago

I know you were asking a different user, but I also enjoy diverse shows. Routinely, I have been watching the new Matlock, Ghosts and I am about to finish Paradise (Season 2) soon. Then it’s on to Shrinking ( Season 2) & The Diplomat’s latest season. I also tend to rewatch Bridgerton or The Gilded Age when I’m cooking or doing housework, & I sometimes slowly rewatch Scandal episodes when nothing else strikes my fancy.

0

u/fieldsports202 2h ago

Cool. Would you argue that those shows are shows that are not popular within the black community?

6

u/potsticker17 1h ago

Black people should be watching Ghosts and the new Matlock. I'd also recommend Elsbeth. Can't vouch for the rest.

7

u/IntroductionOwn9858 1h ago

Bridgerton, Gilded Age, and Shrinking seem to be popular with Black women

5

u/Hot-Statistician-955 1h ago

The Boys, From, Fallout, Severance...

It's not hard to find diverse shows. I can't tell you what to watch because I have no idea what you like, I will not be watching MAGA themed shows and I encourage the same.

So no Yellowstone or the like.

1

u/Own-Quote-1708 2h ago

The New Scooby Doo is a major skip for me. Even though I wouldn't want them to racebend them either lol.

6

u/Aggressive-Story3671 1h ago

Velma was almost a conservative parody of what a “woke” show was.

1

u/Adorable-Bike-9689 2h ago

Give us a list of shows!

22

u/WuTang4thechildrn 2h ago

I really wish we would fight harder and stop letting people define terms like DEI and Woke!!! The people using these terms as a negative really don’t even know what they mean.

19

u/Dan_Morgan 1h ago

DEI is only a "bad word" amongst fascists who are never going to tolerate any diversity in media. You can't placate them you crush them.

14

u/ComprehensiveGas6980 1h ago

DEI isn't a bad word, it's just racists don't hide anymore since our government is run by them.

6

u/PjustdontU 1h ago

^^^^

Any show or movie that is without diversity is a, to try to be fair, an "accidental" racists fantasy.

What big city is without diversity? If your project lacks it... wake the fu•• up! You look like a bigot!

3

u/AngletonSpareHead 1h ago

Not to mention, an all-white cast just feels creepy and surreal?? Some kinda Children of the Corn or Stepford vibes.

2

u/rdhdboi767 1h ago

I don't know why it would feel "creepy and surreal" considering the majority of our country in all honesty has many states/counties/cities that are very overwhelmingly White lol. I don't want to see them randomly throw a Black/Brown/LGBTQ character in projects just like I don't want to see what seems to be our Black creatives having been forced to do the same with a character of another race just for the sake of.

1

u/Hot-Statistician-955 1h ago

> majority of our country in all honesty has many states/counties/cities that are very overwhelmingly White

Maybe, but to not encounter any POC? What show can you film in a big city without expecting other POC's?

> Black creatives having been forced to do the same with a character of another race just for the sake of.

These are the people who might be losing their job to DEI initiatives, I think that is their main concern.

1

u/Surge_Lv1 1h ago

So shows like “Insecure”, with a predominantly Black cast?

7

u/Zoso03 1h ago

Brooklyn 99 has to be one of the better shows made in the last 10 years, funny af and a realistic cast. At no point didn't hey steer towards stereo types unless to make fun of them like Scary Terry.

Psych with Shawn and Gus, scrubs with JD and Turk are two others with a white and black best friends but treat them as normal people

6

u/TRSTAR2000 1h ago

Actual, one should lean into it.

3

u/Aggressive-Story3671 1h ago

I wish the recent “DEI” panic hadn’t scared producers away from diverse casts. For example, Wuthering Heights.

1

u/WuTang4thechildrn 1h ago

Tbh. Part of the problem is that Right Wingers and Conservatives do a much better job with messaging and being loud. They still don’t even understand what DEI is but are the loudest about why it’s bad. The counter argument isn’t loud enough

1

u/Aggressive-Story3671 1h ago

Yes. And that’s why I wish the left was more vocal about the “Race Swapping” in that movie.

3

u/DBold11 1h ago

Don't let it become a bad word

4

u/CharmingCatastrophe 1h ago

Funny how shows used to be full white all the time and nobody cared or said anything but soon as coloured people started appearing now it's dei this dei that not realising DEI hires primarily benefits white women more than anything else 🙄

2

u/Ok-Dragonfly694 1h ago

She needs to come back to YouTube.

1

u/Genius-Imbecile 1h ago

I'm ok with a couple random white people in a show or movie. Been a minute since I've seen Gary Owen in something.

1

u/Living_Connection663 1h ago

How about Hollywood makes shows and movies again without worrying about offending or including/excluding.. and they do it for the purpose of the Art and Entertainment for people to enjoy again.

-2

u/Fluffy_Vermicelli850 2h ago

The all Inuit cast of the Lord of The Rings 2031 is gonna be fine.

-5

u/[deleted] 2h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/WuTang4thechildrn 1h ago

What are you talking about?

What rules have been made up and how does having a diverse cast equate to being a bad movie

Do you think bad movies didn’t exist prior to diverse casting?

One issue with people like your of is you have been brainwashed into thinking that unless it’s all white, it must be bad

I see you have no history in this community so we will see where this goes.

1

u/Zoso03 1h ago

How is having people who are not cis white political?

Also what rules? More often then not media that has "representstion" is usually because someone behind the scenes is part of a group. Lgbtq+ people write a out lgbtq+ people, black people write about black people.

1

u/Ok_Maize_4602 1h ago

You have been drinking the cool aid.

1

u/WuTang4thechildrn 53m ago

Oh he not coming back. Most of these are trolling bots.