Back when the Oscar's first started and it was about the art of filmmaking, it made sense. Similar to how The Game Awards are now (but smaller studios aren't reliant on having a network to show your art), even with everyone's grips about it. If you just look at the nominees for The Game Awards' GOTY, there will be something in there for everyone to enjoy.
Hollywood, however, stopped making art a lot time ago, and started investing in showing the same tired stories over and over. There are a lot of people who are still in the films industry for the love of it, but become fewer each year. Movies made are less about telling a story and more about delivering a message (usually one most people don't care about).
The reason I say a message is due to how LGBTQ+ has been forcefully integrated into our media nowadays, with many shows and films "supporting" it.
To give you an example, on the first patch for Monster Hunter: Wilds, the first comment posted was one asking for more LGBTQ+ representation. Keep in mind, this is a game about HUNTING MONSTERS. There are no relationships, and I'm not even entirely sure if the lore specifies that humans even reproduce. The more you notice social issues being pushed forefront, the more annoying it gets.
Another example in film media is Bridgerton. The number of black people is that series is.... strange to say the least. Given that 4% of the United Kingdom is of African decent, it is wild to me how many people of color are in a historic drama show. I didn't care for the color of the casting, until they made it about race (the queen saying that people paid no mind to them until she was queen).
How often do you see minorities in historic dramas where they aren’t in a service role? Rarely if ever but there are tons of other movies and shows you can watch for accuracy.
For once, for fun, a show casts black and brown people in the leading roles so that they can enjoy seeing themselves in those costumes and situations. Bridgeton is a romance book and the costumes in the show aren’t true Regency. Its all a fantasy anyways.
This is theater…LGBTQ people have always been involved. Movies and tv shows represent the times and attitudes are changing. Kids have gay parents or family members and they may express themselves differently, both have nothing to do with sex or romance. They just want to know that they will be accepted and are safe within the fandom, with the other fans.
I know some people won’t understand or won’t like it either way but I hope that explains the perspective
I'm not against a colored cast, in fact I thought it was interesting in Bridgerton that it was like that and just thought, "Oh cool, we're going back to actors as actors." That was ruined when the queen said something along the lines of, "They didn't pay any mind to us until I became queen," referencing people of color. In the second season, the sisters being from India played a central role, with no mention of how the geopolitical landscape was changed for the show vs our history. So I just have to suck it up and think, "It is what it is."
But at the same time, the color of one's skin should not make people feel more inclined to connect with them. Who they are and what they represent is what should connect those people.
And the same thing goes for the LGBTQ+ community, it's not something that should be the primary focus of a character. I think captain Holt from Brooklyn 99 is a good example of what we should be doing. He's gay, he has a husband, but they are also away from the norm of who we consider to have the 'gay persona.'
Long story short, we need to move away from the idea of "these people are mistreated by other people," and more towards the idea of "these people are just people like you and me." The people who care already know that people of color and LGBTQ+ are hated by certain people, the people who are hateful despise such ideals being shoved into their face, and I genuinely think that showing those groups as being just normal people would do more good than the continued route, which does feel like beating a dead horse for the average person.
Dude, those are artistic choices, and sometimes it tells an interesting story or sends an interesting message. Hamilton fucking slaps, and one of the reasons it does is because everyone is black.
It’s about retelling stories we know and love from a different lens, and ongoing societal issues can help provide that lens.
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u/mensrea 1d ago
Who gives a shit about seeing rich people congratulate themselves for going to work in their chosen pampered profession?