Hollywood
dehumanizes people of color on screen using racist media narratives in
order to justify oppression and violence against people of color in real
life.
These comics touch on a lot
of complicated subjects about race and gender in media, but I realized
mainstream representation metrics like the Bechdel-Wallace Test, Riz
Test, DuVernay Test, and Aila Test don’t fully cover the criteria to
discuss those issues, so I made a test of my own.
I
didn’t want to name it after myself at first, but after years of
experience in both comics and Hollywood and having my work and ideas
stolen and reposted online too many times to count, I know that no one
will give you credit unless you claim it, so I decided to put my name on
it.
These are just a few of many stereotypical roles for POC but
there are others, all designed to depict POC as inferior. Overall, the
purpose of Hollywood is to produce propaganda to benefit cis-het white
men—by lying about how pure and good they are—at the expense of everyone
else.
Basically, films are required to fail this test in order
to reach the screen—even with leads of color. Let’s use Asian American
films as examples: To All The Boys fails 1, 4 and 6. The Big Sick fails
2, 4 and 5. Always Be My Maybe fails 6. It’s hard to think of a film
that passes.
Some say representation is a frivolous concern, but
the fact is that movies and TV are not an escape from reality—they tell
us what our reality should be. Media messaging is an integral part of
the systems that perpetuate state violence and oppressive policies
against POC.
That’s why having tests like these matter—it forces
us to think deeply about the kind of content we’re creating and
consuming, and to push harder to do better. It requires that the world
sees POC and other marginalized people as people, and to treat us that
way, both on screen and off.
Note: I didn’t include non-binary
POC in the comics because they tend to not get roles at all, and if they
do, are usually put into either the men or women category. I also
didn’t include white women, who are dehumanized as women but differently
than WOC due to white supremacy.
(Please don’t
repost or edit my art. Reblogs are always appreciated.)
If
you enjoy my comics, please pledge to my Patreon or donate to my
Paypal. I lost my publisher for trying to publish these strips, so your
support keeps me going until I can find a new publisher/lit agent
https://twitter.com/Joshua_Luna/status/1134522555744866304
https://patreon.com/joshualuna
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