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REPRESENTATION IN HOLLYWOOD IS NOT WORTH THE PRICE WE PAY
WRITTEN AND DESIGNED BY LAYNA HONG
Confession: I am Asian-American, and seeing someone who looks like me on an American movie theater screen is bittersweet.
In recent years, Western audiences have been pushing for increased racial representation in Hollywood movies and TV shows. This movement toward visibility has produced highly acclaimed content, such as “Black Panther,” “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Coco.” Diverse storytelling is certainly important. However, we should remain critical of it — especially when it comes from major corporations who stand to profit more than the communities their productions claim to represent.
It is no secret that corporations have figured out that seeming progressive is profitable. One infamous example of this new marketing strategy is “rainbow capitalism,” when corporations market to the LGBTQ+ community, as its members have amassed sufficient purchasing power. Take the rainbow merchandise and company rebrands that emerge every June during Pride Month, for example. Racial representation is another manifestation of this capitalistic phenomenon.
The Walt Disney Co., in particular, has mastered how to profit from performative activism. From its animated films to Marvel movies, there has been a definite increase in positive racial representation. Historically, Disney has portrayed their characters of color through orientalist and racist caricatures, like in “Aladdin” (1992) or “Pocahontas” (1995). However, since the introduction of the animation studio’s first Black princess, Tiana (which has its own problems since she’s a frog for the majority of the movie), Disney has been trying to appeal to the largest audience possible by putting out diverse narratives with diverse faces. With films like “Shang-Chi and the “Legend of the Ten Rings” and “Encanto,” Disney has transformed itself into an acclaimed advocate for more representation of marginalized groups. For example, the song “We Don’t Talk About
PHOTO COURTESY OF UNSPLASH.COM
Bruno” from “Encanto,” a 2021 movie based on Colombian magical realism, gained international success, dominated social media for several weeks and brought in over $90 million in profits in the U.S. The success of “Encanto” proves that Disney’s gamble of inclusion is paying
off, a microcosm of a wider phenomenon: the profitability of diversity.
I am not saying that people are not allowed to experience joy when they see themselves or other groups represented in mainstream media. I loved “Encanto.” Pop culture offers us comfort, allows us to process our emotions and acts as an important medium to bring people together. However, it becomes dangerous when we start using it as an indicator that our society is becoming more equitable.
While representation is important, hypervisibility is not. As a Vietnamese- Chinese person, I have learned the double-edged blade of media representation with every Vietnam War
movie that has dehumanized my people while centering white, American pain.
Even at the highest saturation of Asian American media representation, the U.S. still refuses to acknowledge the weight of its war crimes against my homeland and has stoked anti-Asian sentiment, resulting in racial violence against my communities. So, it does not matter to me if Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon” did well in the box office or if you like phở.
In an era of American global hegemony, I am wary of giving Hollywood too much credit. This critique focuses so much on Disney because the company owns the majority of the media we consume – Pixar, ABC, Marvel and more. Instead of supporting foreign films, we wait for their cultures to be sanitized for a Western audience by Disney. For “Encanto,” Disney hired Colombian and Afro-Latino cultural consultants to inform their story. Although this decision could be applauded, it just makes me think that marginalized people, like me, are allowed to be consultants and actors, but never the owners.
Marginalized people still do not control our own narratives. Representation does not mean much when the marginalized communities that are being “represented positively” on screen are still being systematically oppressed in real life.
I will not beg to be seen by Hollywood. In fact, I don’t think the visibility is worth it if it means that my culture and experiences will be wrapped up, put on shelves and mass-produced.
That is not a price that I’m willing to pay.
