Misogynistic Media Tropes

WHY ARE PERIOD PIECES SO WHITE?

Written by Ani Tonoyan

It’s Time We Stop White Washing Our Movies

Whether you fantasize about being swept off your feet in a full length ball gown or are a history buff with a taste for drama, period pieces are the perfect escapist romance. Period pieces have been a staple of the film industry since the beginning of the 20th century, giving viewers an opportunity to disconnect from the current era and subsequent problems and a feeling of comfort and nostalgia. However, as Hollywood strives to achieve inclusivity, this genre should not be exempt from the movement to include diverse stories. While Little Women and Pride and Prejudice are magnificent films, it’s time to create more period dramas that are inclusive to BIPOC and queer women.

There are already countless period pieces with majority white cast because: white casting directors in this genre tend to limit representation to keep the pieces “historically accurate. ” At a Creative Industries Federation event, David Oyelowo, star of the Martin Luther King historical drama Selma, expressed his frustrations with the casting of UK period dramas: “Look at the beautiful buildings in London – the blood of my ancestors [is] in those bricks. Why is that story not being told when we love a period drama? It doesn’t make any sense. Black people did not turn up in the UK at Windrush. ” BIPOC have always existed in every part of the globe. Period pieces being majority white is by design to avoid the grim realities of marginalized peoples who were either brought to Europe and the Americas through the slave trade or systematically murdered for existing in North America first. When these atrocities are addressed, it is usually through a white savior’s perspective (Greenbook, The Help) or handled with little regard for the minorities themselves.

Though they claim to be aiming to achieve historical accuracy, filmmakers disregard obstacles faced by minority groups to avoid the discomfort of racism. While it may be uncomfortable to see depictions of brutality and violence toward racial minorities on screen, it’s important to acknowledge the historical context of issues like racism and slavery in period pieces.

However, it is equally important to see BIPOC outside of the context of subordinate racial hierarchies and struggle. In several movies set in the Old South, such as the film Gone with the Wind, the romanticized portrayal of slavery dehumanizes enslaved people and minimizes the horrors of this practice. In these movies, enslaved characters only exist to serve their white masters and move the plot along with no character arc of their own.

Not only are these movies disrespectful and harmful, but they also limit the roles BIPOC can play to simply minor characters who are discriminated against in order to advance the white protagonist’s character arc. The viewer’s understanding of very real and horrific aspects of Western history, such as slavery, genocide, and imperialism, is skewed when films are centered around a white protagonist.

The impact of this media extends beyond the screen. Slavery reparations are a contentious topic in American politics. Many of those who are against reparations do not understand the generational trauma that is specific to African Americans. White audiences are misled to believe falsehoods about the country’s history due to a media and education system that does not portray the topic with historical accuracy. Some filmmakers have completely ditched the “historical accuracy” excuse and gone with color-blind casting to make period dramas still set in European society. There are examples that are well done, such as Hollywood, because the plot is conscious of the characters’ races and adjusts the story to be inclusive to different stories. However, in Netflix’s Bridgerton, what at first appeared to be color-blind casting turned out to be a historical fiction version of race relations in King George’s England. The queen, who is of African descent, marries King George, which magically ends the discrimination of Black people, at least in high society. This obviously oversimplifies the grim reality of racism in the UK in the 17th and 18th century.

Thus, color conscious casting should be used to adapt stories to include a diverse cast, but should not give audiences false realities about the appalling treatment of BIPOC people in Europe and the West. Along with color-blind period pieces, lesbian period pieces have been gaining popularity. LGBTQ+ representation in general has increased with Oscar-winning films like Moonlight and Call Me By Your Name. While this representation is a step in the right direction, the film industry has a long ways to go as it continueshyperfixate on very specific, often traumatic parts of LGBTQ+ lives, such as a transgender person’s transition (The Danish Girl) or a gay person’s coming out (Love, Simon).

While these stories are important to tell, it minimizes the LGBTQ+ experience into a singular moment in a queer person’s life. When queer romance is depicted, it is too often done so in a fetishizing manner that continues to reinforce the patriarchy and heternormativity. Lesbian period pieces provide viewers from a break from oversexual or traumatizing homophobic content. They are a breath of fresh air from the male gaze, which dictates how women are viewed in every piece of media. Movies like Portrait of a Lady on Fire, follow two women who discover what love is for the first time, which is confirmed when Heloise asks “Do all lovers feel as though they are inventing something?” In these movies, the female gaze is introduced to audiences through deep emotional connect and the hand motif.

Unfortunately, many of LGBTQ+ period pieces reflect a lack of intersectionality when it comes to the intersection of race and sexuality. Casting all-white lesbian period dramas functions to make their queerness palatable. There are racial stereotypes at play in these casting decisions that specifically target the hypersexuality of Black women. So, casting white women means directors use their race as a tool to show their purity and virtueinstead of making that clear in the plot- enforcing the harmful notion that white womanhood is somehow more respectable.

While LGBTQ+ people experience homophobia in their daily lives through legislation and attitudes, for white people in the community, their whiteness remains a shield against systemic racism and oppression. In this sense, while white members of the queer community may face heterosexism, they still benefit from systems of white supremacy in similar ways to cishet white people. These systems of white supremacy help create the facade of representation by including white queer characters, but will actively subjugate Black and Brown members of the same community. Although steps are being taken in the right direction, representation at the intersection of race and sexuality is still lacking and must be achieved.

There are entire continents of untapped potential in the film industry; audiences want to see more of the world than just pre-Civil War America or Victorian England. Films that explore BIPOC stories outside the West include Frida, The Handmaiden, and The World Unseen, which are set in South America, East Asia, and Africa respectively. There is a significant gap in the average American’s knowledge of the history of racism due to an education system and entertainment industry that focuses on American history from the perspective of a white man. Adding more BIPOC stories in period pieces gives an audience more context on different groups as well as adds a richness to the story, which only comes with intersectionality. Not only should minorities be included, but their narratives should not be limited to their trauma, as their characters aren’t solely shaped by their struggles. As Hollywood experiences more pressure to include a diverse cast and crew, future period dramas should have all the flare and romance that we love with the diversity that we need.