I’m not going to repeat the criticisms of racial diversity in media, which criticisms are intuitive and correct. I am going to explain why these criticisms fail to make any impact. The proponents of diversity never define what their sacred word means, so one must deduce the proper definition. Diversity, then, is as follows:
(1) Black people
(2) Women in male roles
Thus, the popular film Black Panther, with eight black characters (the women being scientists or warriors) and two minor white roles, is a shining example of diversity. While it is true that, in the dictionary sense, a strong majority of one race with minor appearances from another is far from “the inclusion of people of different races,” we are beyond dictionaries.
The proponents of diversity can rarely bring themselves to say it out loud but they strive so hungrily to inject their diversity into everything because it is good of itself. That is to say, the idolized presence of blacks and women is a priori good and needs no explanation. This polemic about portraying Anne Boleyn with a black actress never bothers to explain why. Is Jodie Turner-Smith a remarkable thespian whose talents merit a little historical distortion? Evidently not. So, if we haven’t cast her for talent and we haven’t cast her for accuracy, why have we cast her? Why indeed, except that diversity is its own good? This assumption hovers near the surface of all such arguments.
But what is the particular good in blacks and masculine women that is lacking in any other race or in masculine men?
That question is the wrong way of approaching the matter. It’s not that these things are good. It’s that portraying these things is a good.
After the violent removal of the Jim Crow laws, black Americans failed to achieve the same levels of economic success as their white counterparts. The intelligentsia puzzled over various theories for this strange shortfall. One such theory held that whites occupied the better schools and therefore learned success when blacks could not. So, the American government enacted various experiments shipping children out of their ordinary school districts to better achieve integration. This did not produce economic equality.
Another theory held that black children simply did not believe that they could accomplish anything worthwhile because they saw no positive portrayals of black adults in media. They saw a selection of white scientists, white pioneers, white cowboys and black servants. The theory supposed that if black children saw adults of their race depicted as clever, wise and brave, they would aspire to the careers associated with these traits.
Has any social theory ever been so thoroughly tested? The original Jurassic Park gives us a genius black scientist. The first Terminator film gives us the wise black cop who understands that whatever-his-name-is really does come from the future. Speaking of which, Back to the Future gives us the kind-but-tough black musicians who don’t put up with racial harassment. And so on. Anyone with any awareness of popular culture does not need examples. My knowledge of film is far from comprehensive but this dates back to at least the eighties, probably earlier. Two generations!
The logic is the same with women adopting male roles.
This propaganda method has clearly not produced the desired equality. I suppose we must be out of theories, though, because we keep trying it. The actual theory of representation has been long forgotten but we could to muddle forward in the murky and little-understood name of diversity.
This is also why discussion with the advocates of diversity never accomplishes anything. One side wants to tell a story. The other side wants to cast a spell.