On September 20th, 2015, acclaimed actress Viola Davis made history; at the 67th Emmy Awards, Davis became the first African-American actress to win the Emmy for leading actress in a drama.
Viola Davis called for more diversity in the media in her Emmy acceptance speech. She began the speech with a quote from Harriet Tubman, “‘In my mind, I see a line, and over that line I see green fields and lovely flowers and beautiful white women with their arms stretched out to me to get over that line but I can’t seem to get there no how. I can’t seem to get over that line.” In her speech, Davis highlighted a major flaw in media by noting that it is impossible for women of color to win awards for roles that do not exist. TV shows and movies rarely depict a diverse group of people, and thus do not provide equal opportunities for actors and actresses of different demographics.
We are all influenced by what surrounds us, and this includes the media. TV shows, movies, magazines, and other forms of media all seek to show us some sort of ideal. If we only see a certain group of people being showcased as the lead roles, we will believe that those people represent a norm. However, people of diverse backgrounds should be shown as the norm. In real life, there is much more diversity than there is represented on our television screens. We need to recognize people of different races, religions, sexual orientations, economic backgrounds, and other forms of diversity.
Media, particularly the fashion industry, influences the way that we see beauty. If thin, white women are always depicted as the beautiful people, then we begin to believe that they are the only beautiful people. It isn’t an assumption we outwardly make; it is an idea we internalize after years of exposure to the media’s exclusive ideals of beauty.
We need to have a more comprehensive idea of beauty, one that recognizes and promotes all types of beauty, regardless of race, sexual orientation, ability status, and other social identifiers.
The Harriet Tubman quote which Viola Davis used during her speech is from the 1800s, yet it is still very relevant today. We still undervalue excellence and beauty when it comes from anyone outside of what the media depicts as the norm, although many of us have hoped that this wouldn’t be the case. During the Emmys, the host, Andy Samberg, repeatedly joked about the issue of diversity in the media. Since this year’s Emmys had the most diverse group of nominees in Emmy history, Samberg joked, “Racism is over!” However, he then said, “Don’t fact check that.” Samberg’s joke highlights the fact that although diversity has been represented more, there is a long way to go before different people are all represented equally. There is still much that needs to be done to end prejudice in the media, but at least we have begun to recognize the need for diversity in media representation.
