Representation matters. The reality is that this world, our society, is extremely diverse.  There is no political, economic or social group (ie. ideology) that exists without another group to counter, or exist parallel to it. The question of why representation matters also results in a diverse set of answers, subjective to the person or group answering – however, the common themes of these answers include the ability to see and relate to people similar to oneself (in their race, gender, sexuality, ideology, etc.), in addition to allowing the needs of these different sets of people to be met. As a cornerstone of social society as it exists in the 21st century, visual media (photography, television, film, the internet, etc.) has become one of the most important canvases for representation of and around the world. 

One of the major misrepresented groups within the television sphere are women; the modern and post-modern feminist backlash against which has pushed the issue of gender representation to the forefront of the discussion on representation in television.  Since its conception, and for the next near seven decades post its popularization, television has undergone a distinct transformation in terms of its representation of women. In television’s earlier years (from the 1950s to the mid-60s), many popular television shows, generally in the format of sitcoms, presented female characters who preformed conservative gender roles and confirmed gender divisions (ex. Harriet Nelson of Ozzie and Harriet).  In the years after that (from the mid-1960s to the mid-80s), images of fantastic or super-feminized females also entered the female television character trope (ex. Samantha Stephens of Bewitched, Emma Peel of The Avengers,or Sue Ellen Ewing in Dallas). Though these female characters can be considered perhaps more “diverse” than female characters before – as they were supposedly representations of modern, “independent” women– most of these female characters still existed within and for the male gaze, thus enduring the misrepresentation of female on screen and confirming male sociopolitical hierarchy. 

Gender representation is important because “if attitudes toward female subjugation are systemic, it stands to reason that the art we consume and sanction plays some part in reinforcing those same attitudes” (Ringwald).  Only since the 1990s have female characters began to break the mold of the female character tropes that have been established as the norm. Television shows like Roseanne and Ugly Betty have pushed the boundaries of female representation and challenged what a female character needed to look like in order for a show to be successful by not only showing, but also highlighting female characters with non-normative bodies, working middle-class female characters, and queer female characters. More recently, shows like Orange is the New Black have attempted to completely dismantle traditional female tropes by presenting a very diverse set of female characters (in terms of their race, sexuality, socioeconomic status). Characters like Poussey Washington, a young queer black female with an upper-middle class upbringing, provide a platform for younger, middle-class POC to relate to.  However, despite the diversity seen onscreen, and while these characters themselves don’t outwardly confirm traditional gender hierarchy, the dynamic between the men and women in this show (with most of the female characters as inmates and most of the male characters as the prison guard) still seem to confirm and adhere to a more traditional gender hierarchy. 

The same can be said for the issue of racial representation within television. Similar to the issue of gender representation, racial representation has undergone a very drastic (positive) change since the 1990s.  Popular sitcoms like The Fresh Prince of Bell-Air and The Cosby Show were major stepping-stones for the representation of African-Americans in the American television sphere.  Since then, creatives like Shonda Rhimes have in many ways shattered the metaphorical glass ceiling both on and off screen by creating critically acclaimed and wildly popular television series’ with majority POC casting, while being a POC creative within the television industry herself.  The popularity of her television shows (particularly that of Scandal, which was the first network drama with a black female lead in almost four decades) seemed to have sparked a greater industry interest in diverse storylines, which has consequently resulted in the creation of many other types of television shows centered around POC characters (Harris). Shows like Black-ish, for example, invite POC characters into familial spaces in a way that has not been seen many times before, thus providing a characters and storylines for black families (and the individuals that compose those families) to relate to. However, despite the platform that shows like Black-ish provide for POC, there are still seems to be an unequal representation between POC narratives and white narratives.  In season 2, episode 24 of Black-ish, the adherence to many black gender and racial tropes are still very evident.  During Dre’s dream sequence, Dre dreams of what his life may have been like had he and his family been living in the 1970s.  While the sequence addresses many of the hardships black-Americans lived through during the 20thcentury as a result of systemic discrimination, and show that the television industry is much less afraid to diversify not only in on-screen representation, but also in terms of storyline and written content, there are still many ways such shows can further improve upon how these characters are represented and their stories are told.  For example, based on their performance in this particular episode, Pops plays into the stereotype of the grandfather who adheres to traditional gender roles and nags on his son to “be the man of the household”, and Ruby plays the stereotypically rude grandmother who loves her son and hates her daughter-in-law.  

Representation within the televisual sphere has transformed in the past 80 years. In part due to explosion of media globalization, and in part due to the increased acceptance and fight for cultural diversity, the idea and lack of representation in media has come to the forefront of discussion within the entertainment world.  Many people agree that the entertainment industry has never been more diverse than it is today – both on and off screen; however, this does not mean that it is at a level of diversity where representation is equal across all groups. Though the entertainment industry has made great strides in diversifying what consumers see on screen, and who creates and decides what that is, a lack of equal representation still exists and persists. 

If I were a creative in the television industry within the United States, I would focus on the element of racial/cultural diversity within the television industry, specifically on promoting the Indian-American narrative.  As an Indian-American born and brought up in New York, it makes me sad that I have never seen a brown teenager fall in love on screen, that I’ve never seen an Indian-American as a primary political character, or as a badass crime fighter. As one of the largest populations on the planet, Indians (and, even-more-so, Indian-Americans) seem to be amongst the most underrepresented groups within Hollywood. When Indian characters first began to fill roles on the television screen, they mostly exemplified demeaning and at time out-right embarrassing Indian stereotypes. From Apu Nahasapeemapetilon from The Simpsons to Raj Koothrappali from Big Bang Theory, these characters generally exist as nerdy males with heavy accents and unattractive personalities. Rarely does one every see a normal Indian character, let alone an Indian-American character, and even less so a female Indian/Indian-American character. When it comes to Indian representation in Hollywood the issue seems two-fold: an under-representation as well as a misrepresentation of Indian characters. 

While there has been an intense diversification of character and narrative with the creation of shows like Black-ish and its spin-off Grown-ish, Fresh Off The Boat, and Empire, we have yet to reach a proper level of representation of Indian-Americans (Harris). With shows like Quantico (starring Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra as Alex Parrish) and New Girl (with actress Hannah Simone as Cece), these representation hardly represent an accurate Indian-American girl, let alone experience – though Priyanka Chopra is an Indian Actress she plays a character named Alex Parrish, who is half-Indian/half-white, she might as well not be Indian at all as her cultural identity is barely vital to her character development.  

It’s so difficult to not see people of my culture, of my skin color, of my ethnic background represented in the content I consume on a daily basis, or when represented then generally misrepresented – in many ways I think it’s changed my own perception of what it means to be Indian-American in America. In this essay, I was told to address two literary works and two television shows that we screened in class as evidence for or against my argument.  When you look at all the options I’ve been given, there is no show on the class list where an Indian/Indian-American character has a major role, or even a secondary role for that matter, and there is no writing piece, which speaks in depth about representation of Indian-Americans (and rarely even of Asian-Americans). Shows like Orange is the New Black have been cornerstones of bringing representation to underrepresented groups – but where is the Indian representation in that? If I had to choose a show, I guess I could point to every show on that list and say that we need to not necessarily move away from, but rather expand upon the progress that shows like Black-ish, Orange is the New Black, and Black Mirror have made by considering a fuller range of diverse characters (not just white, black, and Latino). 

As Harris so neatly puts it, “It’s time to stop placing the burden on diversity programs, relying on the few execs who are willing to take chances on people of color, or seeing the success of Scandal and Empire as evidence that there’s no problem to solve. Instead, every show-runner should be forced out of his comfort zone. Why not force show-runners to go beyond relying on what they are sent by agents— to actively seek out new voices? Why not give agents an incentive to dig deeper and find more writers of color?” I agree in that I see how discouraging it can be to minority creatives trying to enter a world where the issue of representation just barely extends to encompass your identity – there is without a doubt a power in that, but it doesn’t make the situation any less discouraging. 

Perhaps this issue persists because Indian-Americans don’t play a major role in the American narrative – we don’t have a long history of systemic repression like African-Americans do, and we don’t have a wild history of immigration like Mexican-Americans do, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t exist or matter within the American social sphere. 

References

Harris, Aisha. “Same Old Script: On screen, TV is more diverse than ever. Why aren’t writing staffs catching up?” Slate, 18 Oct. 2015, http://www.slate.com/articles /arts/culturebox/2015/10/diversity_in_the_tv_writers_room_writers_and_showrunners_of_color_lag_far.html

Ringwald, Molly. “What about “The Breakfast Club”? Revising the movies of my youth in the age of #MeToo.” The New Yorker, 6 April 2018, https://www.newyorker.com/ culture/personal-history/what-about-the-breakfast-club-molly-ringwald-metoo-john-hughes-pretty-in-pink