Existing Together: Diversity in Film
I watched the BAFTAS on Sunday and the poignant diversity speeches given by
Joaquin Phoenix and Prince William. Like most people watching, I started to mull over what we could do in our industry to change things.
... And then I made a slightly unusual connection; I was reminded of Robert Burns, the Scottish poet. You will have to bear with me on this one. (I am Scottish after all)
Robert Burns was part of a movement called the vernacular revival during a time when Scotland was being oppressed by England. Scots language was considered by the English far less superior and not a language suitable for talking about lofty subject matter. So, a group of Sctottish poets reacted to this by writing poetry in Scots.
Whilst Robert Burns joined them in this. he also did something else; he used BOTH Scots words and English words in his poems, placing them side by side. By doing this he allowed both languages to exist in the same space, demonstrating that Scots was a language of equal status to English. See where I’m going with this?
Our reaction to the diversity row is often to go out and make productions with all Black or all Asian casts. Of course there is nothing wrong with that. We should keep making these films because we’ve had white people telling white people’s stories for so long and it is about time we heard stories from other cultures.
However, in order to truly fight this battle, perhaps we should take a leaf out of Robert Burns’ book too. My concern is that if we only make films with all BAME casts as a solution, then we put these groups in a separate category and continue to segregate them. I think it can also be beautiful when people of all different ethnicities share the space and everyone is placed side by side.
Maybe that could infiltrate our reality.
I live in London and there are still areas marked out- Golders Green is Jewish, areas of Brent are Asian, Parts of Finchley Iranian, there are areas that are mainly Afro- Carribean. And then there are areas that are oh so very gentrified and white.
Film is an incredibly powerful medium. Perhaps the more we reflect a lack of segregation in our fictional worlds, the more we will see it reflected and infiltrated in our reality world.
I have been wanting to reflect diversity in my work for a long time. I wrote a play once and I was applying for funding from Arts Council England. I got to the diversity section and it asked if I was making a play to reach a particular ethnic minority. Now the problem was- I had aimed for a completely diverse cast in both gender and ethnicity. I had 50:50 male and female, Afro Carribean, Asian, Eastern European and White ...and ironically that meant that there was no box for me to tick! I wasn’t aiming at ONE group- I was aiming to create a space where all of these groups could work together on stage and reflect the world we live in. However, that didn’t play into their idea of creating something for a particular group. I couldn’t tick that box. Eventually I gave up and just wrote it a special note section instead to explain how my play was in fact aiming for diversity.
We also have to be careful not to encourage work that is purely aiming to showcase an all BAME cast for publicity or to be seen as doing the ‘right thing’. There is a need to care about this issue.
My friend was involved in an all female production of a classical remake a couple of years ago. I will leave the director unnamed. On paper, it seemed like it was ticking all the boxes- an all female production with a diverse cast and women of all shapes and sizes. However, it became clear to her that the director was doing it only because it was fashionable and would give him good press. They didn’t even have make up for the actresses that didn’t have white skin. None of the hair stylists knew how to do afro-caribbean hair. The rehearsal process was horrible, the director was far from respectful and it was one of the worst experiences she had ever had as an artist. However, he received fantastic press and praise for it.
I long for a time where we don’t just tick boxes. Where we reflect the fantastic diversity that we have around us in the world as it should be. Where everyone is given the same status and opportunities in the creative worlds that we make.
We can exist together.