2017 has been a year filled with tough, complicated conversations about everything from sexual harassment, religious freedom to class issues and diversity. Some people’s eyes have been opened to systemic problems in American society, while others continue to refuse to see what segments of our population face on a daily basis.
For all the ‘wokeness’—both real and performative—that permeated the culture, sometimes all it takes is one simple image to remind us how much work still needs to be done. The most recent example is the cover of the Los Angeles Times’ Envelope—a magazine dedicated to awards season. The image features actresses Margot Robbie, Diane Kruger, Saoirse Ronan, Annette Bening, Kate Winslet and Jessica Chastain with the cover line, “Actresses call for a change in the way many stories are told.” While I’m guessing the intent was to celebrate the female point-of-view in Hollywood, it seems to be pointing to a particular type of women’s stories—the ones portrayed by white women, and generally blonde ones at that.
It’s utterly ridiculous to not include any women of color in this cover and conversation. And people on Twitter are rightfully angry.
https://twitter.com/katherinekarlin/status/944266184014356484
Each of these points is incredibly valid. It’s unknown who exactly decided this was a good idea, but one might hazard a guess that there weren’t people of color at the table. Diversity in the stories being told by Hollywood is incredibly important and women absolutely need to be in more positions of power to make that happen. But that can’t just mean white women and their stories.
None of the actresses have commented yet, but Jessica Chastain has been quite vocal lately about inclusion and other feminist issues so perhaps she’ll share some thoughts.
In the meantime, let’s do better in 2018, everybody.
