Looking in The Mirror: About Meaningful Representation in Media
Now, this is the twenty-first century, and as we all know, times are changing, people are becoming more accepting of certain ideas and views. Media in general, I believe, reflects attitudes at a certain time towards ideals others hold, in general. Now, letâs take Voltron, for example. The show will conclude with its final season in December and there has been a surge of controversy around the showâs latest season. Now, just as Lauren Montgomery has stated at the latest NYCC, Adamâs death has brought up a conversation about meaningful representation, and it has. Voltron should be used as an example in the future when looking for what to do with representation in the future. But, in truth, Voltron did nothing special. It has done absolutely nothing revolutionary and was not a step forwards in representation in media. Now keep in mind, the eighth season has not been released yet, which means that there is room for things to change. But representation in Voltron, up till now was nonexistent. Voltron had little representation. Voltron had great diversity, sure, and they should be proud of that, because yes their characters are very diverse, from having LGBT+ main characters and PoCâs. They had very good diversity in my opinion, but not representation. Their representation lacked where it mattered most. It fell to common stereotypes and comments outside the show by creators have made it worse. Representation is not just seeing certain characters on screen and that is a very common misconception. Representation is actively seeing a character explicitly doing an action or following a practice, being themselves. Keep in mind that most of the fandom is aged 15-19, most of us are still kids who are developing emotionally. Now letâs take Lance, a fan favorite character for example. Why is he a fan favorite, you ask?
Itâs not because heâs a goofball or a cute character, and yeah I get that those are two of the traits that make Lance a good character, he is funny, but the main reason most people like him so much is the fact that one- he is a person of color, and two- he is relatable to most of us. He is insecure about himself, which is something I bet a lot of us have felt at least once in our lives. He puts up a front, which is confident and cocky but in reality, he isnât confident in himself. He is a character that would sacrifice himself for others. And thatâs why so much of the fanbase feel he is disrespected. People love to project themselves on other characters. Looking at characters that we can relate to in a book or a movie is like looking in a mirror. We see part of ourselves in them. We like to relate to them. We like to go on their journey with them, as we read a book or watch a TV show. Thatâs why many people were upset that Lance was usually not preferred by the creators of the show and was disrespected, as a character. Disrespecting, in this case, comes from the fact that other characters who were not PoC, were âtreated betterâ in the aspect that they had a better-written storyline, or the creators preferred them over their non-PoC characters. Now, donât get me wrong, Pidge is one of my favorite characters. She was relatable and she had a well written and executed storyline that her character deserves. And I know that the eighth season does not come out till later this year, but up till now, all the PoCâs in the show have had a less built plot than her. Now, Iâm not saying that Pidge shouldnât have gotten her arc and that only PoCâs can get arcs- no. Iâm saying that all the PoCâs in the show, or at least some of them, should have arcs that are just as well written and executed as Pidgeâs story. Sure, Shiro is an LGBT+ character with PTSD and is an amputee, but thatâs just diversity. Itâs not actual representation when it comes to him being LGBT, specifically. Sure, he is a great character, my personal favorite, actually, and he has had lots of strong moments over the show but it has one recurring theme. His character is always the one who ends up getting beaten up, tortured, or is used for emotional shock. And thatâs not a very good thing to project onto a character, and it comes off wrong to your PoC audience. Shiro being LGBT was also confirmed outside the show. Itâs not representation if many people in your fanbase could not correlate what creators say outside the show to canon, especially when the original conversation indicated explicitly that Shiro and Adam were best friends.
   Diversity is having a diverse cast or set of characters, and representation is to see those people being represented on screen. Yes, diversity is good, but your teenage fanbase needs representation. We are at an emotionally rough time in our lives and we want to see ourselves in media in one form or another. And having representation that falls to bad stereotypes (ex. âBury your gaysâ) is bad for your fanbase. Voltron is a show that I understand many kids do not watch, but regarding representation, especially that of PoCs and LGBTs is crucial. It is pivotal in shaping the future because we normalize things for children at a young age. Our goal is to live in a utopia and there is no way we will get there unless the next generation is more tolerant and supportive towards one another, and Childrenâs shows have a big influence on how we grow up and our midsts and outlooks when it comes to certain ideas or topics. I am hopeful for new shows that are emerging now, such as She-Ra and The Dragon Prince, have better and more meaningful representation. And I hope that the creators of these shows market to their fan base accurately. And I also hope that Lauren and Joaquim Dos Santos have meaningful representation in their future projects.
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