Everyone can agree pursuing a career in
the entertainment industry is incredibly challenging. It is perhaps the least
meritocratic line of work on the planet. In so many other professional
endeavors hard work, expertise, and kindness will eventually offer the
opportunity to advance. That formula is less flexible when it comes to being an
actor.
Still, I've
tried to nudge my actor and artist friends to empower themselves in the few
ways they can:
-- by creating their own work and thus opportunities
-- building a
community of like-minded artists
-- and defining
success on your own terms.
Understandably, there are other hurdles
to getting a serious look from industry movers and shakers. As Viola Davis
recently noted in an award acceptance speech, "The only thing that
separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an
Emmy for roles that are simply not there.”
I've had my own
hurdles as an actor of color. This certainly doesn't make me unique as many of
my talented and hardworking friends have to.
But, I've observed that each group that feels marginalized or underrepresented in the entertainment industry speaks up passionately for their own cause. And understandably so. We tend to talk about what we know and directly affects us. It's human nature.
But what if instead of an Asian American actor advocating solely for his own opportunities he spoke up equally loud for more female filmmakers? Or if female filmmakers voiced their concerns with how Arab Americans are so frequently misrepresented in film and media.
Can you imagine the influence we could have if we all stuck up for one another?
The movement to make an "unfair" industry "equally unfair"
would be less fragmented, easier to mobilize, and create unbreakable bonds in
the process.
And if it could work in the entertainment industry the possibilities beyond a film set would be limitless.
And if it could work in the entertainment industry the possibilities beyond a film set would be limitless.
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