Illustration by Elena Griedel
Going to high school when you look different than everyone else. Coming out as gay to your family. Fighting for the right to work in a job where no one else like you has ever worked before. These are all examples of people getting out in the world and fighting for who they are, what they want, and how they want to be treated. How do we learn to do these things? We can learn from our parents and our friends, but an important sources of ideas are books, TV shows, and movies. Media entertains us by taking us to new places and situations. Media also inspires us to change how our society lives and helps us think about how to do it.
One book that is inspiring a lot of people right now is Wonder, which tells a story about a boy named Auggie who has a face deformity and has been homeschooled. All that changes when his parents enroll him in Beecher Prep for middle school. When Auggie goes to school, students stare at him and make fun of his appearance. After a while people see the good and courage in Auggie and respect him.
At Berkeley High, many people pass through our halls every day and we all feel the pressure to look great because we want people to accept what we look like as normal or cool.
The lesson from Wonder is that it doesn’t matter what you look like, it matters who you are on the inside. The challenge is how to get people to know you on the inside. Wonder teaches us to be patient and to look for people who pay attention to more than appearances. Long-lasting friendships are made from the inside-out.
Books tell you these kinds of messages in words, but TV shows tell you visually as well as verbally. Master Of None, for example, is about an East-Indian man named Dev Shah living in New York City.
That information alone is incredible enough. How many shows star an Asian lead? One of its most critically acclaimed episodes is “Thanksgiving,” in which a young woman named Denise comes out to her family. Denise first comes out to Dev and then some years later comes out to her mother, who is homophobic and disapproves, but wants her daughter to be happy. The lesson is not that coming out to your family will always work out but rather that it is a process. Coming out may take years, involves trusted friends and family can take a long time to get used to a family member’s identity. This TV show is an example of how one person went through this.
Movies also tell stories about how people bring about change in society. Hidden Figures tells the story of the roles of three black women in the American space program during the 1960s.
One of the women was a computer programer, one was a mathematician and one was an engineer. Each played important roles in launching astronauts into space but because of racism and sexism, their contributions went unrecognized. Hidden Figures talks about racism and sexism in workplaces. It also teaches us how to fight back by sticking to our goals in life, speaking out and taking risks, and developing friendships with people who will have your back.
Another lesson to learn is that these historical figures existed. Often times, women and people of color are erased from history, simply for their identity.
By having more of these movies, we get a more complete account of history. We need to remember these people because their accomplishments brought so much to history and it’s a shame that they’re only now getting recognition.
All books, TV shows, and movies teach us about life, whether their creators intend to do so or not. From looking beyond appearances, to coming out to our loved ones, to fighting racism and sexism in our workplaces, the messages in what seems to be only entertainment shape how we see and act in the world. The question is what will those messages be and how should we represent them in media for the better?