When I heard Amanda Seales joining The Real, I was on edge about it. Amanda Seales is extremely vocal especially to issues pertaining to race which would have been too much of a challenge for a light-hearted show like The Real. She was just too real for a channel like Fox, a white led by the way. I wasn’t surprised when she quit The Real, but I did gain a new respect for her. She kept her voice, dignity, despite being bribed with a whole lot of money.
Amanda Seales is unapologetically pro-black hands down. She’s educated, articulate, talented, hard working, relatable, and passionate unlike some of these other fake woke back peddling celebs (cough Nick Cannon). Now don’t get me wrong there were times I disagreed with her opinion, but it’s ironic how she was brung on the show to discuss race issues, yet there were reports to silence her.
Diversity Used As A Disguise
And this is one of main issue with “diversity” in Hollywood. It’s only a front. In other words, companies will hire people of color to act, host, feature, etc because they want to gain brownie points. It’s easy to have people of color representing a brand just so that the company can say, “Hey we are diverse”. By doing this, they are able to gain an audience of minorities and improve their ratings. But behind the scenes, the staff running that brand isn’t as diverse and that’s where the root of the problem lies: Projects are aimed towards diverse audiences, but are led by white executives.
What I Saw As An Intern For Sony
After working in the Hollywood scene myself, the unfortunate truth is that the top executives call all the shots as to what gets made. The majority of the time they are white. I’ve had experiences being an intern and seeing some great projects with cultural significance being passed up on because these white executives didn’t get it.
My supervisor who was Mexican pulled me aside as she fell in love with this one script that was clearly meant for POC, but had a fun dynamic. I don’t know the status of that script as of now, but it was initially turned down by the head. Meanwhile I was asked to give recommendations on some actors/actresses to improve diversity which was a great start. However, looking at the final product of the actors chosen, it’s clear that the “diverse” actors are just token characters to fill in the “diversity box”.
Amanda Seales went onto say how much she just hates Hollywood and the dynamic of it. I completely understand because sometimes you have to deal with tyrants and have your voice silenced. I’ve seen that with my own eyes though it’s to be expected at this point.
But Trust Me.. We Have Allies In Hollywood
I will say that there are genuine people out there who are aiming to make great projects aimed at diverse audiences while really having a diverse team to back them up. My supervisor for one is definitely one of those people especially as a person of color herself. She even admitted to giving me this experience to help her out give her a helping hand at diversifying the studio. For that I will always be grateful because I never imagined myself having a fair chance working at Sony especially as a person with color coming from an immigrant family and an low income neighborhood at the Bronx. A worker at the studio who was also a black man made sure to actively talk to other black writers, etc. to make sure their work can get the spotlight it needs.
And a white assistant at the studio was telling me about his dreams to hopefully have a show one day but with a diverse writer’s room (the idea of the show itself featured diverse characters). I feel like there is this misconception that all of Hollywood or all white people in Hollywood are racist and that is not true. There are people who are authentic in creating diversity not only on screen, but behind the screen. That’s what real diversity is.
2020 May Be The Year For Actual Diveristy
It would have been cool to meet Amanda Seales. My supervisor was actually her friend so sometimes I imagine if we could have been destined to meet at my time in Cali. Regardless, it’s rare to find people in Hollywood holding onto their beliefs rather than giving into money. With BLM movements, more companies are giving people of color more recognition. Although I hate that it had to happen with such violence, it’s great seeing POC get the attention they deserve and the power to tell their own stories. We need more diverse writer rooms, more directors, executives, and head positions to be people of color.
