On my object box...

The process for determining a topic for my object box was one of both discovery and excitement. I was thrilled by the opportunity to piece together different media representations of a topic I have invested a lot of emotion. I am an avid reader of young adult literature and a consumer of the different types of media available in this genre. I have even determined this is a genre I’m most comfortable writing creatively. The thought of taking the most recent and most popular forms of media in this genre was intriguing for numerous reasons.

What I began to realize was the most necessary for me to illustrate through the objects, was the lack of diversity in this genre of media, though I could have ventured into many other genres and proved this same point. This genre is especially important to me and my students. I spent most of last year having heated debates about if Team Edward or Team Jacob was better. For the record, I’m Team Edward.

The point I began to try and make in my box is that my diverse population of students is so emotionally involved in this genre, yet for the most part, they have a very limited amount of characters that remotely represent the diversity that makes up our country. Through the process of researching I discovered what I already knew to be true. There are a lot of hostile, racist patrons of this genre that will not be happy until there is no one that would be considered the “other” described on the pages of the latest young adult novel or being represented in movies or television series.

I could have included so many images, clips and various forms of media to depict the lack of diversity most lovers of this genre may not give very much thought to. And if the thought is had, there is a sense of hopelessness and inevitable acceptance, as the task of diversifying media seems too daunting. I know that I became incredibly overwhelmed after sifting through media that truly did not seem apologetic in any way for, or even try to explain, the lack of diversity.

I have such a love for this genre and see the beauty in the stories that are already being told, my only hope is that the artists that are creating this body of work will soon realize that they should want to include the vastness of ethnicities that represent their fans.

Though if I’m being honest, that is not my only hope. I don’t have much faith in any type of change happening in the near future. Unfortunately, I am a realist, I believe that a lot of people are complacent with the status quo, and then there are those like in the article I included in my box about the Avengers, that hold so tightly to the America of the distant past that was 90% Caucasian, they will defame any story that doesn’t have the hero or heroine casted as the traditional fair-skinned actor. They will even go so far as the fans in the article about The Hunger Games, to cast a shadow of insufficiency on an actor or actress in a secondary role solely based on the color of their skin.

I also included images of Obama because a good percentage of our nation would love to believe that we are in a post-racial society, but that is so far from the truth. I feel it is my responsibility as an instructor to keep these issues relevant and encourage my students to be creators of their own media. It may be the only way they will get the representation that is only fair.