Black Lives Matter is a movement that fights for racial equality. They are fighting for the same rights and opportunities that white people have. They are fighting for opportunities in every industry, even in TV and movies. Historically, in cartoons people of color are not always voiced by people of color (POC). In fact more often than not they’re voiced by white voice actors.
Actors Stepping Down
Recently, white voice actors have been stepping down from roles where they voice POC. Kristen Bell has stepped down from her role as Molly in Central Park. Jenny Slate has stepped down from her role as Missy in Netflix’s Big Mouth, and Mike Henry stepped down from the role of Cleveland Brown from Family Guy after 20 years as the character. These actors are stepping down from their roles, because they feel the roles should be voiced by POC voice actors. They’ve stepped down so the roles can be filled by POC voice actors.
The Public’s Reaction
These actions have received mixed reactions. Some people think that they did the right thing by stepping down. They believe that the actors should step back to allow POC actors to voice the POC characters. Others believe that there’s no reason that the actors had to step down from their roles. They argue that it’s voice acting, so it shouldn’t matter who voices the role. There are also some people who are offended by the fact that the actors have stepped down. They feel that it’s patronizing that white people are “throwing crumbs” to POC. According to Emperor Pyros “They are essentially saying that [the] only way a Black actor can be successful, is if the white actors lower themselves or remove themselves from the space!” It’s particularly angering to some, because, all they really want is justice and equality.
The Real Problem
I personally feel that the actions of those that are stepping down are indicative of a larger problem, underrepresentation. Hollywood is largely white. This goes for the people that are playing the roles as well as the people that are creating the TV shows and movies. What we need to do is fix the larger problem. Systemic racism has been and continues to be a problem within Hollywood, and throughout the United States. We must continue to speak up and demand justice.
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