Like Mindy Kaling before her, Gina Prince-Bythewood is using the immortal words of Rihanna to deliver a point about the entertainment industry. In a guest column for Variety, the “Love & Basketball” director recounted Rihanna’s speech at the recent NAACP Image Awards, in which the iconic songstress urged other races to be allies to the black community: “They wanna break bread with you, right? They like you? Well then, this is their problem too,” Rihanna said. “Tell your friends to pull up.” Prince-Bythewood tailored those words to apply to show business: “To all my friends in this industry, this is my call for you to pull up,” she wrote.
“Representation matters,” Prince-Bythewood continued. “It matters to us on a deep, molecular level. When we watch ourselves on screen being heroic, or desired, or brilliant, or in love, we can see that for ourselves. And the world sees that in us.” Yet representation on both sides of the camera is still inadequate for many, including people of color, women, and LGBTQ+ individuals. “Representation matters, but it is still too rare in an industry that prides itself on getting better,” the filmmaker stressed. “Representation is not decorating your film with supporting characters of color. It’s about giving filmmakers of color the space to tell the stories, from our lens and our truth.”
Representation is definitely not the black characters that, as Prince-Bythewood put it, inspire “the side-eye” from black audiences, black characters who are “the sidekick, the comic relief, in service of, or saved by, the white characters, and lack full, meaningful storylines.” Representation is not being accomplished when only six percent of the top movies across 2007-2018 were directed by black filmmakers. Representation is not a white writer doing a pass on a script featuring a black female lead, and making her weaker and less dynamic in the process, which once happened on a film Prince-Bythewood was working on.
“In the majority of films, we are seeing ourselves through someone else’s lens. A skewed perspective not generated from real-life interactions or experience, but rather from the intake of previous characters on screen who were depicted as less than, sidekicks, diminished,” she stated. “Recognize this when it happens and stop it. Make it your problem, too. Representation matters. Pull up.”
Hollywood’s gatekeepers must prioritize improved representation but, as Prince-Bythewood pointed out, there’s plenty other people can do, too. Referencing her editor and collaborator, Terilyn A. Shropshire, she said, “Now a black female editor is in the room.” She explained, “When we get through the door, reach back and pull others through with you. Being the only one in the room is not a reason to celebrate. It’s a reason to elevate. Revel in filling it with more. Don’t just admire a new, talented filmmaker’s work. Be active in fostering their career.”
Heeding her own advice, Prince-Bythewood shouted out Channing Godfrey Peoples’ beauty pageant drama “Miss Juneteenth” toward the end of her column. “It is a dope film. The authenticity of the world and its characters is so refreshing and poignant. You can feel that the filmmaker lived her truth. The incredible specificity did not make the film inaccessible. It made it more engaging. I cried twice.” She added, “It is looking for distribution. Pull up.”
Prince-Bythewood’s latest film, “The Old Guard,” will hit Netflix later this year. Oscar winner Charlize Theron and “If Beale Street Could Talk’s” KiKi Layne star in the fantasy epic. Her feature directorial debut, romantic drama “Love & Basketball,” turns 20 this April. She won a Film Indie Spirit Award for its script. “The Secret Life of Bees,” “Beyond the Lights,” “Shots Fired,” and “Cloak & Dagger” are among her other credits.
