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From the producer of Worth the Wait:

Hollywood, put more Asian men in romantic lead roles.

[x] [x] [x] [x]

TJ MIKELOGAN’s HALLOWEEN HORROR 2025 EVENT ↳ DAY 4: POC in horror

He made history as the first black man to win for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series!

i know i shouldnt be suprised but sinners being out for less than a week and already tumblr is fandomifying and 'poor wet pathetic cat'-ifying the main white man villain of the movie is so... disapointing??? like did the fucking point of the movie really go over your heads that badly or are you just willingly ignorant and stupid?

AND BEFORE ANYONE STARTS; im not saying you cant like remmick, he's a very interesting character, a great villain, and jack o'connell gave a great performance playing him, nor do i care if you think hes sexy, I think hes sexy

but i think to come out of a movie where vampires serve as a metaphor for how black american communities have the life sucked out of them by white people via cultural appropriation (remmick wanting to use sammie's gift to summon his own ancestors) and forced assimilation (all the turned vampires singing and dancing along with remmick's irish folk song and dance juxtaposed with the blend of cultures during sammie's song in the juke joint) and for your main take away to be 'aww the main villain is just a misunderstood sadboy' or 'idc abt the atrocities he looked sexy doing them (when the atrocities in question were racism)' then youre just being so disengenuous and antithetical to the whole point of the film?

and dont come at me with the 'let people enjoy things' bullshit, sinners is a movie FUNDAMENTALLY about racism and racial dynamics in the united states, and i do think focusing on your little y/n x [whiteboy of the month] fics and 'hes so babygirl' posts do actually stunt your own critical engagement with the message this movie was trying to convey to its audience

i think its also a disservice to remmick's character; the moral nuance that comes to light when you consider his position as an irish immigrant to the US, a victim of the colonialist british empire just like the black main cast (although in a very different way) and how, whilst his desire to reclaim his ancestry and heritage is understandable and even relatable, his pursuit of sammie and willingness to kill literally everyone else at the juke joint is allegorical for how, regardless of their own marginalisation, white people will prey upon and steal from black culture(s) and destroy/disenfranchise black communities to serve their own interests, and the movie is NOT subtle about this either, delta slim literally lays it out for us "white folks like the blues just fine, they just don't like the people who make them"

idk im yelling into the void here, the ppl im complaining about are never going to give a shit about racism or even just critically engaging with art when theres a new cute whiteboy to write fluff and angst about, but its just soooo annoying to see, yet again, how fandom spaces, which SHOULD be about uplifing and celebrating art in all its diversity and complexity, once again is nothing more than people ignoring anything that actually makes them have to confront reality and filing off the serial numbers to slot characters into pre-determined fanon molds so they can pump out incorrect quotes and coffee shop AUs en masse until the media iliterate heat death of the universe

if sinners (2025) taught me anything, it's that it IS actually always about race.

you can be oppressed, and still promote and maintain the very same systems of oppression onto other marginalized people. being oppressed in one dimension doesn't allow you to be exempt from oppressing in other dimensions. the "villain" of the movie, remmick, being from the time period of the english colonization of ireland, all the while wanting to take a piece of sammie's own culture from him, use him for it. and this plot point coming after remmick witnesses the significance of sammie's playing within his culture, for his ancestors and how it would shape Black culture in the future.

even in today's society, ive noticed that people treat Black people like a commodity. our worth is only as much as other people decide it to be, and that's usually dependent on how much the oppressor can take from us. for example, the controversy of"internet slang" and how it is blatantly just AAVE with a bad disguise on

do you listen to Black musicians? do you watch Black movies? do you engage with Black creators? do you defend the racist tendencies you notice in your friends, in your family, or do you stay silent? do you listen when Black people tell you you've said or done something racist? do you actually care about not being racist, or do you just not want to look like you're racist?

i just think people have a very specific take on what racism is, and that if they're not committing KKK-levels of violence on people, then they're not racist. or if you've experienced oppression in one form, you cannot possibly be engaging with oppression in another form. but the ways in which we interact with other people and the world will always be through the lens of race, because that is simply what it means for oppression to be systemic, especially in the US and our current political climate

anyway 10/10 movie. highly recommend

Mod Tallulah here.

For those of you who don't know, I am completely obsessed with actress Lovie Simone, and the trailer of her new show has been released.

Forever is a tv adaptation of a Judy Blume book of the same name about two high schoolers losing their virginity. This adaptation is an epic love story of two Black teens exploring romance and their identities through the awkward journey of being each other’s firsts, set in Los Angeles, 2018.

While I'm excited about this show, I would like to address a decline of black girl representation in the YA category. #Wherearetheblackgirls has started because we noticed that young black actresses are barely getting cast in YA media. Our fight for our representation will continue, and part of this is supporting black YA projects when they're released. I'm asking if we can support the cause by supporting this show.

Another good youtube video, on the Disposable Black Girlfriend Trope

Before writing that Black queer &/or trans character, ask yourself:

Another set of resources that I've typed up for my upcoming lesson. I'm sure that even more questions could be asked; I hope that Black folk feel free to include their own additions in the tags! But these ought to be enough to at least get anyone to start self-reflecting during their creation/watching process!

i think severance has a big issue when it comes to how they write their characters of colour bc wdym you had a season long arc about milchick facing racism and discrimination and starting to stand up against lumon only for him to be the villain he was in season 1 in the finale still...

‘Children Of Blood And Bone’ Film Adaptation Sets Principal Cast And Release Date

Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s movie adaptation of Children of Blood and Bone has found its principle cast in Thuso Mbedu as Zelie, Amandla Stenberg as Amari, Damson Idris as Inan and Tosin Cole as Tzain.

Also confirmed are Viola Davis as Mama Agba; Cynthia Erivo as Admiral Kaea; Idris Elba as Lekan; Lashana Lynch as Jumoke; and Chiwetel Ejiofor as King Saran.

In negotiations are Regina King as Queen Nehanda; Diaana Babnicova as Folake; and Bukky Bakray as Binta.

The film is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Tomi Adeyemi. The story is set in an African fantasy kingdom in which a young woman goes on a quest to reclaim the magic that was violently stolen from her people. She and her brother ally with the daughter and son of the king to fight back against his brutal rule.

The movie releases January 15, 2027 in IMAX. Production is set to begin filming in South Africa in the coming weeks. [x]

Shout out to all the Black ppl that can no longer participate directly in the fandom they love because of the stresses of racism 👍🏾 you contain multitudes of value and I'm sorry that the color of your skin and the power of your voice makes people not want to acknowledge that.

Yes, nonblack people can reblog. I'd appreciate it, in fact, if y'all took the time to vocally support your Black friends/fans in fandom.

Black actor who faced abuse over role in Romeo & Juliet calls for industry-wide action

Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, who played Juliet alongside Tom Holland’s Romeo, says racist abuse went on for months

The actor Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, who received a barrage of online racial abuse after being cast in a production of Romeo & Juliet this year, has called for industry-wide action to protect black and brown actors.

The abuse aimed at Amewudah-Rivers began after the Jamie Lloyd Company theatre group announced the cast of its production in April, with Amewudah-Rivers to play Juliet and the Spider-Man star Tom Holland playing Romeo.

Amewudah-Rivers has revealed she also received hate mail, and that she did not feel safe while working on the play, her West End stage debut, at the Duke of York’s theatre.

The worst part, especially looking back on it after Disney Star Wars' pattern of sidelining diverse leads and the cancellation of The Acolyte, is that the show and Abbie were popular. Ichabbie was the top ship!! The fandom was diverse and passionate. Few cared about white Katrina, we were there for Abbie first and foremost. And it STILL HAPPENED. There was no widespread hysteria over casting a Sleepy Holly, NY police detective with a Black woman. If they had treated Abbie right, the fandom would have been happy! And yet, they still sidelined her.

ETA: Check out Kamilah Cole's fantasy novels here.

Here's the thing. What Kamilah Cole says in that tweet isn't quite right. It's not that they decided that what viewers wanted was more focus on white characters. It's that they decided they didn't want the viewers they had.

They KNEW FULL WELL that what their viewers wanted was focus on non-white characters. ALL THE DEMOGRAPHIC DATA indicated that was what their viewers were interested in.

They decided they didn't want the predominantly POC audience they had, and they were willing to alienate their existing audience in an effort to acquire the white audience they felt they "should" have, even if it mean tanking their ratings.

.

I watched Sleepy Hollow on Hulu.

I was mostly watching sci-fi/fantasy media on my Hulu account at the time Sleepy Hollow started streaming, and most of that media featured white leads and predominantly white casts.

But as soon as I finished marathoning the first season of Sleepy Hollow, Hulu started recommending me a bunch of shows it had never recommended to me before, that had absolutely nothing in common with my previous viewing preferences, and had almost nothing in common with Sleepy Hollow besides featuring black female leads.

Seriously.

Hulu's engagement algorithm was legit like, "If you like Sleepy Hollow you might also like Empire and The Fosters." If you don't know what those are, the former is soapy drama about a black family that owns a successful hip hop record label, and the latter is more of a family drama about an interracial lesbian couple raising foster children.

Which is to say,

Not only did the fans love Abbie, but she was the show's main draw. Numbers don't lie.

People who did not normally watch fantasy media were watching this show just to see Abbie, to the point that a streaming service's engagement algorithm assumed anyone who was watching this show must be watching it because they liked shows with black female leads, regardless of genre or subject matter, and started recommending us shows based on that assumption.

Spot on observation. They didn't care about the audience they had at all and made a play to attract more white viewers.

Do you think money is a factor in these biases? I noticed this when running a website that had international appeal. Some demographics bring in more ad revenue than others. It's easily evident by country: countries like the US, Canada, and Europe bring in a ton more per viewer than anywhere in Central & South America or Africa. Media often plays not to maximize their audience by numbers, but to maximize the amount of money their audience has, which in a world where white people have more money, means playing to white people.

Incidentally, this situation can arise through market competition: if there are different studios, the one that plays to the richer audience will make more money so it can grow and become more influential, i.e. be able to stay in operation longer, make more works, have bigger budgets for them, etc.

This is why I think a lot of biases in society won't fully die until we address the problem of wealth inequality. And this is part of why I support policies like the estate tax and progressive taxation.

Money is always a factor, but sometimes biases are even stronger. The thing about movies and TV specifically is that Black Americans go to the movies more often and spend more on streaming services than other demographics. Rich white Americans can afford more expensive pastimes and often spend less on movies and TV. Yes, there are more (not necessarily rich) white people in the USA, but Black people all across the diaspora want more and better representation, and that amounts to a lot of money left on the table.

Hollywood Loses $10 Billion a Year Due to Lack of Diversity, Study Finds

It's not a coincidence that a lot of posts about "how to be a good member of fandom" never discuss racism.

It's not a coincidence.

Whiteness is an assumed default, people of color are assumed to be interlopers and/or unimportant, and the "rules" are supposed to handle instances of overt racism, which they don't.

Those lists of rules that get passed around are true, as far as they go, but they suggest that the responsibility for fandom behavior is entirely individual and not systemic, and that the larger systems and personalities that dominate fandom have no responsibility to deal with racism. But they do have that responsibility, and sticking your fingers in your ears yelling LALALA DON'T LIKE DON'T READ doesn't fix the problem, it just makes you look like a racist idiot.

Or, to put it another way: any system you have in which a Black fan experiencing racism is the one at fault for not interacting "correctly"--any batch of rules in which damage done by racism is the fault of the person experiencing it, and not, you know, the racist--is a bad system.

I’m still processing. And I’m realizing that I’m not that affected as I could’ve been, because I was prepared. It’s not my first fandom. And not my first encounter with fandom racism. With a fandom war rooted in racism. Mentally I have been prepared. Probably since day one. One has to always be prepared in a diverse fandom with a clear white favorite. And probably because I’ve been through this already, not once, not twice, I knew who to follow. The trick is to never follow a rabid white guy stan. That way when shit hits the fan, and it definitely will, one way or another, you will be safe. You won’t have to unfollow, block or be disappointed. You won’t see nasty posts on your dash. You won’t drown in racism.

Da'Vine Joy Randolph

2024 Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actress in The Holdovers