According to the BBC, representation is “how media texts deal with and present gender, age, ethnicity , national and regional identity, social issues and events to an audience.” It is also explained that “media texts have the power to shape an audience’s knowledge and understanding about these important topics.”
The basic definition of representation in the media is simply how media, such as television, film and books, portray certain types of people or communities. There are a number of groups who are underrepresented in most Western media like women, people of color, LBGTQA+ people, people with a range of body shapes and types, people of non-Christian religions, and differently-abled people.
Representation is important because it brings a strong and positive perspective that can help fight and break down stereotypes which are detrimental to individuals and limiting to society. It can be used as a to build self-confidence, when an individual sees someone like them in strong roles and positions, it can increase self-love because seeing someone who looks, thinks and acts like you in the media can be very impactful. It can also help inspire and motivate those who might have previously thought they were not capable of doing some things. Representation can also open up new opportunities, the easiest example of this is the lack of acting opportunities available to non-white actors simply because scripts insist on white characters.
Orange is the New Black (2013-2019)
Coco (2017)
Hidden Figures (2016)
DLK 