#GAReads | No more excuses, fellas: Free the Work debuts its platform to get diverse creators hired in Hollywood
photo credit: Alma Har’el [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Underneath the bold headlines and damning statistics highlighting the lack of parity for women and people of color in entertainment, there’s a more nuanced conversation that shouldn’t be ignored. As actor and producer Viola Davis explained at Variety‘s Inclusion Summit back in May, “I do not want to be a part of a rider,” referring to inclusion riders, the legal language actors can bake into their contracts to ensure more diverse representation on their projects. Actor Frances McDormand first put the practice in the spotlight during her 2018 Oscars acceptance speech. “No, seriously,” Davis said. “I don’t want to be a part of any piece of paper that has to force people to see me.”
It’s a delicate argument: On the one hand, inclusion by any means necessary does yield the desired result of having a wider range of representation both in front of and behind the camera. On the other, being just another checked box can swiftly lead to tokenism or feeling like actual talent is eclipsed by gender or ethnicity.