Today was good. I ate waffles, wrote and saw Home. In the
movie when the mom is looking for Tip she describes her, it made me realize
that this was the first I’ve heard the phrase “beautiful brown skin” used in a
children’s movie. “Skin as white as snow” is etched into my mind as well as
Rapunzel’s long, blonde hair and the importance of it but this was the first
time I’ve heard positives about a feature that I myself had (besides in Aladdin
when he’s talking about Jasmine’s “big, brown eyes” and actually my eyes are
rather small, but anyway). I’ve always known that representation (positive,
consistent representation) is important but sitting next to two little black
girls and watching them hear that little piece of dialogue (that one line!)
that didn’t exist when I was a kid, made me all the more passionate to keep
doing this work. I myself felt validated, I walked out of the theater smiling.
Heck yeah my skin is beautiful.
Very meaningful to read about this revelational experience for you. I suppose many many people simply take it for granted that their screen heroes look like them. But many many people hunger for more representation. Actually all of us benefit of course when we see a wide array of characters in animated films (all films). Glad it gave you extra motivation to work on your book. And speaking of which...would love to see more posts here about how it's going...images of the process of creating it. That's an essential component of the project and a way for you to show off what you've been doing.
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