AS GLOBALISATION stomps its way across history, blazing the map of the new global village, the question of diversity often comes up. This issue becomes particularly important when the question of mass media comes up. As mergers continue to take place, the major communication houses now have fewer and fewer owners.
Additionally, communication cannot be separated from culture, as it is the means by which culture is transmitted. As such, diversity becomes very important to discussions about what we see on television. The issue of diversity is not merely a matter for fringe communities who want to get a bit of airtime; it considers issues of stereotype and the marginalisation of race, age, sex, beliefs and cultural ethnicity.
The 2002 summit of Women In Film and Television International (WIFTI), 'One Pot Stew', operated under the tagline, 'A Celebration of Diversity'. Diversity was seen in the various films that were screened, several from Jamaica and others hailing from as far away as South Africa, fit into this issue of diversity. So too did the women (and a few men) who were delegates at the summit from all around the world, who mixed, mingled and networked at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Montego Bay, where the summit was held.
The discussion 'Cliche Diversity: Sell It, Don't Sell Out' looked deeper into the issue of diversity, especially as it relates to film production and television programming. The panel (diverse in itself) was made up of Marilyn Beker of Loyola Marymount University (moderator); Diedre Dix, Los Angeles producer; Parminder Vir, Diversity Adviser with Carlton Television and board director with the United Kingdom Film Council; Lone Kuhlman, chairman of Television 2, Denmark; Zaheda Mohamed of Women of the Sun, South Africa, and Marisa Arbona Ruiz, co-vice chair of WIFTI, Washington DC. All brought their personal experience to the table, which made the presentation seem like a celebration of their achievements in several cases. They sought to discuss whether it is enough to merely have 'faces' on the screen, or if more is necessary.
Based on the arguments put forward by the panel, it was evident that capturing diversity on-screen is a very tricky thing and can often result merely in multiple stereotyping. Multiple stereotyping is the situation wherein different racial or cultural groups are presented on screen, but they are all based on stereotypes. Zaheda Mohamed, a South African of East Indian decent, pointed out that she found television programming for East Indians in South Africa to be very limited. She noted that while some East Indians, such as her parents, enjoy the Bollywood films shown in the two-hour segment relegated to Indian programming on Sunday morning, the material did not appeal to her. According to her, it failed to capture her reality and relegated Indian culture to the margins.
Vir spoke of the same 'slotting' phenomenon in England, though she noted that the situation has now changed. In the past, in the UK East Indians were given the same two-hour Sunday morning slot, while Black people were given in the wee hours of Sunday morning/late Saturday night.
Another thing that became evident from the discussion is that real diversity before the camera cannot occur without diversity behind the camera. Whether it was how sex, sexuality, race, or ethnicity is portrayed, all the panellists seemed to agree that it was important that the writers and directors understand the group they were trying to portray in order to avoid producing mere stereotypes.
