Wide-Angle Lens
Photo by Michael Modecki
How well is sexual and ethnic diversity represented in TV and film? We asked two AULA community members to
weigh in and to “update” well-known films that could benefit from a broader perspective.
Thomas Mondragon
Founding instructor, LGBT-Affirmative Psychology Specialization in Clinical Psychology
Mondragon was instrumental in creating a new training site for Specialization students at Being
Alive, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that supports people living with HIV and AIDS. He has a
private practice in West Hollywood with a strong focus on gay-centered psychotherapy.
The Good
The TV show “Glee” has characters who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender – and aren’t all white. This show has done
much to introduce the general public to various storylines about what LGBT youth go through.
The Wish-It-Were-Better
While the film “Brokeback Mountain” was in many ways a powerful and
highly visible film, it continued Hollywood’s depiction of gay men in a
highly tragic, self-hating light.
The Update
The Lord of the Rings films depict male friendships that exude
homoerotic bonding. Imagine what this trilogy would be like if the various
“couples” were explicitly gay, and what a powerful message that would send
about the potential, purpose, and power of gay love?
Illustration by Alexander Lewitzki
Ligiah Villalobos
Photo by Jilly Wendell
BA in Liberal Studies ’13
Villalobos is an independent writer/producer who won a 2013 HUMANITAS Prize for writing the
Hallmark Hall of Fame movie “Firelight,” starring Cuba Gooding Jr. She was head writer on the
hit Nick Jr. series “Go, Diego, Go!” and the writer and executive producer of the hit indie film
“La Misma Luna” (“Under the Same Moon”). She is currently writing multicultural projects for
BET and NBC.
The Good
“Grey’s Anatomy.” Creator/executive producer Shonda Rhimes’ TV shows do a really good job of casting people of color in
professions where they don’t often appear – in politics, as doctors, etc. “Modern Family” not only shows mixed marriages, but
also foreign adoptions and the normality of a gay couple.
The Dreadful
“The Amos and Andy Show” was a terrible representation of African-Americans, so much so that the network and studio that
produced it don’t allow it to air today in repeats. It’s hard to even get stills of that show.
The Update
I would love to see a movie like “The Big Chill” with a multicultural cast. Or, how great would it be if the family who took in E.T.
was a Latino family, or a black family, or an Asian family?
Read more of their comments at
groundswell.antiochla.edu/diversity
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