Media Representation (And How it Sucks)

     The media plays a huge part in our lives. It is everywhere, and it greatly influences the way we view many of the major issues in the world. The impact of media on our lives can be a good thing, like with the social justice blogs that have educated me and many others on important issues. However, it can also be a huge disaster, a prime example being the nonsense propaganda that Fox News babbles about, and that somehow people (old, straight, white men, usually) internalize. In "Disability", Nancy Mairs comments on how the media's representation of people with disabilities can be overall harmful, stating that the lack of dynamic characters with physical disabilities causes "self-degradation and a subtle kind of self-alienation" to be experienced by the disabled.
     This type of effacement does not only occur with physical disabilities, but also with mental ones. It is rare in today's entertainment industry that you come across a well-developed, correctly portrayed character that suffers from a mental illness, but is not defined by it. And on the rare occasion that this character exists, chances are that they are not given the justice that they deserve.
     Take Beth Greene from "The Walking Dead" for example. When the reality of the zombie apocalypse set in, she went into shock, followed by depression, which ended in a failed suicide attempt. Her decision to live, along with her unwavering hope and strength took her from a background character to a dynamic, perfectly developed representation of a woman who had struggled with depression and made it- in an apocalypse no less. This gave many people who had struggled with depression hope as well- if she could do it, why not them? However, due to terrible writing, (SPOILER ALERT), she was shot and killed (probably), dying along with her my admiration for the show. (I mean, it killed off the two characters that had suffered from depression for shock value..? A++ representation AMC.)
     Media portrayal is very important- it gives the people represented a role model and feelings of normalcy and belonging. The entertainment industry has improved, but it still has quite a long way to go in terms of the representation of females, sexuality, people of color, and people with disabilities. In short, it kind of sucks. Really badly. I need to start watching "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Orphan Black" to get my fill of representation, because these mainstream media shows just aren't cutting it.

"It's just so pointless"