Are we using the wrong map to achieve diversity in TV?

As an executive producer I spend a lot of time in edits viewing directors' rough cuts of films. The biggest issue is always working out the correct structure of a film. Once the correct structure is in place, everything else can fall into place. It means that over the last ten years of being a series producer and exec' I have become obsessed with narratives. Although I oversee films on a variety of different issues they normally fall into a few narrative archetypes. These archetypes can be found in fairy tales, bible stories and Shakespeare's plays. 

So what has this got to do with a blog on increasing diversity in the media? (Warning: this blog is a little longer than my usual posts so bear with me) 

It is often said that "history is written by the victors" (that normally means the dominant majority in power) but I think it's deeper than that. It's not only the stories that are written by the majority, but the very language and narrative structures that we use are dictated by the "victors". 

               

Sometimes this can be a little difficult to understand so let me use the metaphor of different types of maps to explain. 

For example you could have three different types of maps of the same area; an A-Z Street map, an Ordinance Survey map or a weather map. Now if you asked me to plot out my journey on the different maps my route will always be the same. However, using the first map I would emphasise how I had to go around a complex one way system; with the second map I would point out how hard it was to go up all the hills; and using the last map I would comment on how pleasant my journey was with the warm air front and gentle breeze. 

Most of us do not design the maps we use (nor do know how to) we just use the map that is given to us. But what if we are given the wrong maps? It can have disastrous consequences. Let me talk about a small minority - fishermen. The types of maps that are useful to 99% of the population are useless to fishermen, they need weather maps and maps that indicate high tides and low tides. 

So let's return to narratives. Like maps different narrative structures can emphasise different points, and like maps sometimes the type of narrative structures that serve the majority culture very well will not serve the minority's point of view at all. 

Narrative structure can give you two different interpretations of the bible story of Samson, which ends with him destroying the Philistine temple and killing himself and the Philistines around him. You can either see him as the first "suicide bomber" in history or as a hero (or both). 

That might be an extreme example but one closer to home might be the book "Uncle Tom's Cabin". In the original structure it highlighted the injustices of slavery inflicted on innocent black people. In another structure (normally favoured by black people) it is an example of why passivity to racist oppression is wrong and far from admirable.

As film makers from diverse backgrounds I believe our job is to not only to tell the stories of people from diverse backgrounds but provide them with the right tools and narrative structures to help them tell their own stories. 

If we were cartographers we would be the ones designing weather maps to help the minority of fisherman. Other cartographers would ignore these kind of maps as 99% of the population don't need them. 

The responsibility of black and minority people working in the media is immense. It's the difference between Uncle Tom being a role model or a term of derision, it is the difference between Samson being a hero or a terrorist.