The Misrepresentation of Black Men in Media: Weird Enough Productions
The inspiration for Weird Enough Productions came from a variety of places. I remember growing up as a black male watching cartoons and rarely seeing anybody that looked like me. As a student at a predominately white institution, I saw firsthand the effects of media misrepresentation, and how media stereotypes had large effects on peoples’ perceptions and belief systems.
During my first year at college, I volunteered at a local elementary school, where I met an African American fourth grader. Whenever we spoke he loved to tell me about the main characters and plots of all of his favorite television shows. Halloween was approaching, and when asked if he would be dressing like his favorite hero, he told me. “I can’t, I don’t look like them. I’m going to dress as CJ from Grand Theft Auto.” I was surprised; a child that spoke with excitement about superheroes and helping people felt he was forced to dress like a felon. Due to the misrepresentation of African American males in the media he saw, he didn’t think he was capable of being a hero. He felt that his skin color not only disqualified him from being a hero, but automatically made him a criminal. My interaction with that child made me think of the media in an entirely new way because when I looked at him, I didn’t just see a little boy, I saw an entire generation; I saw myself. At that point it was clear to me that something had to be done; somebody had to make a deliberate change. I figured I could be the one to do it.
I love the media industry. In my mind, I see the media as the intersection between art and technology. I selected the media industry because it offered a unique opportunity. It is currently easier than ever to get access to quality equipment, and with the proliferation of new media content aggregators like Vine, Instagram, and Twitter, it is easier than ever to get your content in front of viewers. The African American community has always had interesting and entertaining perspectives on life. The media industry allows me to showcase those perspectives in a way that everybody can see.
My experiences with Weird Enough Productions have been challenging but fun so far. The Weird Enough team is full of hard workers and everybody is passionate about what they do. We literally started from the bottom. One of my friends and I put together a PowerPoint presentation for a pitch competition being held by the entrepreneurship club. We found out about it the day of, but ended up winning first place out of 22 groups. We won 500 dollars in seed funding and everything grew from there. We filed for articles of incorporation, had our website designed, and paid production cost for the first season of our first show. Now we’ve gone from an organization of five to an organization of forty. We have had many setbacks, lost opportunities, and plans that didn’t pan out. But we’ve persevered, and we’re excited for what the future holds.
Our biggest challenge so far has been getting our name out there. We invested a lot of time and effort into creating media pieces; however, we haven’t been able to get people to watch it. When people hear about us in person they’re excited about what we’re doing and willing to support us. However, when we release new videos and we need views, or shares, or likes, it’s a challenge to get people engaged. When people look at something by Weird Enough Productions, I want them to know that it came from a group of people that care about the stories that they are telling. That they are meant to uplift our community, and tell stories that mainstream media sources won’t tell. I want them to be happy that somebody is dedicated and invested in telling new stories from the perspectives of African Americans and other people of color.
With that being said, my favorite part of owning Weird Enough Productions is that I feel empowered. I feel that I’m able to make an earnest difference. When I see stereotypical media, or hear about instances of racism in the media industry, I feel that I am capable of provoking change. The media industry needs an influx of diverse creatives. There needs to be a shift from stereotypical storytelling to unique perspectives. With Weird Enough Productions, I feel like I can start that trend. My business is different than other production companies because we look at the narrative taking place in the media and create content specifically made to combat it. We pay attention to current events and reactively create. Many creatives prefer freedom when making stories. However, we look at the stereotypes that are already in place, and find innovative ways to disprove them.
Fortunately, Weird Enough Productions has received a great deal of support. I attended the American Black Film Festival this summer and even though I didn’t have anything entered in the competition, I received a great deal of encouragement from everybody that I met. Usually when people hear about what my team and I are trying to accomplish, they are always in our favor. People recognize that there is a need for more diverse content creators. The support makes me keep going even when times are hard. The most important lesson I have learned is to persevere. We’ve had many ideas that didn’t pan out. Some of our equipment was stolen and as a result we lost a large amount of the content we had worked hard to produce. However, despite the setbacks, we believe in ourselves and what we’re doing, enough to keep going. That has made all the difference.
For more information about Weird Enough Productions check out www.weirdenoughtv.com , our twitter page @weirdenoughtv and our facebook, Weird Enough Productions.
