Mary Beltran's Criteria For Lasting Diversity

Mary Beltran’s criteria for meaningful diversity, which by no means is all inclusive or overarching, is a very interesting and entertaining scholarly foray into media studies with a focus on equitable diversity and representation in media. Beltran’s criteria are as follows: “are the characters of color fully realized individuals, do the writers and producers appear knowledgeable about and interested in the worlds and perspectives of the non-white characters, does the diversity of the cast appear natural, and finally, do the series or film producers exploit the natural diversity of a story’s setting or subject matter?” I intend to apply each facet of Beltran’s criteria to Baz Luhrmann’s Netflix original “The Get Down,” to show that the show
The characters of color are in fact the protagonists in the show and with the exception of the homosexual love interest of Jaden Smith’s character the White people are actually the shallow and occasionally villainous antagonists to the artistic expression of the Black and Brown characters. To dive right in to the first category of Beltran’s “meaningful diversity criteria,” “are the characters of color fully realized individuals?” While the show is certainly a coming-of-age drama as well, the characters are unquestionably developed and complete, the main characters Ezekiel Figuero, Shaolin Fantastic, and Mylene Cruz are multidimensional and complicated characters. To use Ezekiel or “Zeke” as his paramour Mylene refers to him as an example, he is
Navigating between different sub-boroughs in the Bronx and using complex musically talented Black categories where they were historically and would logically be is a refreshing change of pace from the traditional displays we see in television. Even more surprising is how the writers place the White antagonists where they would realistically be given the setting, the mayor only comes into the Bronx to campaign and quickly leaves once he secures their vote, and the real-estate developer is situated well within Manhattan and Zeke has to seek him out in his environment (which he still navigates well given his background) rather than vice versa. A show about the birth of Hip-Hop in the Bronx in the 1970’s would logically be composed of majority Black characters, and the writers do not squander the same opportunity for realism that so many of their peers seem