Tim Burton on Diversity - Thoughts

This post is inspired by an article I read about Tim Burton's lack of diversity in his films.

https://www.bustle.com/articles/186641-tim-burton-explains-why-miss-peregrines-home-for-peculiar-children-features-a-predominantly-white-cast


Twitter user, Sam White made an interesting commentary on why Tim Burton's lack of diversity is problematic:

Tim Burton thinks white is the default, the norm. He thinks diversity is a novelty for rare, specific cases. No Tim.https://t.co/zYv6rAUxOB

— Sam White (@samwhiteout) September 29, 2016

I thought that White's analysis of the exclusion of people of colour in film was more or less spot on. This reinforces the ideology that being white is "the default, the norm" which in reality isn't true.

I'm not going to go as far as to say I'm going to boycott Burton's films, but I think from now on I will look at them with a speculative eye. Undoubtedly, Tim Burton is an amazing artist and like many others I've looked towards his work as a source of inspiration. Which is why it's so disheartening to read his seemingly unethical thoughts towards diversity.

Burton's use of a predominately white cast isn't as much of an issue as his conscious decision to do so.  He states that "things either call for things, or they don’t" further alluding to his confusion at the introduction of token characters in The Brady Bunch. This suggests that in his world, white characters tend to be most fitting. As a director and story teller who can conjure up narratives involving children who can fly, how is it so absurd to him to imagine characters who are not white? Interestingly enough, the only black character in Burton's latest film Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, is the lead villain (portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson). It is this stereotyped view of race that must be challenged.

When I was younger and would be constantly sketching characters that I'd imagine and my mum would ask me "why do you always draw white people?". At the time I couldn't really understand why it was an issue, but now I realise that this was probably because all I ever saw in the media growing up was white people. In retrospect this is problematic because as a young child, it was rare to ever see myself reflected in the media. This is why I think it's so important to include minorities, and as a budding artist I have the opportunity to aim towards changing the tropes that already exist in the media.