More Than That by Thatiana

More Than That by Thatiana - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

There is so much more to life than just eat, sleep, work, and repeat. Entertainment is one of the ways that people survive, but it’s hard to connect with what you’re watching when the people on screen do not represent you. Being black in America is hard, especially when you grow up in a predominantly white area. Like many people, I choose to escape that harsh reality through books, video games, movies, and tv shows. But that method of escape soon turned sour as I realized that no one on screen looked or acted like me. Representation goes beyond just skin color or cultural background, but it’s also the way people act. Media in the early two thousands depicted black people throughout their racist stereotypes which has led me to pursuing my major in film & television production.

With a major in film and television production, I can get the insight I need to carefully and creatively depict my idea on the screen. I want to show the world that we are nothing like what they see on screen. We aren’t just baby mamas, gangbangers, drug dealers, violent thiefs, slaves, and the sidekick. We are chefs, princesses, ballerinas, writers, directors, doctors, nurses, teachers, students, and so many more positive things. We have to have many more diverse writers rooms and production teams because that is how the best collaboration works. So many diverse ideas built into one could create the best piece of media known to man.