2020 brought a huge social and political shift within the United States. On May 25, the murder of George Floyd by police revealed the need for change in the United States. Racial tensions long bubbling beneath the surface regarding police brutality and criminal justice finally exploded. Protesters around the world chanted Black Lives Matter in what was reported to be largest mass protest in U.S. history (Buchanan, Bui & Patel 2020). 2020 saw the resurgence of the previous 2013 Black Lives Matter movement at the peak of the ongoing pandemic. This resurgence of the BLM movement paired with the COVID-19 mandates and at-home self-isolations benefitted media and entertainment, not only as sources of updates for pandemic and racial-related news but also as an escape through television and movies–particularly for Black audiences who were grappling with big feelings about the protests at the time.
Large businesses and corporations were pushed to make statements in support of Black life. In what Variety called an “unusual move,” Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBO, Disney, ViacomCBS (Paramount+), WarnerMedia and many more companies issued statements in solidarity on their social media accounts (Low 2020). On May 30, Netflix tweeted: “To be silent is to be complicit. Black lives matter.” Amazon and HBO issued statements that they “stand with the Black community” and their “colleagues, employees, fans, actors, storytellers.” #BlackLivesMatter trended for most of that month supported by corporate amplification.
Streaming media companies saw the movement as a way to profit from Black audiences’ longing for representation and those interested in learning more about Black lives. Netflix was one of the first platforms to release a Black Lives Matter collection in 2020 after seeing an “uptick in searches for the phrase” (Spangler 2020). Amazon, HBO and Disney quickly followed suit (Willis 2020; Eker 2020).
If streamers’ most visible response to Black Lives Matter were marketed collections, it begs the question: how do Black lives matter on their own platforms? What kinds of stories are they marketing? Is Black trauma not only trending on social media but also on curated corporate platforms?
We approached this question by analyzing the trailers on these collections and coding them based on the degree to which they represented Trauma or Joy. Realizing there were projects that represented both, we added a code “Life” to represent stories that were more complex, engaging Black trauma and joy. Within this code, we realized most of the complex stories focused on famous people, so we split this code into Extraordinary and Everyday Life.
Streaming platforms appear to reduce Black people’s stories to hardship or trauma. Stories of joy or complex everyday lives are clearly underrepresented and occur as frequently as stories that do not center Black people at all (despite their inclusion on Black-focused playlists). Stories of trauma or struggle are more likely to include joy if they focus on famous or successful people who are exceptionally gifted.
These Black collections show Black viewers that they are undeserving of joyful escapism, that the lived experiences of Black Americans are difficult, traumatic, and violent – yet not often nuanced or complex.
[This article is in peer review and has been abridged for this website].
WORKS CITED
Buchanan, Larry; Bui Quoctrung; and Patel, Jugal K. 2020. Black Lives Matter May Be the Largest Movement in U.S. History. New York Times. July 3. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html
Eker, Nathanial. 2020. Disney+ Adds ‘Celebrate Black Stories’ Collection. ITM. June 16. https://insidethemagic.net/2020/06/disney-plus-Black-stories-collection-ne1/
Low, Elaina. 2020. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBO and Other Hollywood Players Take a Stand in Support of Black Lives Matter Movement Amid George Floyd Protests. Variety. May 30. https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/netflix-hulu-amazon-hbo-Black-lives-matter-george-floyd-protests-1234621292.
Spangler, Todd. 2020. Netflix Launches ‘Black Lives Matter’ Collection of Movies, TV Shows and Documentaries. Variety. June 10. https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/netflix-black-lives-matter-collection-1234630160.
Willis, Kiersten. 2020. Netflix, Amazon and Hulu spotlight Black stories with film collections. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. June 11. https://www.ajc.com/entertainment/netflix-amazon-and-hulu-spotlight-Black-stories-with-film-collections/vMxIsfPV3ksp7x2W7AtlQM/