Hopeful Thinking - Saturday, August 19, 2023 - What Precedes Social Change

What precedes social change? Art. Always.

Art informs us of our feelings, it puts words to our unformed thoughts. It connects us with the wider communities of people who are similarly troubled. It helps us gain the collective courage to take action.

The creation of art is frequently the natural human reaction to oppression, for instance. When people have been oppressed, historically you can see their concerns communicated in the art of their time. Their paintings, their theatrical presentations, their books. Sometimes subtle, so as not to draw the ire of the establishment, but clear as day to those who are in sympathy with it. What effect does that type of art have upon a viewer?

Sometimes it might make a viewer understandably angry that their worldview is being challenged or framed in such a way that they feel as if they are being accused of something. Or perhaps the viewer didn’t realize their actions had an oppressive effect and now they are inspired to change. Rare, but not impossible.

What I think really happens when art communicates the grievances of oppression is the formation of community. Art like that draws people together under a unified banner of understanding. That’s what makes social change actually occur. The banding together of the oppressed and their allies. And it’s the art that helped coalesce that new collective understanding.

Think of today’s television shows and movies. Let’s use the examples of both racial equality as well as gender roles. What is different now about these art forms as compared to 50 years ago with regard to race and gender? All you have to do is look at the commercials to see it.

Mixed-race couples are everywhere in advertising nowadays. I’ve seen laundry detergent ads with men doing the housework. And gay couples with families are now frequently shown alongside the more normative heteropairings as well. That is an indicator of who we really are as a society. Marketing agencies spend a lot of money finding out who their audience really is. But their desire for greater market share has the effect of normalizing these issues for everyone. Visibility is everything. Representation breeds equity.

Black and Brown presence in the fields of film and television has also grown exponentially, especially in the last several years. Black and Brown actors are no longer limited to portraying only the roles of slaves, laborers, or the uneducated. They are integrated into all aspects of life now depicted onscreen. That is having a snowball effect on society. And it was the art from before that detailing their absence in those roles and how it made them feel which precipitated the present reality. 

The effect is a double-edged sword, unfortunately. In tandem with the positive growth, the increased visibility of women, LGBTQ+ people, and people of color in the media (as well as their corresponding social progress) has really freaked out a sector of our culture that was not prepared for it. That is a kind way of saying that they liked things the way they were before, when people “knew their place.” They’d very much like to go back in time. Too bad.

Society is, of course, nowhere near where it should or will be on this issue. Black and Brown people, women, gay and trans people are still regularly undermined in show business. But the art has preceded the advancing reality we now experience. It has galvanized the movements and their allies. There will be an effect to that.

The improved depictions of oppressed groups of people onscreen has helped to usher in a broader understanding of the need for equality in our society as well as how it will function once we have it. All under the guise of entertainment. These pieces of modern art are showing us what the world could be like, how to argue against oppression in all of its forms, they give us the blueprints and the cautionary tales we use to build the next world. They are aspirational and inspirational.

So when considering the state of the world today, have a look at the art; be it commercial or otherwise. It will tell you exactly what direction we are headed. Because it is already heralding the next horizon of social progress we will dream of, and then ultimately achieve. It will tell you who we are. And that there is actually hope for us.