“It’s very important to me that we get into a dialogue, that’s not a hint, it’s not ‘You’re doing everything wrong’, but much more a kind of handout,” says Raschdorff in the 371st episode of the podcast “important today ” about his work. The author of “Schwarz.Rot.Wir” speaks to “today important” host Michel Abdollahi about his experiences – and how diverse our society is today.
Pierrot Raschdorff comes from East Friesland. He himself found his childhood to be very nice, but as the only person of color he often asked himself the question: “Where are the others, am I actually represented in the media?” When Barack Obama became the first black President of the United States in 2009, Raschdorff described his emotions: “There was a sense of relief.”
According to the 2022 Hollywood Diversity Report, conducted by the University of California, the percentage of people of color in major Hollywood casts has quadrupled. It has been proven that more and more women and people of color are directing and writing screenplays. But one problem remains: the overall underrepresentation in film and television.
Raschdorff sees a clear pattern in particular in shitstorms, such as that after the black Halle Bailey was cast in Disney’s new edition of “The Little Mermaid”: “It clearly reflects how we grew up.” However, it’s not all bad. Because society is also changing and so is the image of today’s generation compared to when he was 18 years old. Finally, Pierrot Raschdorff tries to explain the image of today’s generation: “If you look at it a bit exaggerated: this is a generation that really thinks about it.”
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