Breaking the Boy Code - The Reason We Keep Talking About Miles Morales

00:00:00.000 Basically, like, it could be encouraging and inspiring, like you all said, like, after when you see, like, for example, like, a movie or something, like, Coach Carter, when I watch it, it makes me want to play basketball, so it inspires me to play basketball and things like that, or if I watch, like, an action movie, like, as a kid, like, with, like, for example, like, a karate movie or something, it makes me want to, like, fight or imitate it, right?

00:00:27.040 so it basically just inspires me and and it basically gives me like confidence

00:00:31.980 great but I would have their own story because it makes kind of like a book it

00:00:39.280 is yeah every age is a new chapter chapter book

00:00:57.040 Hi there. Welcome to the podcast.

00:01:04.480 My name is Jonathan, and as you probably know,

00:01:07.200 I'm in the midst of going through a pile of footage from a podcast project

00:01:10.140 with a group of boys talking about their experiences with race and masculinity.

00:01:16.120 This is the second part of our conversation about representation in media.

00:01:21.020 In this part, we focus less on stereotypes

00:01:24.040 and more on the stories that genuinely move them,

00:01:27.600 where they see themselves reflected or represented.

00:01:31.940 We talked about what qualities stood out to them,

00:01:34.620 what experiences, and in particular,

00:01:37.260 what was the significance of having characters

00:01:40.480 who look like them in creating a story

00:01:43.120 that they can relate to, that they can learn from

00:01:45.660 or appreciate or just sort of see themselves within.

00:01:50.820 And again, just that same note about audio.

00:01:52.540 Like, if you haven't been listening to the rest of these pieces, like, you have to know that we are doing our best with not a lot of budget in the midst of a pandemic.

00:01:59.400 So hopefully you can hear everything okay.

00:02:02.300 What do we mean when we say stories, actually?

00:02:03.900 What are we talking about when we say stories?

00:02:04.860 Like, stuff that happened to you in the past and, like, yeah, basically that.

00:02:10.600 Your struggle can be, like, how, like, how you had an exciting life and then the struggle and then how you cope with the struggle.

00:02:17.400 I mean, it depends on the story, because there's some stories that are, like, non-realistic,

00:02:23.960 and there's also some stories that are, like, that are realistic, and they could teach you,

00:02:28.720 like, life lessons and things like that.

00:02:31.600 They could inspire you.

00:02:33.600 Right.

00:02:33.980 Okay, so we'll get to that.

00:02:35.060 That's perfect, UL.

00:02:36.220 But to rewind just a little bit, we should make the distinction between your own story,

00:02:41.520 which is what Sidique and, like, Shane were talking about, and, like, how do you say,

00:02:46.680 like stories in the media, like movies, TV shows, books.

00:02:52.420 Okay, so then to go back to what Yoel answered,

00:02:55.480 which is the question of what kind of impacts are possible from stories.

00:03:00.180 Like, what are ways the stories can impact their audience members?

00:03:04.140 That they can be inspired, which is totally true.

00:03:08.180 What else comes to mind?

00:03:10.540 They can, like, lead you in a way.

00:03:13.220 You're good.

00:03:13.520 It's like a good way.

00:03:14.540 so that, like, they can, I don't know, but, like, they'll teach you lessons and stuff.

00:03:23.820 It could be encouraging and, like, tell you what happened to other people in the past

00:03:29.300 and, like, the world doesn't revolve around you, kind of.

00:03:33.480 Yeah.

00:03:35.000 Yeah, I like that.

00:03:36.800 So we have the inspiring stories that make us want to, you know, be better, build grit or learn lessons.

00:03:43.320 Any other impacts?

00:03:44.540 What else are you going to do?

00:03:48.540 I mean, stories.

00:03:50.540 Stories can make us sad as well.

00:03:53.540 I don't know if y'all watch, I know this show is like This Is Us.

00:03:57.540 That's the show I watched a while ago.

00:04:01.540 It's hitting me in the feels right now.

00:04:04.540 And so there are certain stories that have the power of people to, like,

00:04:08.540 or one thing i think of is like i'm a huge anime fan and i think of like there's an anime that i

00:04:21.180 watch that like as i mentioned you know inspire me or just certain things that characters upset

00:04:26.780 that i always remember like you know there's certain like quotes that you hear yeah there's

00:04:31.820 always a quote from the one that one villain is always that one quote yeah exactly so there's

00:04:38.060 It's a thing, it could be a one line, it could be something that a character says that just sticks with you that you always kind of remember and look back on.

00:04:45.060 It kind of like captures that memory.

00:04:47.060 So there's a lot of different impacts and we want to hear about some of the specific stories that stand out to you in your life.

00:04:52.060 So write down, don't say it out loud, write down.

00:04:56.060 First of all, a movie or a story or a book that you read or anything like that, that you thought, I am just like that character.

00:05:04.060 Alright, so the next one you're going to do is write down the story that made you feel, or made you most nervous.

00:05:14.060 Nervous? Nervous? Or scared?

00:05:18.060 Nervous, let's say nervous, scared, you can make those synonyms, but like something that sparked a feeling of like being nervous.

00:05:24.060 Scared, basically that's what it is. Being nervous is being scared. If you're nervous, something might happen to you.

00:05:32.060 person you might have. The next one is a story that made you feel most inspired. So a song or a movie or a book that made you feel the most inspired. Motivated. One is write down a story that changed the way you see yourself.

00:05:53.060 change the way you see yourself change the way you see yourself

00:05:59.140 like an move like if you watch the movie and oh sorry like you watch the movie and then like

00:06:08.640 it made you think that it made you think that you're you're more different than you are right

00:06:13.480 now yeah maybe make you realize something about yourself yeah yeah could you give us an example

00:06:20.320 Yeah, I can give a small example, but I don't know how relatable it would be to you guys.

00:06:24.800 When I was younger, say when I was about like 10 years old, my mom and dad are from Jamaica,

00:06:31.200 born in Canada. I never really identified with like being Jamaican really, just because I've never

00:06:35.360 really been in Jamaica much. And then my mom showed me this movie called Cool Runnings.

00:06:41.600 oh we started i think we watched it in our classroom yeah the jamaican bobsled team yeah

00:06:52.160 we got senka we got um your brother we got the reese yes 0.61

00:06:59.920 what do you see all right yeah yeah that won't take no crap off of nobody

00:07:06.960 yeah the cool part about that movie was being able to see like four like people from jamaica

00:07:13.200 there they shot the film in jamaica too my mom was like oh you grew up like i grew up there

00:07:18.320 and all this sort of stuff so being able to see that represented in a movie that was like a disney

00:07:23.360 movie too like that was just a really cool experience for me i was like oh you know being

00:07:28.160 jamaican is like really cool and these guys who were in a place with sun and stuff

00:07:33.600 wrote on ice so within all those pieces each of those characters are really well made black men

00:07:41.040 too and also jamaican and it was just opened my mind to see like wow like being jamaican

00:07:47.600 is like really cool i want to learn more about that and i asked my mom a bunch of questions

00:07:50.880 about that so that's an example that i experienced oh like that then there's none for me yeah so

00:07:57.520 a movie that you're like that or a movie or a book that you're like that story gets me

00:08:02.000 or if somebody else read that like resonates with you yeah resonated with you or if somebody else

00:08:07.760 read it read that book or watched that movie they would learn about you like it's sort of a story

00:08:12.480 that just reflects you in a meaningful life an example for me feeling well you're kind of like

00:08:19.440 probably like um into spider-man you might be brought up into spider-man yeah i hope seen

00:08:26.080 because not just my brother I was being spider-man cuz he was a black woman 0.94

00:08:31.520 was a black black kid loved his shoes was also kind of awkward too like you

00:08:37.900 know he was trying to talk with hey hey like there was that it's just pure me

00:08:46.400 his uncle as well and his dad like all those pieces that represented me like

00:08:52.720 that was like as growing up and even to this day like kind of now like I'm like

00:08:57.400 miles around so that's how I would feel that movie made me feel like that's

00:09:04.600 like something to get you going like if you say like oh man there's like this

00:09:07.180 character that was in here that he's kind of like me or like this situation

00:09:11.200 that this character is going through or yeah if there's like a movie about a kid

00:09:17.440 who's like really into like basketball and he's like you saw his like barriers

00:09:21.280 and obstacles that you resonated with?

00:09:24.460 Adrian.

00:09:25.740 Hey.

00:09:28.620 So now, choose one of the stories that you wrote down.

00:09:32.980 So choose which one you want to reflect on

00:09:35.380 and spend some time thinking about

00:09:38.340 what elements of that story really resonated with you.

00:09:42.280 So was there an important character?

00:09:44.360 Was there a memorable scene or an impactful message

00:09:46.780 that really stuck with you?

00:09:48.240 Like, what was it in that story that made it really stand out to you?

00:09:53.380 Okay, so now we're going to share back about that one story that you reflected on.

00:09:58.140 Yeah, so, there was a character in Jesse and Bunk, yeah, Bunk.

00:10:06.000 His name was Ravi, you know.

00:10:08.260 The reason why I wrote Ravi as a person who, like, resonates with me

00:10:13.100 because, you know, he's smart, I'm smart.

00:10:16.520 It's just, I just felt like he was, like, he was mean, but, like, older.

00:10:26.960 Oh.

00:10:27.880 Yeah.

00:10:28.180 Robbie's also weak, too, in the show.

00:10:30.060 Yeah, I'm weak, too.

00:10:32.960 So he's smart.

00:10:33.800 It sounds like he, was he Indian?

00:10:35.680 Yeah, he was Indian.

00:10:36.720 He was Indian.

00:10:37.440 Which is not Sri Lankan, but closer than other characters.

00:10:42.380 And he was good at school?

00:10:44.220 Yeah.

00:10:44.660 Cool.

00:10:44.880 do you remember what it was like watching so it's a show right yeah do you remember what it's like

00:10:50.300 watching a show and seeing what came to look like look like you and just give yourself

00:10:54.660 it felt like i was in the show because we had similar characteristics

00:10:59.300 yeah why did that matter to you why that matter it just shows like how like there's many different

00:11:10.220 ways you can connect yourself in like movies and stories so i found a way to connect myself

00:11:17.020 and probably use it like in the future

00:11:22.380 for me i picked will smith from french prince of bel-air because he's funny he's good at basketball

00:11:31.660 and yeah he he's funny he's good at basketball and he has many more good characteristics

00:11:40.680 and that's like basically me you know i'm funny i'm good at basketball i'm tall you know so

00:11:48.680 that's what that's why i picked well because i feel like he resonates with me the most

00:11:53.720 he's he's he's also very good in school like even if he has like a different like swagger

00:12:02.080 things like that he doesn't he doesn't care about um he doesn't care about other people's opinion

00:12:07.040 he's like like he's confident and he's good at poems you know and i think and that was the one

00:12:14.940 that was like that um because like he doesn't really try in poems but he's good at it and

00:12:21.860 that's like the same thing as me. I don't really do it unless I have to, but I'm just

00:12:27.400 good at it, so that's why I picked him. Okay, so like I forgot his name because I only watched

00:12:36.520 this movie once. It's called Like Mike. It's about this like kid. I forgot how old he is.

00:12:41.680 He's like 12 or like. He was 13. He's 13, yeah. And he was an orphanage. So he was basically,

00:12:46.980 I'm going to give you like a short story. So blah, blah, blah. He went to like the,

00:12:51.120 there was a nun so there was a nun beside him like checking the boxes from like an orphanage

00:12:56.080 he was in the orphanage then they got these like gift boxes then he found these shoes uh the nun

00:13:01.080 like said his form of famous basketball player or something that was bald yeah yeah but she never

00:13:07.300 told him who it was yeah she never told him who it was so when he got the shoes like he was so

00:13:12.040 good at basketball he could dunk no no no the bully the bully wanted the shoes and then the

00:13:18.160 shoes got electrocuted and then he got some magical powers and everything

00:13:23.080 and now he just went to go get it hey go he wants to go get it and he just became

00:13:27.280 good at basketball he became so good at basketball then like he got selected

00:13:31.180 into the NBA he got some tickets yeah I got in the game and he beat the he beat

00:13:35.920 Tracy one of that yeah he he beat one of the thing tea time the player he's like

00:13:41.400 he was a better than most of the like the average players on the team all the

00:13:45.160 players so they said they wanted him to be on the team but he declined right no he went in he went

00:13:51.200 he went oh so yeah and he was playing in the nb and he was dominating he won the dunk contest too

00:13:57.520 so i was like betsell's height and he won the dunk contest he was in my height i'm six foot

00:14:02.640 three he was like five foot five yeah he was like five four five so like i think it's really cool

00:14:09.720 how he was just the kid and he he was way better than most 30 year olds 20 year olds 40 year olds

00:14:15.140 and I think it's, like, really cool how a kid, like, managed to get in the NBA and stuff like that.

00:14:21.400 What part of that story really stood out to you, and what did that resonate with you?

00:14:26.180 Um, like, he's, like, confident, and he's, like, I don't know.

00:14:33.200 He's just a cool guy and really just, really, he's not afraid to do, like, the next thing that he's going to do.

00:14:42.360 So, yeah, I think he's, yeah.

00:14:43.860 I think he's, like, a really cool person and stuff.

00:14:47.540 Well, so he was confident.

00:14:48.960 He was, like, not afraid to try.

00:14:50.660 Yeah.

00:14:51.260 And so what was the impact on you?

00:14:54.020 It made me feel like I can do anything that I put my mind to.

00:14:58.720 You can achieve anything.

00:15:00.200 Yeah.

00:15:00.400 At a young age.

00:15:01.340 And I feel like you can accomplish your goals if you, like, work hard enough and stuff.

00:15:08.960 Yeah.

00:15:10.180 Nice.

00:15:11.280 Anything else?

00:15:11.860 Okay, what about you, what about your story?

00:15:15.860 Okay, I picked the guy, like someone that like, that you think is like you.

00:15:22.860 It's just one of the stories that had a big impact on you.

00:15:26.860 Oh, Naruto.

00:15:28.860 Oh.

00:15:29.860 Naruto.

00:15:30.860 Okay, tell us more.

00:15:32.860 I feel like no matter what, he never gave up.

00:15:35.860 and then yeah and then after the whole world almost got bombed and he still wasn't he was like

00:15:41.620 he was still like had determination to stop the protagonist and then he got an antagonist

00:15:48.260 and then he got them yeah like he became the hokage the dream his friend went

00:15:57.460 so you mentioned like confidence and determination how does that how does your what is your confidence

00:16:03.140 in your determination what does that look like i'm not i i have confidence yeah like in class

00:16:08.740 when i'm outside when many people have confidence but determination i really don't have that like

00:16:13.700 i don't really feel determined to like do a project or anything i just do it and i somehow

00:16:20.020 like do it like i had determination i can dab on the time how about like if you play like basketball

00:16:26.100 you don't have determination to win if you're in a serious game or nothing you don't have no

00:16:31.780 determination. I don't take both seriously. I don't even put it on after school. Okay, but like, um, how about, um, for a, like, a

00:16:37.940 diathletical word or something like that? Yeah, you don't have determination? You don't want to win it?

00:16:44.260 I mean, like, I couldn't have already told me it's between me, Dravel, intending winning it. I know, so you don't have

00:16:49.500 determination that you'll win it? You could strive and win? Yeah? Well, it's definitely my friend. So what I can say,

00:16:55.640 from what I know about Kakashi, Kakashi one of my favorite characters, too, like, see the confidence.

00:17:00.200 I think you have this like natural sort of skill and ability with yourself as well where

00:17:05.000 you don't necessarily have to be vocal about your skills but you're just like

00:17:09.440 naturally like sort of good at it. And I think that's something of Kakashi as well

00:17:13.760 that I can see within the show. He doesn't really sort of brag about his abilities. He's just like a natural.

00:17:19.100 No he doesn't. He's always quiet. No, he's always quiet.

00:17:22.580 At the end, at the end he kind of like brag about having him be a part of it.

00:17:24.980 It like compared him to like a Naruto for example who's like very vocal.

00:17:28.940 No student. Oh, yeah, he writes about it. Yeah, you can see the contrast there. So

00:17:35.040 Yeah, so that's a little bit of some of the parallels I can see from I want to speak

00:17:40.540 But I like after I watched our tour I I felt like I had something in

00:17:47.020 You know he did break

00:17:49.020 Remember those pretty books you had

00:17:51.020 We saw your eye sensei. They went in huh?

00:17:54.260 How's that bragging?

00:17:56.260 I mean he kind of like like that's not an ability to you said cuz you said

00:18:01.660 you're that's the good at things and you don't know he's naturally good at

00:18:05.720 things too no he can't break sometimes but like having the book and be like

00:18:10.160 that's not an ability I know but you still did good no he's seeing something

00:18:15.380 that resonates with you he seemed that something that resonates with you because

00:18:19.140 you said you mentioned that you're good you're naturally good at things and he

00:18:22.980 stated that in the show that you see that Kakashi is also naturally good at

00:18:27.120 things too so that's what you guys both have in common yeah you understand we're

00:18:35.280 picking you up right okay next question is do you think the stars that you chose

00:18:43.740 would also be impactful for other guys who look like you yes yeah cuz in my

00:18:50.580 In my culture, most parents, they want their parents to be the top of that school.

00:18:59.580 Does Robbie also face those pressures?

00:19:02.580 Yes.

00:19:03.580 How?

00:19:04.580 You know how he applied for the thingy?

00:19:07.580 What thingy?

00:19:08.580 No, in bunk, he applied for some camp, I don't remember, it was some educational camp.

00:19:17.580 he had to apply for it so like probably in the future I have to do that yeah probably in grade 10

00:19:25.120 okay so back to the so that was a good answer what what other people think do you think your

00:19:31.040 stories that you chose would also like would they also be impactful for other people who look like

00:19:36.520 you yes or people who don't look like me still can fair enough okay well what about this what

00:19:47.540 What did you notice about the race of the main characters that you chose as the, like, ones who stood out most of you that you thought you'd share an act about?

00:19:57.540 They're African-American.

00:19:59.540 And we have, it's Bad Lava plays that kid in, like, Mike, so a black kid.

00:20:05.540 And...

00:20:06.540 His was Freshman.

00:20:08.540 Oh, yeah.

00:20:09.540 Yeah, Will Smith.

00:20:10.540 African-American.

00:20:11.540 Now this... 0.82

00:20:12.540 And then not even...

00:20:13.540 Yeah.

00:20:14.540 So what do you notice when you look at those?

00:20:19.540 For my character, he likes competition.

00:20:23.540 There was this girl who came to a camp. 0.51

00:20:26.540 She was smart. 0.98

00:20:27.540 She was Asian. 1.00

00:20:28.540 Who are you talking about?

00:20:29.540 The girl that was friends with Zuri.

00:20:32.540 Yeah.

00:20:33.540 Yeah, that girl.

00:20:35.540 The candy person, Zuri wanted the girl to eat candy, and then she got addicted to it. 0.77

00:20:44.540 Oh, and for the Asian girl, her mom always wanted to take a STDs every single time. 0.66

00:20:52.540 Okay, one more question before we do something slightly different.

00:20:55.540 Do you think it matters to have...

00:20:58.540 Like basically, so you're sure you chose an Indian character. 0.98

00:21:02.540 You both chose a black character. 0.85

00:21:04.540 You didn't actually follow that model.

00:21:06.540 You chose Naruto, which is an anime.

00:21:08.540 So it's slightly different.

00:21:09.540 But do you think it matters overall for young guys like yourself

00:21:12.540 yourself to have characters who look like you in stories?

00:21:17.540 Yeah, it matters because it's like you could get life lessons or like you could learn,

00:21:23.900 you could learn from them like you could take the positive things, yeah you could take the

00:21:27.140 positive things from their character, you could use it as an advantage like.

00:21:33.260 What would you say is the difference between seeing like an actual character who looks 0.51

00:21:38.460 like you compared to just some random white character?

00:21:42.240 the difference is like you can't resonate with the white character because some of the things

00:21:47.360 that happens to a white character doesn't really apply to you like for example privilege not a lot

00:21:53.040 of like people of our color have privilege and things yeah so like if you see growing up if you

00:21:58.080 watch a black person you'll know um like the the struggles they had to go through how they had to

00:22:04.240 work hard and you could take that like work the worth ethic from them but as for like a different

00:22:11.040 a different character that doesn't look like you you don't really know like

00:22:14.960 it could be like easy for them where you don't know yeah you don't know how hard like you don't 0.98

00:22:21.600 know like because of the like the black person it's not really like the same yeah like in like

00:22:28.000 for for me like since like i chose like well smith and friend prince ballet like he he was born and 0.62

00:22:34.240 raised in he was born and raised in west philadelphia then he moved to bel-air where um

00:22:39.840 We're in, like, an all-white school, and basically, like, not all-white school, but, like, it's, like, a private school where there's mostly white people.

00:22:47.420 And him and Carlton and things like that were, like, the only black people and things like that.

00:22:53.780 So it's basically, like, their stories, their storylines might be the same as you or something like that. 0.73

00:23:02.680 So it'd be, like, different.

00:23:04.680 And it might show, like, a true fact.

00:23:08.080 So you know how, like Betael said, Will Smith, he went to a private school where there was mostly boys.

00:23:15.700 So let's say if there was a black person, just let's say, let's name him, let's say it was Betael, okay? 0.79

00:23:23.580 He went to a private school where all whites are. 0.71

00:23:27.380 So basically, they're just, and the story is just telling you, like, the experiences coming as a black person. 0.95

00:23:38.080 if you're a parent of a younger boy thinking of how to nurture positive masculinity as he grows up

00:23:47.060 we see you we know gender norms are powerful from day one and one of the most important things

00:23:53.580 parents can do is start the conversation that's why my colleagues and i at next gen men wrote a

00:23:59.160 kid's book about masculinity it's called a kid's book about masculinity i'm going to read you part

00:24:06.740 of the summary goes like this. What comes to mind when you think of masculinity? Certain ways to act,

00:24:13.260 talk, just simply be? We believe masculinity is a story which can and should be told in more than

00:24:20.600 one way. Because when we do, the world is a much fuller, more beautiful place. So if you have a

00:24:27.840 child, or a nephew, or you're going to a baby shower, or let's be honest, if you're just an

00:24:32.640 adult who wants a thoughtful little something in your life, check it out. It's called A Kid's Book

00:24:37.320 About Masculinity wherever you get books or at shop.nextgenmen.ca.

00:24:45.660 Part of this conversation revolved around the pervasive lack of BIPOC representation in media,

00:24:51.900 and in particular, like media that young people are exposed to.

00:24:55.980 So, Adrian and I had done a bunch of research, and these are some of the statistics that we

00:24:59.800 brought to them. The first one's that in 2017, only 1% of picture books published in the UK

00:25:06.740 had a black, Asian, or other person of color as the main character. In 2020, that number had risen

00:25:13.720 to 5%. Whereas in 20, this is like the powerful part to me, is that in 2020, 38% of picture books

00:25:24.100 published in the UK featured talking animals or inanimate objects as the main character.

00:25:30.400 So that was the, I think it was published in the Guardian, the headline was like,

00:25:33.960 children's books eight times as likely to feature animal main character

00:25:37.600 as black, Asian, or minority ethnic people. 0.78

00:25:41.180 Eight times more likely to have a talking backpack, right, over a black boy. 1.00

00:25:47.740 It would be funny if it wasn't so disappointing. 0.87

00:25:50.860 and there was a couple of other statistics too i could make this uh you know we did it with the

00:25:57.200 boys as a guessing game so here look in 2016 what percentage of racialized characters had

00:26:02.560 speaking roles on a canadian television show overall the answer is 16 or what about this

00:26:14.440 what percentage do you think of the top 100 theatrical films of 2014 featured a lead

00:26:19.480 or co-lead actor that was not white? The answer is 13%. And you might be thinking, 0.80

00:26:27.660 oh, well, hey, come on, that was 10 years ago. Like, it's surely much better now.

00:26:32.740 Just last year, the number was 22%. I'm not enough of a sociologist to know how,

00:26:38.720 you know, complex this might get with other forms of representation. And like, I'm, you know,

00:26:45.460 i'm pulling just like the simplest statistics and we could also like complicate this with you know

00:26:50.620 what about online influencers what about the creator economy and again i don't know a lot

00:26:54.880 about those spaces but i know that even with the supposed what would you call like democratization

00:27:00.440 and diversification of media black content creators are still often fighting an uphill battle

00:27:06.060 you know dealing with things like hate speech harassment or dealing with structural issues

00:27:10.960 like algorithmic underrepresentation.

00:27:12.900 Like, it's all related to the kinds of stories we value

00:27:17.780 and the kinds of stories we don't.

00:27:23.120 And you can hear that these boys are not unaware of that.

00:27:26.140 It makes a difference to them,

00:27:28.040 the kinds of stories that matter to them.

00:27:31.800 Okay, so what percentage of picture books

00:27:35.320 published in the UK in 2017

00:27:37.980 had a black, Asian, or other person of color as the main character?

00:27:45.920 I think that's for 10%. 0.98

00:27:47.280 10%?

00:27:48.120 6%?

00:27:49.020 5%?

00:27:49.520 5%?

00:27:50.020 5%?

00:27:50.520 5%?

00:27:51.020 5%?

00:27:51.520 5%?

00:27:52.020 5%?

00:27:52.520 5%?

00:27:53.020 5%?

00:27:53.520 6%?

00:27:54.520 3%?

00:27:55.520 4%?

00:27:56.520 4%?

00:27:57.520 Okay.

00:27:58.520 The answer is?

00:28:00.520 1%?

00:28:01.520 1%?

00:28:02.520 Yeah.

00:28:03.520 1%?

00:28:04.520 1%?

00:28:05.520 So now, in relation to that, what do you think the percentage was in 2020?

00:28:14.260 Five.

00:28:14.740 Five.

00:28:15.240 Five.

00:28:15.760 Yeah.

00:28:16.520 Five.

00:28:17.080 Five.

00:28:17.280 You're not slick.

00:28:17.880 You're not slick.

00:28:18.500 You're not slick.

00:28:19.020 You're not slick.

00:28:19.060 You're not slick.

00:28:19.660 You're not slick.

00:28:19.740 We've seen it.

00:28:22.160 Five percent.

00:28:23.340 Okay, guys, don't look.

00:28:24.600 Okay, there you go.

00:28:25.860 So based off of that, what does that tell you?

00:28:29.100 Like, no improvement.

00:28:29.940 It's like they're not giving them any money.

00:28:35.520 attention basically they're not giving them the recognition they deserve and

00:28:40.380 things like that because there was only 1% 2017 then 5% is a and after 95% is

00:28:48.180 it's people that are non color or something like that it's basically like 0.73

00:28:54.960 unfair it's just like it keeps them it makes it creates a mindset for black

00:29:03.600 Asian and Africa yeah the people you've just mentioned like that they're not in

00:29:11.400 the world like how I feel like they're not seen yeah okay I'll go on to the

00:29:17.260 next question in 2020 what percentage rate your books published in the UK

00:29:24.240 featured talking animals or inanimate objects eight eight percent a person

00:29:34.100 Final answer? Yeah. 50. 80%. 45. Okay. The answer is... I was close. I was so close. I was so close. I was so close. I got 50. You got 80. I was so close.

00:29:57.100 based off of this and the previous question what does this tell you when I see books they treat

00:30:02.500 they treat um non oh it's like I always tell like when you see kids books you always see

00:30:07.480 the like inanimate objects or animals talking or the main character so it's like how did I miss

00:30:13.900 that yeah I honestly missed that like I did this and then I went it is like it shows that how like

00:30:23.140 not like non living things are like important then like cute like human of 0.98

00:30:30.040 color people of color and that creates like anger because you're basically 0.96

00:30:38.020 treating a non-living thing and you see a living thing yeah it's all about money 1.00

00:30:44.080 because kids they don't see people of color they want to see animals like they 0.88

00:30:48.940 They were kids wouldn't really understand how a public will face today.

00:30:54.340 Next question.

00:30:55.940 In 2016, what percentage of racialized characters had speaking roles on a Canadian television show overall?

00:31:09.240 Zero percent.

00:31:10.240 One, one, one, one. I pick one. Pick something else.

00:31:13.340 Zero, two, two percent.

00:31:15.640 Zero percent.

00:31:18.240 I'm joking.

00:31:19.240 Final answer.

00:31:20.240 Two percent.

00:31:21.240 Six percent.

00:31:22.240 Zero percent.

00:31:23.240 One.

00:31:24.240 Actually, zero.

00:31:25.240 Final answer.

00:31:26.240 Two.

00:31:27.240 Zero.

00:31:28.240 Zero.

00:31:29.240 One.

00:31:30.240 I'm joking.

00:31:31.240 Six percent.

00:31:32.240 Okay, two percent.

00:31:33.240 Two percent.

00:31:34.240 Oh my, two, six, two, one.

00:31:36.240 Four, four, four, four.

00:31:37.240 Two, four, two, one.

00:31:38.240 All right, the answer is?

00:31:40.240 Sixteen.

00:31:41.240 I said sixty.

00:31:42.240 I never really thought I would be sixteen.

00:31:45.240 Okay.

00:31:46.240 So, I'll go over to the next question then, which is, and this is the last one, what percentage of the top 100 films of 2014 featured a lead or co-lead actor that was white? 0.62

00:32:03.100 White. 0.87

00:32:04.100 White.

00:32:05.380 95.

00:32:06.700 95.

00:32:07.100 95.

00:32:07.860 95.

00:32:08.240 93, 93, 93.

00:32:09.400 94.

00:32:10.360 98, 98.

00:32:11.620 No, but when you say, yes, 95 or 94?

00:32:14.180 94.

00:32:14.580 94.

00:32:14.640 This was like about 8 years ago.

00:32:16.640 Alright, 94.

00:32:18.640 Okay, final answers.

00:32:20.640 95%.

00:32:22.640 It could be also animated films, right?

00:32:24.640 94.

00:32:26.640 93.

00:32:28.640 93, yeah.

00:32:30.640 95, 94, 93.

00:32:32.640 92.

00:32:34.640 83!

00:32:36.640 That's still a lot though.

00:32:38.640 I know.

00:32:40.640 15 of those films were, had like a black leading or a co- 0.67

00:32:45.560 Not even black, racialized.

00:32:48.440 It's not white. 0.84

00:32:49.280 Non-white, for the other percent, that's like the other 17 percent, yeah, had leads or co-leads. 0.58

00:32:55.160 So, with all these pieces that we talked about when it comes to statistics, does this matter? 0.71

00:33:04.160 Yes.

00:33:05.160 It creates a big impact on people of color.

00:33:09.160 Why?

00:33:10.160 Because, like I said, like, they're just being treated like non-living things. 1.00

00:33:18.780 Outcasters.

00:33:19.560 Yeah.

00:33:20.020 Outsiders. 0.91

00:33:20.880 And if you really think about it, when I see movies and I see, like, black films, it's always way more better and funnier. 0.73

00:33:28.480 Like, um, the Friday series. 0.88

00:33:31.360 Oh, I've seen that.

00:33:32.260 That was so funny.

00:33:34.180 Because, like, when they speak, they got, like, the accent.

00:33:36.420 And when they say a word, it actually becomes really, like.

00:33:39.140 and when the how they say it too it's really funny you ask King Richard yeah

00:33:43.760 my Serena Williams and Venus and in Compton and it's because you can relate

00:33:49.820 to these things that happen like when you don't come home on time and your mom

00:33:53.660 and your parents they have the belt waiting for you and they get on the

00:33:56.060 table and they're like you weren't home on time boom it's funny because you can

00:34:00.080 relate to those things like if you see like a white movie where like they have

00:34:04.040 like a they live in a eight-figure mansion house or they have like a royal

00:34:08.260 It's not like a royal choice, they go to some private school. 0.94

00:34:19.260 It's just like white people get like... 0.68

00:34:21.260 I think what you mentioned there is a really great point, you know, like some of the cultural

00:34:25.260 pieces, some nuance, some of the cultural things that we experience within our own families

00:34:31.260 or within our own friend groups that we see within stuff that we see people who look like us.

00:34:37.260 this is a chain the actual girl and see you next time this is Betsa aka the king 0.74

00:34:45.480 aka the real go you know the one and only sincerely signing out Betsa once

00:34:51.480 again I am the actual go you know the king the boss yep this is Sadiq signing

00:34:57.600 out this is Yoel signing out aka the go the real go but sells fodder compared

00:35:05.340 to me that um he needs to work on the skills at basketball because like it's not coming out so

00:35:10.780 well i think adrian might did by the way one more thing wait why don't you say your thing like this

00:35:17.340 is adrian and then like we keep that part separate and then at the end we connect it this is adrian

00:35:26.220 that's it that's it take care y'all have a wonderful day great recording i'll see you

00:35:31.340 tomorrow. Bye. Bye. He's not coming tomorrow. Two weeks to see me in two weeks. Can you say

00:35:38.800 Adrian? Huh? You just heard him. You just heard his voice. My name is Jonathan. You're listening

00:35:45.960 to Breaking the Boy Code. This week I want to mention the cards for masculinity. By the way,

00:35:51.000 we got a cease and desist from Cards Against Humanity, believe it or not. So like you want

00:35:54.420 to support our legal battle. Just kidding, there's no legal battle. But this is a card deck which is

00:35:59.140 meant to prompt interesting and relevant discussions just like the one you just heard.

00:36:03.480 You can find it at nextgenmen.ca slash cards. You can get in touch with me at boypodcast

00:36:08.580 at nextgenmen.ca or at boypodcast on social media. What stories are you sharing with your boys

00:36:14.700 whose voices are represented?

00:36:29.140 Thank you.

Breaking the Boy Code - November 20, 2024

The Reason We Keep Talking About Miles Morales

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