Creatives participating in the Diverse Storytellers: Empowering Equity & Inclusion panel at San Diego Comic-Con responded to the use of the term 'Woke' as it relates to current Hollywood projects.
Woke originally referred to being alert to racial injustice and social inequalities, gaining popularity in the 2010s to encompass broader issues like sexism and LGBTQ+ rights.
However, it has since evolved into a politically charged term, often used to criticize progressive movements, especially in Hollywood.
Hollywood Creatives Respond to "Woke"
At San Diego Comic- Con, several working creatives in Hollywood sat down with The Direct and discussed the ongoing debate surrounding projects being labeled as "woke."
Inside Out and Inside Out 2 writer Meg LeFauve expressed her thoughts on how the word's meaning has evolved in recent years.
LeFauve addressed how the term has seemed to have shifted from promoting kindness and inclusion "has turned into some sort of insult:"
"I feel like people will use anything for anything meaning, a word that probably started with great intention about being open and available to look at your own bias and kind, and generous and welcoming and all are welcome has turned into some sort of insult."
LeFauve explained that she focuses on storytelling as a way to connect people and explore "the human condition," prioritizing her craft over debates around the term "woke:"
"I think the most powerful work we can do is the work of artistry, which is to connect, which is to reveal the human condition and that we are all the same and we're all struggling with the same things. Sure the 'how' we deal with it is varied. But for me, I try not to get too anxious about it...I just tried to stay with the story. And what's the next story I can tell to help people feel connected."
Euphoria editor Aaron Butler chimed in on the woke discussion, noting the importance of diversity within the post-production team, and emphasizing how varied perspectives enhance creativity:
"We want to try to build the most interesting and diverse post (production) team possible, because the show is so diverse, and all of that footage basically gets filtered through us as the viewers. And so having a super diverse post team is basically good for creativity."
During a joint interview, actresses Kuoth Wiel and June Carryl were asked about their feelings on woke in today's media.
Carryl explained that "the idea of staying woke is simply being aware" even though sometimes that context or definition gets lost:
The idea of staying woke is simply being aware. Being mindful, and owning your power, not allowing yourself to be erased, not allowing, making space for yourself."
Wiel agreed, adding that she believes it's as simple as "awareness," including being "considerate" of those around you and the impact you have:
"I think it is awareness, being conscious about what you're doing. And also be considerate as well of who's around you of others, and how you're impacting or how your actions are also impacting others as well."
Supergirl actress Nicole Maines honed in on the hypocrisy she hears from comic book fans. She mentioned how "superheroes" have always been something that "promotes diversity and promotes inclusion:"
"When I am presented an opportunity to have a platform and to tell a story to do so in a way that reflects the world that we do live in and promotes diversity and promotes inclusion, which is of course, what superheroes have always been doing. So we're not doing anything new."
Directly addressing the "Go Woke, Go Broke" narratives surrounding comic books, Maines finds this non-applicable as "these characters have always fought for radical progressive ideology:"
"I think that's perhaps the most exhausting part about this whole 'Go Woke, Go Broke' broke conversation, because especially well, especially surrounding comic books, because they're saying, 'Oh, you're ruining- it's Batman, Superman, whoever. Meanwhile, these characters have always fought for radical progressive ideology. From Captain America fighting federal Nazis to Iron Man during the Cold War. Superman has always been a symbol for inclusion...he's an immigrant. He's an alien."
Concept Artist Andrew Leung mentioned that the term "woke" was originally supposed to add "nuance" to conversations, which relates to his work:
"The initial conception of the idea of using that word alone is I think of is like, basically minority people asking them for nuance. And that's really what it is... My work depends heavily on nuance being a concept designer, concept artists, for film specifically. And a lot of it hinges upon having to do that sort of nuance, because that's what's brings actual realness."
Finally, writer and author Curtis Chin weighed in on how "woke" can be framed as it related to his writing as an Asian man part of the LGBTQIA+ community. He explained that he's "not going to convince" people who accuse writing of being "woke" or "too political:"
"When you're talking about people who are accusing diverse writers of being 'woke' or doing, you know, too political, there's not much I can do about those people, I'm not going to convince them."
Chin went on to explain the different groups that will or will not be interested in his work as "a gay Asian writer."
He explained that his background will draw the of one-third of people, another third are going to "hate just the fact that [he] even exist[s]" and then the "middle third" who might be curious:
"So you roughly break it down, about a third of the people are going to be interested in my stories, because of my background, I'm a gay Asian writer, I like to do a lot of stories with that as a vantage point to the world. There's about a third of the people out there that are going to be gravitating to that because they're looking for it. There's a third of the people out there who are going to just hate just the fact that I even exist, they're not even gonna want to pick up my book. But then there's also this middle third, which could go either way, right? They might be curious. And so it's sort of like, how do you reach out to that middle ground, and I sort of accept that as a writer. Not everybody's gonna like what I write or going to be interested and I'm okay with that. As long as the people that do like what I'm writing feel that that I'm speaking to them, and they support me. I'm totally happy with that."
