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I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner.  

It never occurred to me that I could simply stop spending money on movies with an all-White cast.  I went to film school and I’ve been obsessed with movies all my life.  I never thought I would actually give them up for any reason.

But I’ve realized I that I’m not enjoying the movies I’ve been paying to see.  I’m not satisfied.  I feel cheated.  I spend most of the movie scanning the background looking for Black extras.  I would feel a little buzz of happiness when I did spot a Black woman here and there.  But that buzz of happiness was short lived.  I still felt cheated and miserable.  So I’ve decided that being miserable is no longer working for me.    

Ahh – freedom!  I actually feel free after making the decision to stop supporting movies with an all-White cast.

The movie “What If” starring Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan was the last straw for me.  Not only was the movie terrible but there were no Black people in this film.  I don’t count the Black extra who played the wedding aficionado at the end of the movie (not really a spoiler here so don’t panic), as someone who adores love stories. It is a personal affront to me to only see love stories told from a White person’s point of view.  

It’s not just love stories though – I’m talking about family oriented stories as well.  “This is Where I Leave You,” looks like it could be interesting.  But I won’t watch it – because that could’ve easily been a Black family.  Reese Witherspoon is going to be in a movie called “Wild” and it totally looks like something I could get into but I will not watch it because I’ve seen Reese Witherspoon star in enough coming of age movies to last me a lifetime. I won’t watch another “Fault in Our Stars” or “If I Stay” or “Wolf of Wallstreet” or any of those movies because there’s no representation of me in them.  I have the image of White women burned in my brain!  I can’t shut my eyes and imagine any type of love story without picturing a White woman in that role.  That’s just not acceptable anymore.

Hollywood has brainwashed me for long enough.  

I’m not just thirsty for more women of color in films and TV.  I’m not just hungry for it.  

I’m angry.  

And I’m tired of complaining about it. 

When you do the math it just doesn’t add up.  A movie costs about $13.75. Plus parking and snacks.  On average, I’m spending about $25 every time I go see a movie.  I usually see a movie at least 4 times a month.  That’s $100 a month.  Multiply that by 12 months and I’m spending $1200 a year on movies alone.  That’s rent money.

I’m wasting rent money on these films that purposefully exclude me.  Why would I do that?  That’s completely insane.  

If I took that $1200 every year and put it in my savings account I could invest in my own original content.  I wish I’d thought of doing this years ago.  I’d probably be directing a feature film by now.  But as they say, there’s no time like the present. 

So starting now I’m going to stop watching films with an all-White cast.  Instead I’m going to focus on supporting Black movies or movies with diversity.  This will be a bit of an adjustment considering how much I love watching all movies.  I may go through movie withdrawal.  But I think it will be worth it not to spend the duration of a movie scanning the background for Black extras.  I shouldn’t be scanning the background looking for Black extras.  

If you’re reading this – you’re probably feeling the same way.  I urge you to consider doing the same.  Save your money for movies that have diversity in them. Let’s stop feeling secretly miserable when we watch movies that are supposed to entertain us.  And let’s work towards making our own content.

Maybe if enough of us join the movement Hollywood will finally wake up.

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