Hello Meltingpot Readers,
I’m back from Spain and so happy to be back in my blogging chair. I’m not going to lie, it felt really good to take some time off and reassess my mission here on the Meltingpot. As always, I want to be of service to my readers by providing inspiration and information about this multicultural world we’re living in. I want to make sure that I’m being a good host and creating a community here where people of every ethnic and cultural background feels safe and welcome. I want this blog to be a trusted resource and celebration of all things multicultural. If you haven’t already, check out the “about page” where I define what this blog is really all about and be sure to read my Meltingpot Manifesto. I am still fully committed to promoting the principles of that manifesto with the Meltingpot brand. (BTW, if there’s something you’d like to see more of here on the blog, let me know in a comment below.)
Now, about those multicultural movies.
Family Friendly Movies with Diverse Characters? Check!
Even though Hollywood has a long way to go before they get their diversity and inclusion bonafides, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by this summer’s film offerings. For the first time in a long while, I actually feel like I’ve had choices for films that feature multicultural casts. Particularly family-friendly films. And while The Lion King does make my list, for the first time I didn’t feel like cartoons and animal movies were my only options if I wanted to see some cultural diversity on the screen.
Here are five, fun movies with diverse casts I’ve seen and enjoyed this summer and/or want to see before school starts in a few weeks.
Yesterday
This movie has a clever premise and was well-executed. After a freak, momentary global power outage, The Beatles disappear from human memory. Only one person, a struggling British musician, knows who they are and subsequently builds a booming music career by singing Beatles songs and claiming them as his own. The struggling musician in the title role happens to be played by British actor, Himesh Patel who is of Indian descent. The fact that the main character is Indian plays little part in the plot of this movie, but it’s great to see a leading man who isn’t white in a romantic comedy. Even though Yesterday is not being marketed as a “family movie,” el esposo and I took babygirl with us when we saw it and she thought it was hilarious. (Note: We saw it in Spain, so I’m not sure if it’s appropriate for young audiences based on the language.)
The Lion King
Haven’t seen it yet, but The Lion King cast is a globally diverse mix and the classic storyline is all about family.
Otherhood
This was a Netflix offering that I watched with my teenage sons. The story features three adult women friends (two white and one Black) who have a Thelma & Louise-like weekend in NYC after deciding they needed to confront their adult sons for forgetting Mother’s Day. The movie is touching and funny and had me all in my feelings about my impending future as the mother of adult sons. My sons swore they would never forget me on Mother’s Day, but I’m not holding my breath on that one. I didn’t think my sons would sit through this movie, but they were cackling along with me on the couch the whole way through. It was really refreshing to see interracial friendships portrayed in this contemporary comedy with heart.
Dora and the Lost City of Gold
True confession, even though Dora the Explorer was one of the first Latina cartoon characters who spoke in Spanish, I never let my kids watch the show. I found her voice sooo annoying. But I am the first to admit that I am really excited to see the live-action version of this popular cartoon. It looks like a Latinx Indiana Jones for children. It just came to theaters this past weekend but it’s on my list to take the kids. Yes, all three kids. Even my teenage boys admit they want to see it.
Aladdin
This film got mixed reviews from critics, but babygirl and I loved it. We also saw this film in Spain, so the whole thing was dubbed in Spanish (including the songs), but that didn’t impact how much we enjoyed the action, colorful costumes and scenes from the Arab-inspired worlds. Almost the entire cast was non-white, which for babygirl, who reads as ambiguously brown herself, was a welcome change for most Disney films.
So there you have it. Dear readers, what films would you add to this list? Have you seen any of these movies? What did you think?
Peace!
