Religion In Media Production: The Right Way To Be Inclusive

Media is starting to get a lot more inclusive, with diversity becoming a frequent concern that showrunners, directors, and writers are actively responding to. It’s a positive, although slow change, though some may be concerned that modern media inclusivity is missing one section of the audience in particular: the religious. Here, we’re going to look at religion’s relationship to media, and how growing TV and film production teams can push the needle in the right direction.

Write openly and write specifically

One of the biggest problems that non-religious showrunners and writers have is in writing religious characters. One approach that can help remove some of the complexity is to write in service to the plot first and foremost. Write a character free of gender, religion, and political influence, then flesh them out, considering how certain aspects of their life may or may not influence their role in that plot and relationship to other characters. When writing religion, research is essential, but few things can beat first-hand experience, which brings us to our next point.

Include voices from the community you’re portraying

Even if your intentions are good, it’s easy to make mistakes that can undermine your efforts. Even with research, unconscious biases can affect your portrayal of religious groups, contributing to a growing negative perception of religion and certain religions in particular. The best way to combat this is to work directly with writers, actors, and others who are members of the community you’re trying to portray. If you want authenticity, then you need the experience of those who have lived the religion you’re trying to portray.

Invest in authenticity

Authentic portrayal of religion goes much further than character and writing. It also goes into setting, costumes, customs, and practices. For settings and costumes, investing in genuine looking pieces such as a mosque carpet or authentic kippah can do a lot to ensure you’re accurately representing those that you’re trying to portray. Again, having those who know the religion and who have lived in it can be crucial in helping you find the most accurate production resources.

Walk the walk as well as talking the talk

In Hollywood, in particular, a light is shining on how workplaces treat people of colour, religious people, and other minorities not only on-screen, but off of it, as well. As such, if you mean to take religion seriously in your show or film, then putting together an inclusion, diversity, and equality policy as part of the production team’s code of practice and ensuring adherence to it is essential. You don’t want an inclusive message to be undermined by misbehaviour happening behind the scenes, as it could be a PR disaster waiting to happen.

Getting inclusivity right, whether it’s in terms of gender, sexual orientation, race, or religion can be tricky. There’s no denying that failure can lead to some hard criticism. However, if you believe that it’s your responsibility as a creative to create a more diverse media landscape, you must be open to making mistakes, learning, and improving.