Amazon Studios' Inclusion Playbook includes PC guidance on how to write women's personalities, relationships

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Media top headlines June 28

A reporter accused of passing along misleading information about Gov. Ron DeSantis' response to the condo collapse and ABC's Jonathan Karl urging Sen. Joe Manchin to use his leverage to pressure Republicans round out today's top media headlines.

Amazon Studios has released an Inclusion Playbook that offers new guidance on casting and on-screen representation, in an attempt to "move the industry toward a more representative and inclusive future."

Amazon Studios' new policies fall into four categories: Developing Stories and Characters, Hiring and Production, Reporting and Documentation, and Meeting Goals.

Some examples of guidance under the assigned categories offer a glimpse into the increasingly progressive nature of film and television. Under the category "Personality Traits," the playbook instructs employees to avoid appearance-related stereotypes, particularly when writing female characters or individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, and to avoid common phrases such as "girl next door."

"Are you describing women’s personalities in ways that lead to assumptions about their sexuality?" the playbook asks. "For example, are descriptions such as the ‘girl next door’ used for characters?" 

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Instead of using terms like "feisty," "sassy," or "exotic" to describe women of color, the playbook suggests instead being more "specific." For example, the playbook suggests the following: "e.g. the lead is from Puerto Rico, loves to sing, and has a big group of friends."

The playbook advises against depictions of stereotypical or traditional romantic relationships such as those that depict "Benevolent sexism," described as "an affectionate but patronizing attitude that treats women as needing men’s help, protection, and provision."

In terms of casting, the playbook warns directors that relying on their "gut" or "the best person for the job" are "inherently biased processes that may skew your decision making." 

Again, the playbook offers examples.

"As noted earlier, implicit associations of occupations (scientist=man, nurse=woman) may drive who is considered or 'feels right" for a particular part. Make sure that you have thought through the ways that a character’s occupation may result in bias, and ways stereotypes can be disrupted through casting."

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Avoid "colorism biases," the document continues, in party by "examining" the photos of actors you are considering for a role and asking oneself, "Are you auditioning actors who fall into a similar range of skin tones?"

Albert Cheng, Amazon Studios chief operating officer and co-head of TV, defended its new guidance in an interview with Variety.

"This is not a diversity initiative," Cheng said. "These are policies that are ingrained in how we do business. This is our intentional effort to build equity and representation into every aspect of what we do."

Amazon Studios said its production goal is to "include a minimum 30% women and 30% members of an underrepresented racial/ethnic group," a goal that will rise to 50% in 2024. 

On her website Common Sense, former New York Times opinion editor Bari Weiss was among those who described the above guidance as "woke."

"I encountered entries on things like: acquired limb difference (otherwise known as 'amputation'). There’s an entry on mean girls, which, I learned, was a ‘stereotype of girls and young women characterizing them as socially aggressive and unkind’ —characterizations that, apparently, not only ‘enforce the bad behavior’ but ‘fail to address the larger social issues girls and women face like insecurity, lack of confidence, and pressure to fit the ‘feminine beauty ideal,'" Weiss wrote. "Someone please relay that to Tina Fey."

"It is an amazing thing to behold Amazon executives LARP (live action role play) as gender studies majors," she added.

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The inclusion policies from Amazon appear to be in line with the apparent obsession over political correctness in Hollywood. In recent years, cancel culture has come for some of the most unlikely candidates. Comedian Kevin Hart, for instance, was pressured out of his Oscars hosting gig in 2019 after the resurfacing of some old controversial tweets. Hart recently sounded off on the lost Oscars opportunity, noting the process is about "growth" and hitting back at critics for demanding perfection.

"When did we get to a point where life was supposed to be perfect?" he asked The Sunday Times. "Where people were supposed to operate perfectly all the time? I don't understand."

Political correctness has also appeared to seep into academia. Author Joyce Carol Oates mocked a student-prepared list at Brandeis University that suggested banning words and phrases such as "picnic," "survivor," and "you guys."