Although George Floyd’s murder is a tragic incident, it has led way for many conversations to take place. When Vanessa Morgan criticized Riverdale for its lack of diversity, Riverdale creator, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, responded.
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A few days ago, Vanessa Morgan spoke up about black people’s portrayal in media.
Since 2017, Vanessa Morgan has been playing Toni Topaz on Netflix’s Riverdale. She plays a bisexual member of Southside Serpents who is also friends with Jughead. After George Floyd’s murder and protests for the Black Lives Matter movement, Morgan took to social media to express her emotions. In a Twitter post, Vanessa Morgan expressed her anger at the negative portrayal of black people. Morgan said that either they are shows as thugs and dangerous people or are non-dimensional side-kicks. Furthermore, she highlighted that if it’s not that, black people are used in ads for diversity but never in the shows. After her post, Riverdale creator responded.
I’m not being Quite anymore. ✊🏽 #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/JXgJic4mrR
— Vanessa Morgan (@VanessaMorgan) May 31, 2020
In response to Morgan’s criticism, Riverdale creator shows his support for her stance.
After five days of Vanessa Morgan’s post, Riverdale creator, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, responded. In a tweet, he apologized and promised to do better. Riverdale creator wrote:
“We hear Vanessa. We love Vanessa. She’s right. We’re sorry and we make the same promise to you that we did to her. We will do better to honor her and the character she plays. As well as all of our actors and characters of color. Change is happening and will continue to happen. Riverdale will get bigger, not smaller. Riverdale will be part of the movement, not outside it.”
#hearvanessamorgan @BLMLA #riverdale ❤️ pic.twitter.com/gnlI8Dh9yz
— RobertoAguirreSacasa (@WriterRAS) June 5, 2020
Furthermore, Riverdale creator announced that all the writers of the show have made donations to BLMLA. But he also acknowledged that the real work needs to be done in the writers’ room and the script. Hopefully, in the fifth season of the show, we will see real change.
