u/Mrdean2013

We live in an age now (and have been for a good decade) where we're seeing a lot interracial relationships in TV shows, movies, games, etc. And this is awesome. There are still stigmas towards interracial relationships (and by extension mixed raced people) that come from all camps. Interracial relationships have been around forever and it's great seeing more representation out there. Being a product of an interracial relationship myself (dad is African American, mom is white), this is something I'm very interested in.

However there is something that I noticed about the depictions of a certain type of interracial relationship, particularly when you have a black man and a white woman. You can point to cases in media nowadays where you'll see an interracial couple of this sort, but its not as common as it is with a black woman and a white man.

And I find it so interesting there is a lack of loving, intimate depictions between a black man and a white woman. You'll see plenty of onscreen mixed couples but how often do you see them be loving and intimate? I'm not asking for there to be a crazy 5 minute Euphoria style sex scene, I'm saying that it is rare that you see this type of pairing displayed in a healthy, intimate format.

You see this plenty when the roles are reversed, when the woman is black and the man is white; you'll see more often that the relationship is healthy and they don't stray away from intimacy, like in Bridgeton (and Im not trying to demean this when its shown in media. I think its awesome.) Not every movie has to make a point about the relationship being mixed and I do like that when there is an interracial couple on screen its mostly just treated as normal. But when the man is black and the woman is white, the relationship tends be shown as being on the rocks, abusive, distant, or problematic, and usually it seems like the black man is at fault. Take Backrooms for example. Or even Jungle Fever (even though the couple does get intimate, but they're both cheating on their partners).

Again, its great to see more and more interracial couples in media as time goes on, but the BM/WW depictions still feel like they're "otherised". I understand it's not always the case; Stranger Things didn't do this, neither did Sinners, and it felt like a breath of fresh air seeing that. But ask yourself: how many instances of interracial relationships in the (Western) mainstream space show a black man being intimate with a white woman? You see a lot of it the other way around, but why not this? Something to think about.