Aisha Dee is taking cues from The Bold‘s Kat Edison and asking for a change in your show. In an Instagram post published on 15 July, the actress addressed the lack of diversity behind the scenes of the series, saying that he hoped the open letter to help the show move forward and “really practice the things The Bold teaches, by the recognition of the mistakes and make commitments to be better in the future.”
Dee began the open letter by sharing some of the anti-Black antagonism he faced growing up in Australia and how the experiences that led her to become an actress. Expresses its appreciation for the manner in which its role in The Bold gave him the opportunity to play a character that “is centered on its own narrative. She was not only the white character’s ‘best friend’. She was of power and confidence, she approached the exploration of its identity, “queer”, with an open heart, and was met with nothing but love and acceptance. Kat Edison: unapologetic, outspoken, brave, the woman that I’ve always wanted that might be.”
“I am proud to be a part of something that has inspired, pushed the limits, subverted expectations, and started conversations,” he added. But after four seasons of holding her tongue, Dee said he was inspired by his way of speaking his mind about the issues that we saw start, publicly.
“What would Kat do? She would take a position and advocate for herself, and all the other marginalized voices to affect change,” Dee wrote. “I’m willing to push harder and speak louder for what matters to me: The diversity that we see in the front of the camera should be reflected in the diversity of the creative team behind the camera”.
The 26-year-old actress said that in her time as Kat, the series has had a Black woman to direct two episodes, it took “three seasons to get someone in the department of hair that knew how to work with the texture of the hair,” and two seasons to get a single BIPOC in the writers ‘ room, “and even then, the responsibility of speaking for the entire Black experience can not and should not devolve on a single person.” He added that the series has never had LGBTQ+ Black or Muslim writers, even as the series played out the love story between Kat and Muslim photographer Adena El-Amin (Nikohl Boosheri).
“We cannot bring the specificity and honesty of the experiences that we have lived.”
“In season two, Kat is promoted to be the first Black woman to head department in Scarlet Magazine. We have never had a Black woman department head in the overall The Bold,” she wrote. She went on to note that the attention and the care that is given to the stories of the series “white, hetero characters” is incompatible with the centering of the series “queer characters and POC.”
“I don’t believe this is intentional,” she explained. “We cannot bring the specificity and honesty of the experiences that we have lived. And when there is a lack of representation, the way marginalized characters are treated is even more important because they have the potential to empower or perpetuate harmful stereotypes that have a lasting and real effect on real people.”
That brought Dee to Kat’s current romantic history, in which the former Scarlett employee and now the waiter has fallen into a romantic situation with Ava (Alex Payton-Beesley), a woman whose father had a gay conversion camp that Kat exposed and, subsequently, lost his job because of. He pointed out that despite their personal feelings in the decision to take Kat to “enter into a relationship with a privileged conservative woman,” and what “felt confusing and out of character,” she made her best effort to tell the story with honesty. “It was heartbreaking to see Kat turning the story into a story of redemption for someone else, someone who is complicit in the oppression of many. Someone whose policy is actively harmful to their communities.”
“The Bold has done a lot of good, but has difficulties to understand the intersections of many of his characters live in.”
Many fans have protested for the return of Kat in the story (this editor included) and Dee highlighted that to be critical because she really cared about the show. “The Bold has done a lot of good, but has difficulties to understand the intersections of many of his characters live in,” she wrote. “For a show that frequently uses words like intersectionality, inclusion, the speech, and the various “isms”, I wonder how their stories may have been elevated had been told through the lens of people with more varied experience.”
He ended his letter, Dee revealed that she has spent the last couple of weeks that the conversations with the writers and producers, as well as to executives of Free-form and Universal TV. He pointed out that it is the hope that the show goes on to tell more authentic stories through the recruitment of diverse voices and this is the opportunity for the network to “walk the walk.”
“Speaking on the topic, I’m taking a risk,” she wrote. “It’s scary, but worth it. This is not the judgment. This is a call to action. We deserve to see stories that are for us, by us.”
Read Dee’s full letter ahead.
