When we examine books, films, and TV shows, we see the same perspective over and over: that of the heterosexual, cissexist white man, with few deviations. Other perspectives come, as if packaged, from boxes: the perspective of the Asian woman, but confined within the narratives of the "dragon lady" or "China doll"; the "sassy black sidekick"; the hypersexualized Latinx, to name a few. People of color have been portrayed time and time again by white people, donning comical "Engrish" accents and "culture costumes" — blackface, yellowface, redface, or brownface. Diversity isn't simply a quantitative measure — it's also about what's done with the characters, and who's working behind the scenes. When the representation of minorities is confined to one-dimensional narratives, we must learn to see them as anything different. Simply put, we lose potential: the potential for connection as human equals; the potential for a kind of self-realization that is too often withheld from marginalized groups; the potential for a broader and deeper understanding of this under- and misrepresented identities. The three major myths of the "noble savage", the "ecological Indian", and the "vanishing Indian", for example, have profoundly affected how we see Native Americans and how they fit into our conceptualization of American society. Too often, movies with more diverse representation are scorned for not being "good enough": Saving Face for a somewhat illogical plot; Ocean's 8 for being a "fun" movie, with "not enough" depth; Rafiki for being too lighthearted in a world where LGBTQ+ people, and especially LGBTQ+ people of color, face discrimination and oppression. But we must remember the importance of telling a range of narratives — a range that heterosexual, cissexist white men are given without thought: their portrayal in silly stories, lighthearted stories, love stories, and so on don't preclude calls for the termination of this portrayal. It is unfair to only place LGBTQ+ people in narratives of pain and heartbreak and loss and death, robbing them of narratives of growth and happiness in a world where such hope as can be conveyed is more important than ever. Movies like Ava DuVernay's A Wrinkle in Time, in which the main character is a brilliant young black girl, are important — just as movies like Ryan Coogler's Black Panther, which features a diversity, showcased in the majority-black cast, majority-black crew, narrative, themes, and aesthetics, on a scale rarely, if not never, seen before. People of marginalized communities deserve to see themselves reflected in popular media as multifaceted humans, rather than one-dimensional stereotypes. When we are able to see a variety of complex, diverse narratives in fiction, we are able to see with new depth and understanding, and in this forms a kind of revolution.