From Diversity Hire to Diverse Critic

FQ columnist Bilal Qureshi reflects upon his own career as a film critic of color in light of America’s current culture wars surrounding issues of race, representation, wokeness, and white privilege. Noting that the backlash to diversification has coalesced in the form of opposition to a hollowed-out conception of Critical Race Theory, Qureshi suggests an ancillary development within mainstream journalism that he calls Critical Representation Theory: the uplift of the minority critic as a representational course correction. He argues that Critical Representation Theory means that critics of color are pigeonholed by identity in terms of the films they are assigned and likewise restricts their responses through the narrow lens of race. Using the examples of Eternals (Chloé Zhao, 2021) and Dune (Denis Villeneuve, 2021)—two recent blockbusters notable for their diverse casting, or lack thereof—Qureshi argues for a critical practice removed from political and representational imperatives.