Upworthy's book GOOD PEOPLE, now available - take a look!

Shop
 Explore 

characters

Pop Culture

Artist paints characters as described in books, then shares side-by-side with film versions

He doesn't know who he's painting, and it's fascinating to see who is close and who is way off.

Jazza/YouTube

Jazza tries to guess who he's painting based only on written descriptions.

Anyone who's watched a film based on a book has experienced the disappointment of a movie character not matching their imagined version of what a character looks like. Book authors offer descriptions of characters with varying levels of detail, usually just enough to help us form a mental picture or give us necessary information about them, so we may not all imagine them the same way.

Some characters' physical features are crucial to their story, such as Harry Potter's lightning-shaped forehead scar, but some are just an author's attempt to share whatever they themselves imagine a character to look like. There's often a lot that's open to interpretation, though, so it's a bit of a crapshoot whether a film depiction of a book character will match a writer's description of them—or a reader's vision based on that description.

One artist is exploring this phenomenon with a video series in which he paints characters based solely on their written descriptions. Jazza, who has made a name for himself on social media with his creative art videos, is given the features of a character as described by a writer without being told who the character is or where they're from. Then we see how his depiction compares to the character as shown on screen.

Sometimes his paintings are surprisingly close to the film character and he is able to guess who the character is based on what he drew. Some are more mysterious and he doesn't know who he's painted until it's revealed. And occasionally, it's not a character that's being described but a real person, which is the case with the last painting in this video, and it's extra hilarious. But it's always fascinating to see someone paint a picture of what they're visualizing in their mind, since most of us aren't able to do that.

Watch:

If you enjoyed those attempts, check out Part 2:

The series has more parts and he also has a series where he sculpts monsters based on their descriptions. So fun to watch!

Here's to the human imaginations that create characters on the page and those who bring them to life on screen. Different creative skills, but both so valuable to the storytelling that help us tap into our humanity.

This article originally appeared on 2.12.24

From Your Site Articles

art

It's no secret that Hollywood has a diversity and representation problem.

For years, Hollywood has produced television shows and movies that often portray Muslims, South Asians, and Middle Eastern people with harmful stereotypes.

According to Jack Shaheen, a writer focusing on Arab representation in cinema, Muslim and Arab characters are often confined to three archetypes. He called them "the three B's": bombers, billionaires, and belly dancers. And sometimes, in addition to swinging their hips as belly dancers, some of the women are depicted as living under oppression in black abayas and burqas.

It's quite easy to find shows that fit the bill. The grand majority of Muslim characters in "Homeland" are either suicide bombers or Arab billionaires. Even in beloved children's movies, like "Aladdin," the characters are based in a "faraway place / Where the caravan camels roam / Where they cut off your ear / If they don't like your face / It's barbaric, but hey, it's home!"

But it's time to change the outdated and redundant negative typecasting of Muslim and Middle Eastern characters.

A new test has been introduced to measure how Muslims and Arabs are portrayed in television and film.

The Riz Test is a concept formed by a small group of film buffs that were inspired by a speech that Riz Ahmed, known for "The Night Of," made to the U.K. Parliament about the Bechdel test and media representation.

"We're passionate film buffs but we're tired of the same old stereotypes and tropes being perpetuated in Films and TV shows," the group wrote in a tweet.

— (@)

Like the Bechdel test, which measures how women are portrayed in fiction, The Riz Test has a quite simple criteria.

The Riz Test asks the viewer to consider five questions if their film or show includes one identifiable Muslim character:

Talking about, the victim of, or the perpetrator of Islamist terrorism?
Presented as irrationally angry?
Presented as superstitious, culturally backwards, or anti-modern?
Presented as a threat to a Western way of life?
If the character is male, is he presented as misogynistic? If female, is she presented as oppressed by her male counterparts?

— (@)

There have been some great improvements in recent years. A few television shows have featured Muslim characters that don't fall into the traps of The Riz Test, such as "The Bold Type's" Adena El Amin character and "Queer Eye's" Tan France.

It's important now, more than ever, to include accurate representation and portrayal of Muslims and Arabs on the big screen.

Hollywood is often a reflection of the society that we live in, and sometimes, it serves as an introduction to the unknown.

In the United States in 2017, Muslims only made up 1.1% of the general population, and not a lot of Americans have ever befriended a Muslim in real life. This means that most of the understanding Americans have about Islam, Muslims, Arabs and their society often come from what they see on television, films, and the news cycle. And with 80% of the media coverage on Islam and Muslims being negative, it's no wonder there's still a lot of anti-Muslim sentiment and misunderstanding across the country.

Photo by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images.

But accurate portrayals isn't just about improving the way Americans view Muslims; it's also about benefiting our society as a whole.

As Ahmed said in his Parliament speech, "If we fail to represent, I think we're in danger of losing out in three ways, the three E's: (1) We're going to lose people to extremism, (2) we're going to lose out on an expansive idea of who we are as individuals and as a community, and (3) we're going to really lose out on the economic benefits that proper representation can bring to our economy."

In other words, the time is now for Hollywood to generate diverse and accurate portrayals of Muslims and Arabs on the big screen.

You can watch Riz Ahmed's speech below:

3 ways 'Deadpool' perfectly sums up Hollywood's LGBTQ problem.

Like many people, I fell head over heels in love with "Deadpool" last year.

The film, based on the Marvel comic, raked in over $700 million worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing R-rated film ever made. Executives raced to get a sequel into production to feed America's unquenchable thirst for more Ryan Reynolds in a tight red suit (yes, please). "Deadpool 2" is slated for summer 2018.

A year and some odd months after "Deadpool's" release, GLAAD's Studio Responsibility Index (SRI)— the group's annual study on how lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer characters are depicted in film — landed in my inbox. "Deadpool" was one of the 125 films the study analyzed, and for my beloved superhero flick, the results weren't great.

Don't get me wrong; I still love the movie. But GLAAD's findings demonstrate just how problematic the superhero flick — and so many of our other Hollywood faves — really can be.

So buckle up, fellow "Deadpool" fans — this may not be easy to read.

GIF via "Deadpool."

1. For starters, Deadpool is pansexual. But you wouldn't know it from the movie.

In the Marvel universe, Deadpool was created as pansexual — meaning he's interested in all genders and orientations. When director Tim Miller confirmed before the movie's release that Deadpool's sexuality would stay true to its origins, many fans rejoiced — this would be the first big-budget superhero flick with an openly queer lead.

Then the film came out, and fans watched as Deadpool ... didn't.

GIF via "Deadpool."

In a press release, GLAAD pointed to "Deadpool" as an example of a film that "still [requires] the audience to have read press coverage or have outside knowledge" of a character's sexual orientation or gender identity because their queerness won't be identifiable in the film. (Honestly, I saw far more homoerotic behavior at frat parties in college than I did in "Deadpool.")

As a gay man, I want to support movies that show characters with stories like mine on screen, and it's frustrating when there's buzz surrounding an LBGTQ character in an upcoming film, only to have their on-screen queerness reduced to a suggestive sentence or ambiguous same-sex interaction (looking at you, new "Power Rangers" movie). Why can't openly queer characters actually be openly queer in their films?

2. "Deadpool" fails the Vito Russo Test — big time.

The Vito Russo Test — inspired by the feminist Bechdel Test and named after GLAAD co-founder Vito Russo — is a set of basic criteria to examine how LGBTQ characters and films are portrayed on screen.

To pass the test, the film must: 1. contain an LGBTQ character who is identifiably queer who is 2. intricately woven into the plot in a meaningful way and 3. not solely defined by their sexual orientation or gender identity.

"Deadpool" fails on the test's first, basic requirement: Reynolds' character, although technically pansexual, wasn't identifiably queer.

If you didn't know he was pansexual before seeing the film, would you have guessed he's not a straight, cisgender character? Probably not.

GIF via "Deadpool."

Sadly, "Deadpool" isn't the rare exception among LGBTQ films. Of the 23 movies in the study that featured queer characters in 2016, only nine of them passed the Vito Russo Test, according to GLAAD.

3. Deadpool is a big jokester. And while that's great for laughs, the jokes in the movie were not always great for the LGBTQ community.

And I say that as a gay man who thought "Deadpool" was hilarious.

As GLAAD wrote in its report:

"While director Tim Miller told press ahead of the film’s release that Deadpool was pansexual, the only references that made it to screen were played for comedic effect in throwaway jokes intended to emphasize just how outrageous the character is rather than any real sense of desire."

GIF via "Deadpool."

This isn't uncommon in films featuring LGBTQ characters, according to GLAAD's report. Often, queer characters and their identities are soley included as fodder for cheap jokes.

I truly hate being a buzzkill. But those throwaway jokes in "Deadpool" really do have an effect. As GLAAD continued:

"The portrayal of a pansexual identity as a brazen or scandalous trait, rather than a lived identity, has real consequences for bisexual+ people. Because their identities are often misunderstood, bisexual+ people are less likely to be out to family and friends than gay and lesbian people."

Pansexuality is an identity — not a punchline.

I write all of this not to rain all over "Deadpool's" parade, but in hopes that the sequel — and all of Hollywood, really — will do better next time.

Maybe "Deadpool 2" will include a queer main character of color; as the report noted, we need a whole lot more of those. Maybe that character will be a complex, fully realized woman, who doesn't fall into the tired tropes queer women often do on screen; as the report also noted, we desperately need more of those, too.

Or maybe — just maybe — Deadpool will find himself a man.

“I certainly wouldn’t be the guy standing in the way of that,” Reynolds responded in February 2016 to the prospect of Deadpool having a boyfriend. “That would be great.”

In more ways than one, yes it would, Ryan.

From Your Site Articles

Father responds to his daughter coming out with a master class in dad jokes - Upworthy ›

All jokes aside, he's doing what he can to make Hollywood a more diverse place.

Currently out promoting his new Netflix show, "Master of None," Aziz Ansari is sharing some tough truths about diversity.

The show (which everyone needs to spend this weekend binge-watching, OK?) follows Dev, a 30-year-old actor played by Ansari. The show touches on issues of race, gender, sexuality, and the very human element of unconscious bias that plays into everyday life.

One of those topics, diversity in Hollywood, hits really close to home for Ansari, and he's using this promotional tour to share what he's observed. Ansari recently penned a piece for The New York Times in which he talked about what it meant to him as a kid to feel represented by characters on TV and in film and why it's important to have diverse entertainment.

Ansari's observations are spot-on. Hollywood isn't just white. It's disproportionately white.

During the 2012-2013 TV season, racial minorities made up just 6.5% of lead roles. That's pretty white. That's really white. That's unrealistically, disproportionately white; racial minorities make up nearly 40% of the U.S. population.

But what's the big deal, right? If minorities want roles, why don't they start their own shows, movies, and whatnot? Want more diversity? Make it more diverse! Right?

Well, as Ansari points out, it's way more complicated than that.

"I wouldn't be in the position to do any of this, and neither would ['Master of None' co-creator] Alan [Yang], unless some straight white guy, in this case Mike Schur, had given us jobs on 'Parks and Recreation,'" writes Ansari in his New York Times article. "Without that opportunity, we wouldn't have developed the experience necessary to tell our stories. So if you're a straight white guy, do the industry a solid, and give minorities a second look."

Ansari also stopped by "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," where he poked fun at the sad state of diversity in late-night talk shows.

Sitting next to Colbert, Ansari joked that while he was on camera, the show was 50% diverse (a victory!). "You are the first late-night host from South Carolina," he congratulated Colbert. "And the bajillionth white guy."

There's no shortage of articles and videos and posts on social media criticizing late night for being so devoid of people of color (especially women of color). Check out W. Kamau Bell's "The Unbearable Whiteness of Late Night" or Vox's statistic-heavy look at the topic for a more thorough breakdown on what's up.

But maybe the best look at late night's lack of diversity is this image from a Vanity Fair article about the "titans of late-night television."As it turns out, late-night TV is home to more people named James (looking at you, Fallon, Kimmel, and Corden) than people of color (or women).

But why should we want more diversity? Believe it or not, it can actually make you a better person.

Studies have found that when people see representation of a group they belong to on TV or in the movies, it affects how they view themselves.

Additionally, kids should grow up seeing themselves reflected in a variety of characters because data shows that it's good not just for them but for all kids to understand that skin color is not associated with any one type of character.

So yes, even white people benefit from increased diversity. True story!

As more and more people acknowledge that more racial diversity would benefit Hollywood, what can we do?

It's easy to feel pretty powerless in these situations, right? I'm not a TV executive. Odds are you're not a TV executive (unless you are, in which — bam! — you know what to do here). We don't make casting decisions, so what can we do to help?

The truth is that audiences want and have been asking for more diversity. So what more can you do? Support filmmakers who are people of color, boost their voices on social media, or if you happen to be unbelievably wealthy like George Lucas, fund programs to boost diversity in Hollywood. Really, just do anything but brush off the concerns of folks like Ansari.

characters

Artist paints characters as described in books, then shares side-by-side with film versions

He doesn't know who he's painting, and it's fascinating to see who is close and who is way off.

Ask yourself these 5 questions when you see a Muslim character in a movie.

It's no secret that Hollywood has a diversity and representation problem.

A new test has been introduced to measure how Muslims and Arabs are portrayed in television and film.

The Riz Test asks the viewer to consider five questions if their film or show includes one identifiable Muslim character:

It's important now, more than ever, to include accurate representation and portrayal of Muslims and Arabs on the big screen.

3 ways 'Deadpool' perfectly sums up Hollywood's LGBTQ problem.

1. For starters, Deadpool is pansexual. But you wouldn't know it from the movie.

2. "Deadpool" fails the Vito Russo Test — big time.

3. Deadpool is a big jokester. And while that's great for laughs, the jokes in the movie were not always great for the LGBTQ community.

I write all of this not to rain all over "Deadpool's" parade, but in hopes that the sequel — and all of Hollywood, really — will do better next time.

Aziz Ansari's new show is amazing. But the stories he's sharing to promote it are just as good.

All jokes aside, he's doing what he can to make Hollywood a more diverse place.

Currently out promoting his new Netflix show, "Master of None," Aziz Ansari is sharing some tough truths about diversity.

Ansari's observations are spot-on. Hollywood isn't just white. It's disproportionately white.

Ansari also stopped by "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," where he poked fun at the sad state of diversity in late-night talk shows.

But why should we want more diversity? Believe it or not, it can actually make you a better person.

As more and more people acknowledge that more racial diversity would benefit Hollywood, what can we do?

Catch Aziz Ansari's diversity-enriching appearance on "The Late Show" below.

They thought their son lived an isolated life. But when he died, friends showed up in droves.

Why didn't people smile in old photographs? It wasn't just about the long exposure times.

Brit shares the one-word 'dead giveaway' that American actors are doing an English accent

Millennial dad of 3 shuts down boomer parents for their 'ridiculous' holiday expectations

People from other countries share 14 'obvious' signs that someone is an American

5-year-old Italian piano prodigy rocks Mozart at international competition and holy cow