Because of EVERYTHING.
The fault of white people in my artistic community is that they, through no active deficiency of their own, take it for granted that the story is about them. The goal is actually to ensure that EVERYONE can take it for granted that the story is about them.
As gifted, thoughtful and complex human beings, we should all be able to take it for granted that the story is about us. That is the artist’s entire reason for being.
Finding Nemo is a perfect example. Those characters are all variations of aquatic life. Is there race or gender bias under the sea? Did anyone fail to connect with fricking Finding Nemo?
Diversity belongs in your script because by definition, your protag is universal. All the strong themes that make good scripts apply to all humans. We love our families, we fight with our friends, we contemplate cheating on our SOs. We strive, we’re selfish, we give unstintingly when we are moved.
Whatever label sticks to you first (pick any tumblr tag) is not a universal quality. You’re white and male and want to screw girls? That does not define you. Your stories have to matter more than that.
Diversity is complexity. We’re not all dealt the same hand by accident of birth. I can prove that. We are still the same. We want what we want for reasons we can barely define.
Humanity is thick with desire and temptation and deception and cruelty and grace. We don’t love those who love us, we adore those who can’t even see us.
Our first task as artists is to speak in a universal human voice, to reach across the abyss to other human beings.
Exclusion is not anywhere on the list of goals for people who create.