Joyful Recommendations
Movies
In each episode of Diverse Joy® Podcast, the official podcast of Inequity Agents of Changes, Dr. Cox and Nelson (and applicable guests) make a Joyful Recommendation to close out the episode (the “other slice of bread in the Diverse Joy sandwich, since each episode opens with something from their life that is currently bringing them joy.
The point of the joyful recommendation is not “here’s homework to do,” rather it is an accessible piece of media - here you’ll find all the movies that we’ve recommended - that we hope will bring you, the listener (or viewer) some joy to your day and it happens to also do diversity well in some capacity (no one thing can do everything, nor should it have to) as a way to help you broaden your input via the media.
Family-friendly fare is indicated as such; movies with an MPAA rating are indicated.
Movies
A Christmas Movie Christmas (2019)
Directed by Brian Herzlinger
In Season 2, Episode 5, Will recommended this Christmas movie with Asian American representation; it features two sisters who, “one of whom is very cynical about the holidays” while the other is very into Christmas movies and they wind up inside a Christmas movie (a fun meta twist on the genre).
It’s a TV movie that is maybe more appropriate for pre-teens and up.
Encanto (2021)
Directed by Jared Bush, Bryon Howard
In Season 1, Episode 14, Amber recommended the Disney animated musical feature about the magical Madrigal family - not only for the amazing musical numbers, but because it’s set in Colombia and depicts a beautiful range of Latin American skin tones while also dealing with themes of generational trauma and how there’s no one way to be feminine (special shout out to the character of Luisa).
Definitely family-friendly; MPAA rated PG.
Fire Island (2022)
Directed by Andrew Ahn
In Season 2, Episode 10, Will recommended Fire Island for its diverse representation of gay people of color. Margaret Cho plays sort of the den-mother to a a group of friends on vacation in Fire Island Pines in this loose adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice that was written by, and starring, Joel Kim Booster - a gay man, born in South Korean who was adopted by an American couple as an infant.
MPAA rated R.
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (2023)
Directed by James Gunn
In Season 1, Episode 10, guest Nicki Vander Meulen, a lawyer and disability rights advocate, recommended the last film in Marvel’s GotG trilogy for its focus on Rocket Raccoon, a character with whom she deeply identifies (she particularly appreciates his quote, “ain't no thing like me 'cept me” and applies that line to herself).
Nicki also suggests you check out the other films in the trilogy!
All three are MPAA rated PG-13; only Vol. 3 uses its one-allowed-as-a-PG-13-movie F-bomb.
Inside Out (2015) | Inside Out 2 (2024)
Directed by Pete Docter | Directed by Kelsey Mann
In Season 2, Episode 3 Amber recommended bothInside Out (2015) and Inside Out 2 (2024), two heartwarming and insightful coming-of-age movies; both are stories focused on emotional intelligence, and the later deals more with how puberty can make emotions feel even more overwhelming! Amber uses both when talking to her pediatric patients about emotions.
Definitely family-friendly, both are MPAA rated PG.
Paris is Burning (1990)
Directed by Jennie Livingston
In Season 1, Episode 6, guest Sandy Eichel recommended the powerful documentary film Paris is Burning, which focuses on gay and trans people of color in the New York ball culture of the late 1980s. It’s great for queer representation in communities where that tends to be underrepresented.
MPAA rated R; it’s a documentary with some heavy themes related to the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s.
Sinners (2025)
Directed by Ryan Coogler
In Season 3, Episode 1, Will recommended Sinners for being historically instructive about racism while also being a great, uplifting vampire flick. Ryan Coogler wrote and directed, while Michael B. Jordan played the dual roles of Smoke and Stack, identical twins with very different motivations.
In 2026, Sinners was nominated for sixteen Academy Awards - a record for any film! It won four, including Best Lead Actor for Jordan!
MPAA rated R.
Wicked (2024)
Directed by John M. Chu
In Season 3, Episode 2, Amber recommended Wicked: Part I (and all things Oz, including Wicked: For Wicked, preemptively (it had not released yet when the episode was recorded and released). There’s diverse perspectives through all the ways in which the story of Oz has been told, and diversity-related messages can be found movies like Wicked through analogy, such as the persecution of the animals in Wicked, or even Elphaba’s experience of the “pet-to-threat.”
Will had recently seen The Wiz (1978), which is also included in this recommendation!
MPAA rated PG. (The Wiz is rated G.)
See our other media guides for additional Joyful Recommendations