There are plenty of reasons to cheer for the new romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians, which opened in theaters on Aug. 15. For starters, the Jon M. Chu-directed adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s blockbuster novel is the first major Hollywood feature since 1993’s The Joy Luck Club to feature an ensemble almost exclusively of Asian heritage — a significant, and overdue, step forward for representation.
I saw it from this article. The article made a hyperlink for "step forward for representation" to another article, where they put:
Constance Wu is fully aware of the lack of representation in the entertainment industry.
I don't quite understand what 'representation' means in both contexts. They probably denote the same sense I guess.
A side question: why do they put commas for "a significant, and overdue, step forward for representation", instead of "a significant and overdue step forward for representation"?
I can get the basic meaning of representation from dictionaries. But I am not sure how it can fit in the context above.
the act or an instance of representing or the state of being represented