Non-white minorities make up 37.4% of the population (United States), but they only account for 23.6% of the speaking roles in all movies (Smith). These numbers are alarming considering that 44% of movie tickets in the United States are bought by people of color (Smith). The root of this problem is in Hollywood’s bad habit of casting white actors for leading roles, even in cases when characters have a different race in the movie’s source material. Audiences in America have become comfortable with seeing mostly white actors on cinema screens, but that does not mean that there is not a problem. Even though minorities may not make up a large percentage of the population, they purchase more media than white Americans. Hollywood should have more …show more content…
This is not a surprise considering that the most prestigious award in Hollywood, the Oscar, is awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Academy is made primarily up of white members. In their 2012 study of the demographics of the Academy, the Los Angeles Times found that 94% of its almost 6,000 members are white. Theoretically, this alarming statistic should not affect who receives an Oscar, but it does. Winning an Oscar takes skill, and not just while making a movie. Exposure, marketing, appearances at film festivals, and knowing voters can elevate your chance of winning. Ava DuVernay was set to be the first African American woman to be nominated for a directing Oscar for her movie Selma. A month before the world was shocked by her snub, DuVernay knew she was not going to be nominated claiming, “It’s math” (Sperling). In addition to there being no non white nominees in the directing category for the 2015 Academy Awards, every single actor who was nominated is white. When one voter was asked if the lack of diversity among this year’s nominees meant that the Academy was racist, he said, “Look at what we did last year with 12 Years” (Sperling). While taken out of context, this statement may look racist, it is not. This voter is simply stating that the Academy votes for the “best” movies and that DuVernay and other minority filmmakers this year were not as good as their white counterparts who were nominated. Even if this is the case, award giving institutions, and the Academy in particular, have overlooked too many amazing performances and filmmakers for their primarily white demographics to be a
Meanwhile, Poitier conceals his masculinity and sexuality to make the white audiences feel harmless and non-threaten. When confronted with the racial discrimination, he acts strong, courageous and Christianly humane, which not only appeals the white in the film to help him, but also the white and black audiences to support him. In addition, Poitier successfully became the most important integrationist star also due to the talent and endeavor of his own. He is the first black Oscar winner and his works made a huge contribution for the racial problem for Hollywood cinema in 1950s to
African American representation in the film industry has always been a topic for discussion. Whether talking about character types and roles, the actors being cast or not cast, and the lack of diversity in front of and behind the camera. ‘The contemporary status of race in mainstream American culture is intimately bound to the process of representation within and through the mass media.’ (Rocchio, 2000, p. 4). Any role that was to be played by an African American kept in with the dominant stereotypes of the time of production; incompetent, child like, hyper-sexualised or criminal.
Asian Americans only make up a small percent of the American population. Even more significant is that this percentage live mostly on the west and east coasts of mainland United States and Hawaii; leaving the rest of the American population to most likely get their exposures to Asians through television and movies. However the exposure they have receive throughout the history of cinematography has been hardly flattering. Throughout the course of history Asians in film have been portrayed as evil or the "yellow peril" as described by others. If Asians are not being classified as evil in this picture then they are most likely the comic relief, with their lack of coordination or grasp of the English language. With these common stereotypes in place, it gives a white American viewer a sense or need to destroy this Asian villain or superiority over the comedic character portrayed in the film.
(4) Conventional is easy. Whenever an idea is generally perceived by society as standard or traditional it becomes very easy to display to the public without the raise of an eyebrow. This is the basis on which stereotypes appear in films. You’d think in the 21st century where what once were radical notions like same sex marriage and recreational drug use are being legalized that something uncalled for like the constant portrayal of character stereotyping would come to an end. Alas, stereotypical characters continue to emerge in film and unfortunately have become a staple of Hollywood because they’re simple and straightforward, requiring little effort on the part of the writers or thinking from the audience.
In Shohat and Stam’s article, Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the media (2013), they discuss the issue of racism within the media and entertainment industry, such as Hollywood films. More importantly, Shohat and Stam’s discuss the assertion of racial politics in casting within the Hollywood films industry. The interesting idea to their argument is that they suggest that for a film to become financially successful, the casting of the protagonist must consist of a white star as they are seen to be ethnically universal (Shohat & Stam, 190). They further suggest that the ethnic minority have been limited to designated roles which ultimately perpetuate their ethnic stereotype (Shohat & Stam, 190). They concern this issue by critically analysing and contrasting western Hollywood films against other ethnic films.
For many years, racial and ethnic stereotypes have been portrayed on multiple television programs. These stereotypes are still illustrated on a day-to-day basis even though times have changed. Racial or ethnic stereotypes should not be perpetuated on certain television programs. These stereotypes provide false information about groups, do not account for every person, allow older generations to influence younger generations, create tension between groups, and affect people in many ways.
Not all African Americans are thugs and people that do not work. A lot of them have successful careers and have put in the time and effort to have good work ethic and be good people. African Americans have had a difficult history in the American film industry. During the early 20th century of filmmaking, blacks were stereotyped as not worthy of being in films, and they were only certain types of characters such as servants, mammies, and butlers. From several decades of filmmaking, African Americans have been sought out to be trouble makers, incapables, intellectually limited, and also lazy. Although blacks have won Academy Awards for acting, screenwriting, and music production they still find trouble in getting quality roles within the film industry. (Common Black Stereotypes)
...ggests that “there would be no difference between her work and that of a black director” (152). I think that when Livingston says, “I’d love for a black director to have made this film,” she is simply stating that she doesn’t care who made it, but that she is just happy that it is out there for people to experience learning about this subculture (Hooks 152).
helping. Television is making the shows out to seem like one race is better than another. For
From the stand point of Hollywood writers and directors, they want to build characters that will be touched by the audience. There are even people whose job is to critique a movie and rate it on how the audience will perceive the movie and how it can relate to individuals in the world. For example, the movie, "Friday" starring Ice Cube, Meagan Good, Nia Long, and Chris Tucker was created as a comedy that happens in the streets every day. This movie was loved by so many people around the world. Although all the actors and actresses are African American, people loved it because so many individuals can relate to what happens in the movie.
The only superhero movie featuring a black man, “Black Panther” has the ultimate black representation, having a cast that is almost all of African heritage. David Betancourt supports his claim by using logos, saying that “dark-skinned black actresses” have not been appreciated enough because they do not fit the “one-dimensional template” of starring actresses, according to Hollywood. Betancourt proposes that proper representation of these actresses brings “black girl magic” to the movie. He continues by stating the importance of representation for the black community. After all, doesn't seeing someone from a certain culture or race, prove to that group that they are appreciated and heard?
Often racial injustice goes unnoticed. Television tries to influence the mind of their viewers that blacks and whites get along by putting them on the screen to act as if interracial relationships has been accepted or existent. “At the movies these days, questions about racial injustice have been amicably resolved (Harper,1995). Demott stresses that the entertainment industry put forth much effort to persuade their audience that African Americans and Caucasians are interacting and forming friendships with one another that is ideal enough for them to die for one another. In the text, Demott states “A moment later he charges the black with being a racist--with not liking whites as much as the white man likes blacks--and the two talk frankly about their racial prejudices. Near the end of the film, the men have grown so close that each volunteer to die for the other” (Harper,1995). Film after film exposes a deeper connection amongst different races. In the text, Demott states “Day after day the nation 's corporate ministries of culture churn out images of racial harmony” (Harper, 1995). Time and time again movies and television shows bring forth characters to prove to the world that racial injustice has passed on and justice is now received. Though on-screen moments are noticed by many people in the world it does not mean that a writer/ director has done their
According to statistics diversity shows in Hollywood is at the worst it could be. Studies show that Hollywood does a bad job of representing gender, race, ethnicity, or sexual cultures in many of their productions. " Just 28.3 percent of characters with dialogue were from non-white racial/ethnic groups, though such groups are nearly 40 percent of the U.S. population" (Deggans). These statistics show that many of the characters in movies and TV shows are people who make up half the U.S. that only a quarter of them are used.
For the second consecutive year, of the 20 nominations available to actors, not a single one went to a person of color. It's the first time since 1980 that the Oscars have gone without any non white acting nominees for two years running. Immediately after the nomination ceremony
While watching movies, have you ever noticed that the villains in almost every single Hollywood film are of Middle Eastern or European descent? In a reoccurring theme of Hollywood, the villains in these films are almost always foreigners or people of color. This is a stereotype. On the other side of the spectrum, we often see that the heroes of these films are most often than not white males. This is another stereotype. Within the last few years, we’ve seen actors such as Will Smith, Morgan Freeman, and Zoe Saldana take the lead roles, so it can’t be said that there are no non-white heroes, but there certainly isn’t many. Hollywood action movies, moreover than other genres, are typically loaded with an abundance of stereotypes. The way these movies are composed and structured can tell us a great deal about the views held within the American psyche and who holds the social power. The harsh reality is that the media ultimately sets the tone for societal standards, moralities, and images of our culture. Many consumers of media have never encountered some of the minorities or people of color shown on screen, so they subsequently depend on the media and wholeheartedly believe that the degrading stereotypes represented on the big screen are based on fact and not fiction. Mary Beltran said it best when she stated in her “Fast and Bilingual: Fast & Furious and the Latinization of Racelessness” article, “ultimately, Fast & Furious mobilizes notions of race in contradictory ways. It reinforces Hollywood traditions of white centrism, reinforcing notions of white male master while also dramatizing the figurative borders crossed daily by culturally competent global youth – both Latino and non-Latino” (77). This paper will specifically look...