Analysis Of The Epidemic Of Invisibility

The representation of the LGBT community in the film industry has long been a topic of much debate. In her article, “It Ain’t Easy Being Bisexual on TV,” Amy Zimmerman addresses this topic with specific interest on bisexual representation. By appealing to the logic of her audience, using an informal tone, and referring to relatable content, Zimmerman constructs an argument which persuades readers of The Daily Beast that the film industry is unfairly and inaccurately representing bisexuals. However, her argument holds little influence over those who are not movie fans or The Daily Beast readers.

African Americans have been represented in the media with harmful stereotypes which were founded in the slavery era (Cartier, 2014)(Carpenter, 2012). This negative representation invites bias from those who accept the images, the distortion of which is accentuated by both sexism and racism. Black women are the least represented group in cinema, making it easier to rely on stereotypes which encourage societal bias. From these stereotypes, like the Jezebel and Sapphire, stem the “real world” stereotypes of the welfare queen and the crack mother (Carpenter, 2012), showing that media portrayals have shaped public perception regarding black women. While certain genres have seen a rise in portrayals of diversity, overall Hollywood as an industry remains unchanged, inaccurately representing minorities (Smith et al., 2016).

Over the years we have seen the same white story told a thousand times that we have become desensitized to it, never expecting anything else. America was a European-White country but it has become one of the most diverse countries in the world, so American isn’t just white anymore. We are at a place in our society where we can and should be talking about race and one of the best ways to do this is through film, but there has been little to no change over the past decades. Films tend to lean toward white backdrops because it is more “relatable”; Noah the 2012 film used an all white cast because they were considered

In 2015 Hollywood Diversity Report: Flipping the Script, Drs. Darnell Hunt and Ana-Christina Ramon takes a hard look at the statistics of women of color involved on television, in movies, and behind the scenes. In 2013, cable scripted television programs had approximately 62.9% lead male roles and 37.1% female lead roles – of that 80.7% of lead female roles were white and 19.3% were Asian, Latino, Indian, and black women of color – a slight increase of 4.6% since 2012. It was in 2012 that women held the most female leads in the history of film: 30.8% – of these 15.1% were women of color; however, in 2013, the percentage of female leads dropped to 25.3% while increasing in minority roles to 16.7%. Furthermore, it is seen that female television writers and directors make up approximately 30% with 30% of these women being minorities. Oscar winners by gender was an even 50% in 2012, and increase of 32% since 2011. Of these female actresses, 25% of them were minorities – an increase from 0 in 2011. Drs. Hunt and Roman admit to studying these finding in an attempt to shed light on the “Hollywood race and gender problem” (Ramon). The increase and decrease of gender roles and minority roles is proof that Hollywood has the capacity to correct the problem when it comes to discrimination and prejudice, but seemingly refuse to do

The inequality in Hollywood continues to persist, as a push for diversity rights remains controversial. Women and minority writers are scarce in Hollywood 's writing rooms. Per the article “Hollywood’s Diversity Problem Begins in The Writing Room, New Study Shows,” diverse women writers are a rarity in Hollywood. The reason is quite simple. Women writers are not being acknowledged as much as they should be. Therefore, Hollywood intentionally disregards these creative and idealist human beings, as if they never existed.

America is often called the land of freedom and opportunities, but many Americans argue that there is racial, gender and social bias occurring all the time. Recently, many people have been pointing out the social problems occurring around the country. Some of the issues happening include the Hollywood sexual and economic exploitations. In the article “Why Is Hollywood So Liberal?” Neil Gross discusses the desire for fairness and the public fight against sexism and harassment against women in the entertainment industry and in the USA.

According to Manatu Rupert in “ The Filmic Conception of the Black Female” film works to perpetuate the objectification of women. In particular as discussed earlier, the portrayal in the entertainment industry work to depict black women as being “ oversexed”. Hutchinson suggest that black women are typically portrays as highly sexual but the depiction emerged from black women being viewed as objects for sexual gratification during slavery. Those who create and direct in the entertainment industry also determine the representation. Rupert also implies that even films that were created more recently by Black people continue to perpetuate the representation of negative black female sexuality. It has been found by The Washington Post analysis of the 2015 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science membership that film director who rank among Hollywood’s most powerful decision makers were primarily males. Of the 355 in the Academy, only 3 are black women and 16 are black men. The lack of diversity behind the camera reinforces negative stereotypes. What is seen on screen is supposed to be an accurate reflection of the world lived in. Entertainment provides a mostly upper – middle-class male gaze that doesn't reflect diversity. Nevertheless, it is inevitable for there to be a good reflection of all

Female television and film producers have come a long way in this industry. It wasn’t until recently that female directors and producers have been known to create content under the category of “intimate dramas.” As such, content involving arm dealers, spies and super naturals have been regarded as unfit categories for female directors and producers. In fact, female directors have made “rom-coms”, political, violent and traumatic films for years, but because they were made by women, they were in a sense, disregarded or deemed as “unfit.” Any film or television show produced by, or directed by someone who was not Caucasian, or a male, was more often than not “labeled arthouse and niche” (Bier par. 1). However, this

Gender roles and their connotations are a huge part of society, and can impact viewers in the way they compare themselves to

While it’s widely known that men dominate board rooms, newsrooms, and political offices, it’s arguably less obvious that they also determine what viewers see when they are relaxing in front of the TV or theater screen. It is not surprising that the male-dominant culture of Hollywood display itself in a lack of female characters. “With a lack of women behind the camera comes with a lack of women’s speaking roles and screen presence (Missouri, M. 2014).” When female characters are present, sexist stereotypes often convert them into little more than background props- the “damsel in distress” who is often saved by a male hero or the “dream girl” who attracts a male protagonist. Because Hollywood is so male-dominated, films and television often gives a limited perspective on women themselves. Viewers see only that the world is driven by men which sends women and girls troubling message and harm.

In order to get the best possible answers to the questions we asked, we used various sources such as a TED talk on the topic of sexism (TEDtalksDirector). It is of relevance, due to its knowledge of the data behind Hollywood’s sexism.

Only 30.8 percent of speaking characters are women. Only 10.7 percent of movies feature a balanced cast where at least half of the characters are female. This study shows that when women are cast, they are often asked to dress revealing or

Television is widely considered a more racial and gender friendly medium of popular culture. However, prime time television is not nearly as progressive as people believe, and is still a male dominated industry. In a report done by the Institute for Diversity and Empowerment at Annenberg, 11,306 speaking characters were evaluated and 66.5% were male, while 33.5% were female [1]. Moreover, 41.6% of females in television took leading or

In many books, shows, and movies, white people are usual seen as the heroic protagonists. Since the beginning of literature and film, people with light skin always have held the center of attention. Whether it be playing the superhero that saves the day, a rich business man, a spy or simply a husband to four kids. White people have had it all. But hey, at least not all pieces of entertainment are the same…right?

Zhou points out the number of females working behind the scenes and on screen have