Cosmopolitanism And The Role Of Diversity In American Cinema

Diversity in films is important because representation matters. Viewers are drawn to shows with ethnically diverse lead cast members. Mostly all viewers love to watch shows that reflect and relate to their own experiences. Reddigari, a freelance writer, also expresses the question of why we lack diversity in films. “Hollywood has been producing inspiring films intended to capture the beauty, joy and sorrow in everyday life. As much as we love our favorite movies, we can’t help but notice that many of them fail to capture the life experiences of all moviegoers, leaving the voices of millions of Americans from diverse backgrounds underrepresented” (This Tumblr Shows the Startling Lack of Diversity in Film). Diversity in films is an important topic in society because it represents equality and people of color to look up to.

Although the best reasons for “going to the movies” are to be entertained and eat popcorn, understanding a film is actually quite complex. Movies are not only a reflection of life, they also have the capability of shaping our norms, values, attitudes, and perception of life. Through the media of film, one can find stories of practically anything imaginable and some things unimaginable. Movie-makers use their art to entertain, to promote political agendas, to educate, and to present life as it is, was, or could be. They can present truth, truth as they interpret it, or simply ignore truth altogether. A movie can be a work of fiction, non-fiction, or anything in-between. A film is an artist’s interpretation. What one takes away from a film depends upon how one interprets what has been seen and heard. Understanding film is indeed difficult.

Cinema grants the possibility for an average citizen to escape their mundane life, and delve into a realm of fantasy. However, the film industry fails to act as an instrument in societal progression by instilling superficial ideologies. In this article “Dear Canadian filmmakers…”, Cameron Bailey suggests that Canadian filmmakers ought to shift their perspective by looking more outwards than inwards. As Bailey's emphasizes the significance of producing content that appropriately depicts contemporary Canada. Baileys draws attention to the fact that both, the audience, and the critics have a preference for “drama of real life” based films as opposed to fiction based films. Furthermore, he discusses how filmmakers tend to turn the blind eye to

Diversity and representation has been in an increased demand over the past few years. Even children's TV producers and creators are taking notice by including LGBT and all sorts of ethnic characters in their shows. However, it seems that Hollywood has yet to take note.

Another topic discussed was ways to stop discrimination within professions and in everyday circumstances. Using the movie Crash, we were shown clips that defined different aspects of racism, sexism and inequality. After each clip, there was a discussion as to what type of discrimination was performed and ways to redirect that behavior. Within the packet, there was a diversity list that gave ways to stop discrimination. These behaviors included make new friends of all backgrounds, be willing to share in open dialogue, be willing to ask questions and several more. This list helps reiterate that learning different cultural backgrounds is easier than we think it is. Living by this list will cause a decrease in the amount of discriminatory actions

Communication is the mode by which we interact. It is the story of our lives and how we transfer knowledge from one generation to the next. There are many modes and methods of communication that helps bring together individuals from various walks of life. From the verbal to the non-verbal, the methods are as diverse as the people in our country. Communication can be facilitated through speech, music, and even through the visual arts. As a Radio-Television-Film major, I would utilize the skills acquired to become a symbol of diversity in the media. There is an increasing awareness that Hollywood lacks diversity. A few years ago, I started a YouTube channel in an attempt to rectify this situation. Recently, I and a group of fellow African Americans

Nagib, Lucia and Anne Jerslev. Impure Cinema: Intermedial and Intercultural Approaches to Film. London, U.K.: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 2014. Print.

Over the past years transnational flows of various representative identities and the globalization of American entertainment ethics have merged to create an atmosphere of mistrust for either globalization or Americanization in traditional societies. What is of great significance is the way in which the media is used to shape identities and spread these to communities sharing these identities. Consequently then, the use of these identities construct from different communities may send different conceptions of the communities and lead to misrepresentation of identities. This is one of the scenario that creates discrepancies in the role of entertainment in such communities.

Watching a sitcom movie in the U.S. is sometimes make me feel argued about it during movie time. Indeed, there are just some situations that cause me think they are a racialist to make their movies. For example, I have followed two movies named “Fresh Off the Boat,” and “Green Narrow.” All those movies are very attractive and funny, but when I think deep inside them. I see some scenes in both movies which mention that Asian people are not important in both of them. They have not enough places to act much on movies. On another hand, some cases make fun with Asians actors or actresses who try to adopt a new culture in movies. The watchers think it is absolutely funny; although, some cases make Asians people feel very embarrassed. However, in

Hollywood films are the biggest brand of entertainment in the world. While other entertainment mediums such as TV and video games are gaining larger and larger audiences Hollywood films set the standard for the entertainment industry. But there is a fatal flaw in the Hollywood system, the representation of minorities. In 2014 Minority lead actors in film and TV were underrepresented by a factor of more than three-to-one (Hunt, 2014).

The Chair promotes several research topics following Martín Barbero’s contribution to the field, as the interplays between communication and power, the relationship between communication and city, and also cultural and reception studies, to mention some. It also hosts a network of Latin American researchers on critical theory and provides online access to key works of Martín Barbero, as well as videos of some of his

As the semester progressed and we continued learning how Latinos have been misrepresented through American cinema during the twentieth century, I began to wonder about my own heritage and how Jews were portrayed in films of the same era. I grew up learning about the various stereotypes that have been associated with Jews throughout history, but never have I explored the portrayals of Jews through film history in the United States. My curiosity led me to research Hollywood’s image of the Jew, providing me with a better understanding of the role Jews and Jewish family life have played in American Cinema from the very beginnings of film history. I was able to relate the facts about

Genre is a reflection of society. Film noir is a genre that has a distinctive relationship with the American society from 1941 - 1958 because it reflects America’s fears and concerns from when they experienced major upheaval after The Great Depression and during World War I. In particular, the unstable atmosphere from the aftermath of World War 1 as Bruce Crowther, author of the book ‘Film Noir: Reflections in a Dark Mirror’, elaborates on how Film Noir films produce “a dark quality that derived as much from the character's depiction as from the cinematographer’s art.” These dark moods are transparent through the key features of the femme fatale, the film techniques and the impact of the Hay’s code on American film and American society.

Despite some authors highlight ancients forms of communication or even proto-communication during pre-colonial times in Latin America (Ferreira, 2006), professional journalism as we currently know it is actually a product of Modernity (Nerone, 2012). Modernity is, overall, an unfinished western project (Habermas, 1983) and its very conditions of possibility are strongly rooted in colonialism as its very spatial and material dimensions. So, colonialism fluxes and influxes not only spread the intellectual project of the Enlightenment at the same time its imperialistic vocation of domination, but also cultural practices that have been adopted/adapted in complex and complicated ways by the colonized. Therefore, the introduction of modern technologies such as press and journalism simultaneously carried out the ideals of Enlightenment and embedded colonization, exploitation, a global division of racial labor, and the production of a differentiate humanity (Quijano, 2000).

Film has the unique ability to be both deeply personal and yet universal in nature. While national cinemas have the ability to define a country’s national identity and presence in the world, they also have the ability to reach global audiences with universal themes that reverberate through the global consciousness and tell the stories of many around the world. Though themes of national identity and marginalized populations can seem to be specific to their national cultures and countries, the greater more universal themes of inequality and social strife can be found just below the surface, lending theses films a universal appeal. In Irish film the Travelling community has often taken center stage as both the subject of romantic notions of national identity as well as a symbol of contemporary social and economic policies and increased globalization of modern Ireland. When dealing with the Irish Travelling community as a symbol, the themes, issues, and concerns facing this population can become globalized and can come to represent larger issues facing global marginalized communities all over the world. This Universalist approach can be applied when dealing with the Irish films, Into the West (1993) and Pavee Lackeen (2005), as well as the British film Fish Tank (2009). Not only is the Travelling community present in each film, but also their presence can be seen as symbolizing something different