Cultural Diversity In The Film

“White Americans will be a minority by 2045, maybe sooner. It makes good business sense for companies to diversify their workforce.” (Newsone, 2017). Lee brings up an important point. America is not ‘white America’; it is a melting pot of cultures and languages and ethnicities that are growing and expanding--and according to Lee--eventually outnumbering their white counterparts. Hollywood is currently not diversifying as fast as America is, and that’s a problem. During the years that the UCLA conducted a diversity report, and found during the years surveyed--2012 and 2013--audiences were more fond of shows that depicted moderate diversity. (Hollywood Report, 2017) According to co-author of the report, Ana-Christina Ramone, “audiences, regardless of race, are clamoring for more diverse content. The problem then does not lie with the masses watching television, it lies with the producers, directors, studio heads, and other department chairs, that ignore minority actors in favor of sticking to the same song and dance of white people, white people, white people. Although it is shown that studios benefit from diversity, there is a lack of motivation to change

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.

There are many things I want to learn and get to the bottom of while researching this topic. My main question is, “Why is this happening?” Honestly, I cannot even believe this topic is actually still an issue. When thinking of movie directors, producers, etc. I would assume them to be a group of progressive and inclusive people because the artist community generally is. So, how have these people let this happen? I would also like to look in to how this misrepresentation affects the minorities of America. There could possibly be underlying psychological turmoil in minorities which causes them to feel less capable. This brings me to wonder if there is any underlying racial bias in everyone because of who is glorified in in movies and shows. In order to answer such questions, I will research to find if any psychologist have done any studies on the effects of television and film on our subconscious in terms of the representation of minorities. I am also curious how other diverse countries such as Canada’s television and film look. I will compare the United States to these diverse counties in my research in order to provide a more global view.

In the 2017 media article “How Fair is Hollywood” the main problem is the lack of inclusion that Hollywood has been using throughout their movies . This problem can be solved by having an actor play the role of the corresponding race of his/her character.As noted by Media Mix news in paragraph 1, the author explicitly describes “People have reported frustration with Hollywood’s casting process. That’s because they see non-white actors repeatedly kept out of the spotlight. There is also the phenomenon called “whitewashing,” when roles are written for minorities are given to white actors”. This indicates that people are being displeased by the fact that Hollywood has been doing negative things to put actors to play a  different race from what

I have chosen the issue of “miss/underrepresentation of minorities in American television and film.” As America has changed over the years to become much more accepting and inclusive, American media seems to be a bit behind. There are countless instances in which characters from a book or graphic novel has been white-washed once they make it to the big screen. Some may argue these choices are made because the actor is very strong at their craft or they are a star and will bring in the big bucks in theaters. While this may be true, it completely discredits not only the original art and meaning of the work but also the community of talented non-white artist in America. I want to delve deep into the reason this can be happening in a generally

African American Portrayal in Hollywood All throughout the twentieth Century, minorities have made huge steps towards self-sufficiency and balance in American culture. These advances are a piece of our identity as Americans, yet it appears they have not completely invaded the aggregate entire of American culture. African Americans for decades had to endure insidious and egregious suffering, as well as being oppressed. It is upsetting that African Americans are still being portrayed on screen through the racial ideologies of white directors. In Hollywood, they are still portraying African Americans as Stereotypical, unequal, and domestic individuals.

White people might not take it very well and possibly get the impression that minorities will never amount to anything, nor be a large portion of the population. In the late 1970’s, the hit-movie Roots took the country by storm serving as an icebreaker for minorities getting into the movie industry. It showed the world that a movie consisting of all black actors could still be a very popular movie. Even though it revolved around the concept of slavery, once Roots came out, minorities started to show up more and more in films.

Television still doesn’t completely represent the diversity in America. Roughly three-quarters of film actors were white in 2014. There was only 12.5% African American, 5.3% Asian, and 4.9% Hispanic actors while there was 73.1% white actors. Studies also show the majority of actors are male. According to the annual 100 top grossing films 2007-2014 only 30.2% of speaking or named characters were women, while 73.1% were male whites.

As I reflect on my identity, I notice that many shows that I regularly watch contain a cast made up of predominantly white actors/actresses. Furthermore, I believe that many shows in general consist of a dominant white cast. As we’ve seen, the amount of white representation in media compared to the white population is

The discussion of diversity in Hollywood is very important. Some people will claim that there is a diversity issue throughout Hollywood and a lack of representation for minorities, while others will argue that there is a wide spectrum of diversity, therefore destroying the idea that there is an issue. There are more shows and films that revolve around straight, healthy Caucasians than shows and films that revolve around LGBT members, people who have to live with disabilities, and people of color. Hollywood has suffered substantially from a lack of showing a great deal of diversity.

The 2016 Oscar nominations sparked a heated debate over why the show had only white nominees and prompted the academy to address the lack of diversity. However, it is imperative to note that the event only represents what is happening in Hollywood and the filming studios. If the industry does not give opportunities to the minorities to shine, they are not likely to appear in the Oscars. As several leaders in the sector of complained, the minority rarely get chances to work in front of the camera, which defines their presence at the award shows and not just the Oscars. Nonetheless, it is a diversity issue that deserves attention and should be remedied. It is a source of difference, especially in a country that prides itself as a multicultural nation. The Oscars should embrace the diversity that reflects the entirety of the nation and simply the majority. Moreover, such an action would demonstrate to be beneficial not only to the United States but also the Oscar Academy, which will be able to assess a wider pool of talent in the industry and ensure that the voice of everyone gets

Not only as a tool of entertainment, television also serves as an instruction tool because television can be the reflection of culture, race and gender. Because of the diversity of the audiences, expanding diversity is necessary in the television industry. More and more shows begin to feature minority group; however, the representation of minorities still has issues of underrepresentation and stereotype because producers believe casting minorities can’t make money. It is no doubt that white actors disproportionally dominate the screen and minority actors are often characterized as criminal and immoral roles. The colorblind casting and a diverse writers’ room are effective measures to solve those challenges.

Since today’s society is infatuated with celebrities, the Academy Awards hold prevalence in society and influence what kinds of stories the masses believe to be the most relevant or important. Denying black artists a chance to be recognized leads to fewer opportunities for growth and success. Brody states, “An Oscar or a nomination gives an actor’s career a boost, and for now, those boosts—those roles, that financing—remain limited mainly to white filmmakers and actors” (2). Since nominations tend to favor white artists, Brody claims they are the ones who have the most freedom to experiment with different genres. When the same types of people create the same types of movies about the same experiences, there are fewer films with thought-provoking and meaningful topics that “confront the unquestioned and enfeebled assumptions of artistic merit” (Brody 4).

Films have the power to both influence and reflect society. The stereotypes prevalent throughout American culture are reflected in most films. While the United States is becoming an increasingly diverse country, this diversity is not portrayed within American cinema. Minority figures often occupy

“Oscars So White” a phrase that began trending on social media sites after the 2016 Academy Awards announce their nominees for Best Actor and Best Actress, it was predominately white for a second year in a row. The movie industry is no stranger to controversy and since its inception it’s constantly been guilty of underrepresenting ethnic people. It’s evident that film is a type of mass media that has a certifiable amount of power to influence audience’s views, yet this platform constantly disregards the need for diversity in favor of stereotypes. Movies such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Scarface (1983), and Pan (2015) are all guilty of this. The depiction of non-American characters in Hollywood movies are constructed around racial