If You Are White You Got a Green Light
When I think about Hollywood, I think about the world of celebrities with beautiful smiles who make millions of dollars every year, famous movies and TV shows, Walk of Fame and major films studios. It always reminds me one of my favorite quotes from the movie “Pretty Woman”: “Welcome to Hollywood! What`s your dream? Everybody comes here; this is Hollywood, land of dreams, some dreams come true, some don`t; but keep on dreamin’ – this is Hollywood”. And you would think that in such diverse world of Hollywood, where lots of people come to pursuit their dreams, everybody should have equal opportunities but everything is not that easy.
The short documentary movie “Beyond the Color Lines” is a great story
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Hollywood is a large growing capitalist machine that sets out to make money. It is a big family business what runs by wealthy, old white men, and without connections you have no chance to get in.
As with all industries, Hollywood’s business revolves around making money. Hollywood makes movies that will bring the most people to the theaters, and appeal to the large audience. Usually the majority of us will tend to identify with a character that visually resembles ourselves. And since the majority of population in the United States are white, we are watching the movies starring white people. I think it is less a matter of Hollywood racism rather than it is very hard to think outside of a box and try something new when proven formula has millions of dollars behind of it.
The stereotype is that movies with black themes or mainly black casts, which often seems to market as a movie “for black people”, will not make as much money as the majority mainstream movies will, because white people won’t go to see those movies. This perception needs to change, and film studios should be willing to take some risk when it comes to deciding what projects should be
The 2015 Hollywood Diversity Report, published by UCLA’s Ralph J. Bunche Center, said that while minorities account for more than half of frequent US moviegoers, the representation of those minorities has dipped since 2013. The report describes that year as a “breakout year” for black films, including 12 Years a Slave and The Butler. In 2015, Straight Outta Compton made over $60m, which was $20m higher than expected. (Hollywood Diversity Report). The report says black audiences are repeatedly undervalued. What the report is proving is that the lack of diversity in the film industry is actually costing Hollywood money. The problem and solution seem almost obvious when looking at these specific examples – do not underestimate minority audiences and how much money they will collectively spend watching movies with diverse
All of this proves that Hollywood is not doing a good job in making up for the blatantly racist films of the twentieth century. Hollywood needs to do more to reverse the stereotypes of early film because such stereotypes are still seen today along with their respective repercussions.
Even though a vast majority of us wish that it was possible to turn back the hands of time and change or rewrite history. However, the truth of the matter is that we simply cannot. Everything happens for a reason, and we should learn to accept it. Accept it for what it is, rather than what we would like it to be.
In fact, Webb notes that today, only one major studio still exists in the city, as most back lots have turned into offices that coordinate filming activities elsewhere. This small fact proves that “Hollywood has always been a concept as much as a place” (xi), a symbol people reference for the movie industry, no matter where the movies were actually produced.
In today’s movies after all the integration and quest to level out the superiority, the social dominance of the white folks is still present in the film industry. For example, in the movie The Bodyguard, Whitney Huston and Kevin Costner live together in perfect harmony, despite their racial differences. In todays movies when they want to show tension between the races the Africans Americans are generally grouped with criminal behavior while on the
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.
It is well known that many black individuals aren’t that prominent within the entertainment industry and those who are have a very short life cycle. Innumerable movies and televised programs will introduce black individuals
As the need for entertainment grows, so does the vice of stardom. We have seen the wreck some stars have made of their lives, addicted to the attention Hollywood brings. And from it came also such classics as Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, and Juno. One thing is for certain; Hollywood studios is the name that carried the movie industry from the drawing board to a the big
People will go to great lengths to be close to the stars of Hollywood. It drives some people insane. That drive for fame and power leaves a lasting impression on the landscape and on lives for decades.
Some people would claim that Hollywood does suffer severely from a lack of diversity. Some will also declare that Hollywood is whitewashed, insensitive when it
Redefining Black Film by Mark A. Reid is the book I’ve selected for the mid-term reading report. This book is an eye opener learning experience as well as a beginning guide to understanding African American film, filmmaking, actor/actress and directors. Mark A. Reid discussed the challenges and obstacles African Americans faced during the turn of the century up and through the civil rights movement of the Sixties including the focus on feminism in black cultural production . Redefining Black Film fits in the history of filmmaking as it relates to the ground breaking movements of African Americans in film as well as production process. The acceptance by white society of African Americans in film was a major part of this book as African American
Hollywood has influenced American history since it began. It boosted and shaped the morale of a nation for almost a century. But Hollywood has not only been the influencing American society, it has been influenced by American society. In the 1920s, American society was booming; people were getting rich, spending and borrowing money, and they thought life was looking good. Then in October of 1929 the stock market crashed. Many people lost all they owned. People had invested all their money into the banks before the Crash. After the Crash, the banks had nothing. People were destitute. They had no money to pay for their houses, electrical bills, and food. It became the Great Depression. Likewise, Hollywood was impacted by the Great
Before unions were introduced into the Hollywood industry, there was lots of race and gender discrimination, anti-communism, and lots of corruption and complicity(L.,2011). The unions went in and cleaned house, adapted to changing conditions and learned to organize new work(L.,2011).
“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
A swath of videos titled “Why Action Movies Suck” have been buzzing around the internet for the past few years. They have discussed surface details of some of the practical and obvious reasons why so many big time action movies released over the past few years have been such a massive disappointment.