Kennell's Use Of White Actors In Film

I don’t have a problem with that. You cannot reasonably ask a white writer to do it differently. Now, if we’re going to start citing some unfortunates, it might be unfortunate that a black writer didn’t write it, but if a black writer had written it, there’s a good chance he wouldn’t have found a producer. So there you are. This is a movie that did get made, and a story did get told, and that’s what is important.

Back in the 1800’s, when calculating the population, African Americans were counted as 3/5 of a person (Antonia, p2). One would think that in the past two hundred years people’s beliefs would have changed a little bit, but the general white public are stuck into believing the common stereotypes commonly portrayed in movies. In films and television shows blacks are almost always portrayed as murderers, robbers, rapists, pretty much anything negative, like American History X, for example. Two black men are shown breaking into a white man’s car. People see this, and in turn believe that all black men will try and steal their car; as stupid as it may seem, it is true, and as a result, film

There are countless numbers of people in the world who are of color, so why are they not on our television screens? Imagine watching your favorite show or movie, and not seeing anyone else of your race, that's the reality for people of color. As a result of this, children are growing up thinking that they are the wrong color and that their naturally dark skin should be lighter. A lot of the population has enough self-hate that they do not need any more of it. Our children to start learning to love themselves instead of hate who they were born as. Twenty-six point nine percent of people of color in the United States alone are actors it is necessary that they start getting roles in television shows and movies, and not just supporting characters

If you take a look at most Hollywood movies, a good majority of the actresses are fair skinnend. One of the first African American female actress was Nina Mae McKinney whom as been inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. Since she was black she was only offered low budget films and looked at as the standard barer for future lead roles when using black women. Fredi Washington was a light skin, light eye female and was described as being too beautiful to play a maid but wasn’nt offered romantic leads. Her skin was so pale that some

roles would be lost to Caucasian actors so as to resonate with American audiences. It is

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

The University of Southern California discovered that filmmakers have made little progress in casting more non-white characters. Even though the United States is becoming more diverse in culture Hollywood has not change from its roots. From (Sanathanam and Crigger, 2015) research the top 100 films in 2014 up to 75% of the characters were Caucasian. 17 of the top movies in 2014 featured non-white lead or co-lead actors (Out of 30,000 Hollywood film characters, here’s how many weren’t white section, para 1). Informs that Hollywood is not in a rush to change their ways to avoid diversity for Caucasians to share the fame with other ethnic groups. Hollywood is mindset is to keep Caucasians superior.

throw the huge movie roles out to black film stars. White people might not take it very well and

In the past white actors would cast in non-white roles. Ever since the beginning of the film industry, minority roles have been given to white actors/actresses. Some of the most recognized are Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra and Natalie Wood as Maria in West Side Story. Also, Birth of the Nation, one of the earliest films used blackface on a nonblack actor playing the role of an African-American. Despite the fact that casting decisions like these might have been anticipated during the time of oppression and racial segregation, Hollywood has continued to make casting decisions where white actors/actresses are preferred. Further actors like, Burt Lancaster passing as a Native American in Apache and Mickey Rooney playing the role of a Japanese man.

For the last two years, the Oscars have come under fire in the last two years with their lack of nominations of people with color. The Oscars otherwise known as the Academy Awards is an award show to highlight and give praise to the best movies and short films of the year, including in this prestigious awards are the actors and actresses that star in these blockbusters and they are, as well as their movies praised on the highest level for their craft. However what has become under scrutiny is the so-called “White Wash” that has come across the ceremony.

The representation of minorities in Hollywood has always been sparse and controlled in a way to fit the stereotype of the minority group.Many a time minorities are added to movies (depending on the subject matter of the film) to add color so that the film itself will not be criticized hugely for that aspect.When it comes to black Hollywood actresses it is more likely for the light skinned blacks to be casted rather than their darker counterparts. An example of this is the 2016 film Nina the film is a biopic of Nina Simone's life who was a dark skinned singer and activist in the civil rights movement. For the film they casted Zoe Sladana as Nina which itself can be seen as an issue because of Sladana noticeable lighter skin tone however

White filmmakers need to create more well rounded and complex characters for minorities. Hollywood’s long and drawn out history of whitewashing is an antiquated institution that causes young minorities to be ashamed of their bodies. “Black body erasure is a large factor in how young black children construct and perceive body image. It is incredibly difficult to grow and thrive in a world that that views your body and your skin as undesirable, or to value your unique beauty in spite of being told that your skin is anything but beautiful. Black children are fed so many messages, directly and indirectly, about light

Why must color be ignored for actors of color to be treated equally? Color-blind motives are only directed toward people of color. To take away one 's color is to make inherently them white. So equality is only reached once everyone reaches the “White” standard, Thus sustaining white supremacy. So in retrospect is it even possible to achieve equality from this approach? Because even though one may say they are color-blind, it 's impossible not to see color; unless you are color blind but even then you can still see color. Nonetheless, American Theater and the Film industry call themselves using a fair and equal casting method in which they “completely ignore” the actors race

For any theatrical production to successfully entertain, it relies on suspension of disbelief. Giovanni Frazzetto, in the peer reviewed journal Nature, writes, “In theater, suspension of disbelief hinges on the switch between two realities— the set and the cast of actors, and the places and characters they represent,” (466). A show that intentionally creates a disconnect due to non-traditional casting could potentially confuse an audience so they become to distracted to enjoy the show and suspend disbelief. For example, a letter to the New York Times replying to the non-traditional casting of Phylicia Rashad, an African American actor, shows a potential response to non-traditional casting: “I am offended that Phylicia Rashad is playing a white woman’s role in ‘August: Osage County.’ It doesn’t make sense that she would have white siblings and children. As brilliant as Ms. Rashad is, the casting is off-kilter,” (Fernandez). Producers, especially on Broadway where investments in a show number in the millions, will logically make production decisions based on potential profits (Bruinius). In an industry that traditionally has profited the most from Caucasian casts, it would take a secondary motive to diversify or a belief that diversification is profitable for producers to regularly use non-traditional

Most film portrayals I have seen, most famously “Birth of a Nation,” show African Americans as lustful, lazy, violent, and unintelligent. In fact, in D. W. Griffith’s entirely racist “Birth of a Nation,” African Americans in the film, played by actors in blackface, continuously disrupt the “peaceful” nostalgic way of life of the south after the war. Eventually, filmmakers such as Oscar Micheaux, W. E. B. Dubois, Herb Jeffries, and Lorenzo Tucker sought to put an end to the racist films by making “race films” where African Americans acted in, wrote, shot and directed their own films. However, this wasn’t enough. Some race films reverted back to racist films, where African Americans were making fun of themselves, just to turn a profit.