The Effects Of Diversity On Hollywood And One Of The Most Recent One Was The 2016 Oscars

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

We honor the best and whitest. Neil Patrick Harris’s opening line at the Oscars in 2015 does a good job at pointing out one of the flaws of the award show that Richard Brody so passionately writes about. The article, while aimed at the Oscars, however, encompasses a wider issue. According to Brody this issue is “the whiting-out of movies about black experience.” and looking at the past two years of nominations and winners, I wouldn 't say he 's wrong (Brody 1). Brody uses logos to point out the overwhelming evidence of “the best movies by black filmmakers have gone utterly unnoticed by the Academy” (Brody 2). He names actors like Danny Glover and Alfre Woodard who have never been

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.

Simply because awards and such doesn’t include diversity, does not mean that almost all of America doesn’t. In today’s society, we are allowed the privilege of being able to interact with people of different races and ethnicities. From what America was before, we were unable to freely express things such as our genders and race without barricades and obstacles. Now, these are all accepted in our society today. “Washington wanted America to stand for something different; not the old idea that we are better apart, but the high hope that we are ether together. Respect, relationship, and service to the common good...” (Patel, Making Future Better…). This was the beginning of how diversity was craved by Washington and others. He wanted all of us to unite and be in assistance to each other, rather than be spanned apart. Although McGregor is right about her statement, because there was no showcase of diversity at that specific event, McGregor is correct. However. She is mistaken in which she is categorizing all of America as not cherishing our diversity. With these factors in mind, even if she does think America doesn’t cherish our diversity, the idea can still grow as well. Slowly, films and shows are expanding in terms of casting. Now, people of every color have the chance to be nominated and such. As time passes, nothing stays the same and with time, I believe that we can show our true diversity. I personally do think America cherishes our diversity, based on the main factor that it’s not obvious for visuals and various reasons. Together with time, we can only improve and change for the

On January 29th, 2016, Kevin D. Williamson a columnist of the National Review, wrote an article titled satirically titled On the Difficulties of the Movie Star. Williamson's argument revolves around the fact that although African Americans make up 12 percent of the US population, they are just six thousandths of a percent of the global population, and Hollywood is surely a “fully global enterprise”. He then reasons that it would be years even decades until an African American be nominated for an Academy Award if they were randomly distributed, just as it would be unlikely for ethnic minorities such as “Ukrainians or Comorians” to be nominated. He then stated that this shows African Americans, like white Americans are “overrepresented in Hollywood”.

This is the second straight year in which not a single person of color was nominated for an acting Oscar. Jada Pinkett took it upon herself to bring people’s attention to the lack of diversity in the Oscars and in Hollywood, in a video posted on her face book page. Diversity can be defined as the inclusion of different types of people, race, or cultures in a group or organization. United States of America is a country full of different diverse group of people, races (Black white), culture, and religion. An organization’s success and competitiveness depends upon its ability to embrace diversity and realize the benefits. For example, if workplace diversity issues are handled well in an organization, benefits are reported. Also, according to a broadcast on NPR, Mcevers says, “Right, I mean, one of the findings of your Hollywood diversity reports at UCLA is that movies with more diverse cast tend to make more

Only 9 non-white actors have been nominated for an oscar in the last five years. The lack of diversity has been the same throughout its entire 88-year history. The problem happens behind the scenes, just as well as on screen. There are more than 450 members in the Academy’s executive branch. 96% of the voters are white, and 87% are men. The 2016 Oscar nominations revealed all 20 nominees for acting awards were white and films with black themes have been shut out of the best picture category. More than 350 whites have been nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress compared to just 21 blacks. Fewer than that have won an

In the article "The Missing Piece of the Oscars' Diversity Conversation" the passage quoted above was rather important. I am one for diversity in everything, I am a Jewish child at a prominently white and Christian university who also has a black brother and a hispanic brother. There is not one thing I would strive for more in this world than to have equality. However, I do feel that here it was not an act of racism, but rather an act of the screenplays not suiting the credibility

“Strides also have to be made for female nominees. Once again, women were shut out of the best director category and of the 10 nominated screenplays, “Hidden Figures” co-writer Allison Schroeder was the only woman nominated. And after all these years, a woman has yet to be nominated in the cinematography category.” Through the years movies had primarily been directed by male directors and many of the famous films and works of cinematography have been directed and produced by men, so when a talented director that happens to be a women is being snubbed from nomination that is going to be an area that I believe will be highlighted and touched upon in the

#OscarsSoWhite is definitely one of the most talked about topic since the nomination for the 88th Academy Awards was announced on January 14th. At about an hour before the ceremony started, the hashtag gained 3.3 million impression on Twitter alone this number continued to increase during the main show as many has declared a boycott towards the lack of diversity that the academy had showcased with the nomination. Looking from a non-American perspective, diversity is definitely something new to be openly discussed in my daily conversation. My understanding on why does diversity matters in the Academy is because movie is a form of art and therefore it has to not only be accessible for many, it should also need to represent the audience from

However, the Oscars were not all glamour this year, as the complete lack of African American nominations rightfully sparked controversy. While it may not be news that Hollywood is racist, this sure seems like a blatant disregard for civil rights. As a

In a study of 414 films and television series, only 33 percent of all characters were women, and only 28 percent were of racial minority status (Associated Press). Casting diversely in entertainment has been an issue for years and has recently spawned many controversies such as the 2016 Oscar Controversy where an outrage occurred due to a lack of minority Oscar winners. Many cultures and races fell underrepresented and cast aside by film and television. The entertainment industry should cast more diverse actors because it increases viewership, provides a broader perspective, and creates a more realistic setting.

“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

I believe there should be more cultural difference in movies. It’s wrong to cast white actors/actresses to play culturally different people. When directors cast white people to play culturally different people this is called whitewashing.An example is “ Kubo and the Two Strings” “ ‘Kubo’ is set in old Japan. Many people voicing the main characters are not Japanese… Japanese people play smaller characters. That’s just one example of whitewashing. The Hollywood movie business has done this countless times. In the movie “Aloha” , Emma Stone played Allison Ng a lady of hawaiian and asian culture.

The voting process for the Oscars does have several flaws. The Oscars actually has two types of voting systems. One process that is used is based on mathematical practice (i.e. probability) to determine how each will be selected. Then, there is another system where the votes are based on how you actually felt about the film. For example, the entire voting committee consists of about 6,000 members with various credentials in film. These groups are then broken down into smaller groups of 17 or more. In groups where mathematics isn’t “valued” each member is encouraged to vote based on the way they “felt” about a certain film. Instead of using a practical function. There is no right or wrong answers. There aren’t even scoring sheets, basically it is based on your hearts desires, which I find to be very flawed for the simple fact that someone may not like a certain film because either they cannot relate to the film or because it is not set to their “standards” . However, there was a study done in 2015 that proved that Oscars can nominations and winners can be determined based on mathematics. A Harvard student by the name of Ben Zauzmer created a algorithm based on different factors. The algorithm actually worked and he was able to predict 85% of the winners based on probability. How this works is that he gathers data points from the past 20 years, and compares them with the information from the current year to help give him a possible answer. I am partial to this study; yes I believe mathematics does play a role in the selection. However, I think we need to take a deep look at whom is one group from last year (2015-2016) consisted of 17 members. Of those 17 individuals only 4 were minority. Now for the purpose of this paper let’s assume that this group uses the second string voting system where it is emotional driven. Any film that does not appeal to a certain group of individuals then the film doesn’t have a fair chance to