The Role Of Diversity In The Entertainment Industry

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”.

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.

Television and film is a huge part of American culture. As the “face” of America changes, it is expected for our media to reflect it. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Since the beginning of film, minorities have been misrepresented and underrepresented. While there has been a significant increase in minority actors since the beginning of film, there is still a huge underrepresentation present in American television and film. Our media needs to reflect out diverse country. This topic is always important and relevant because race, gender, and sexuality, in general, have been issues throughout the growth of television and film. Even today, minorities are subject to

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

Afro-American woman are one of the most under represented groups in Hollywood films. They face double underrepresentation not only on screen but also behind the camera and it is because they are woman and black. Since the very beginning, Hollywood film industry has been dominated by white male producers, writers, directors and executives (Smith, 780; Covington, 21) that empower their own race and gender hierarchies. The Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA carried out a study of the top 200 Hollywood films in 2013 and found that leading characters are 74.7% male and 25.3% female and according to race, 83.3% are white in contrast to 16.7%, which consists the minorities. Behind the camera, regarding the gender of directors,

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

First, many people think that the portrayal of the ethnic character on the movies reflects the reality, however it is not correct about them, so Hollywood writers and directors should avoid this and make the audience know the real image of the ethnic groups. Looking at the list of roles in Hollywood movies, people can clearly see the bias for white actors. In Hollywood, there are many films which the most main

Selma, directed by Ava DuVernay, is a depressingly relevant film. With protests over the murders of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Antonio Martin, the subject of police brutality, specifically targeted at black people and protesters, is extremely appropriate. The brutalities inflicted on African-Americans in the 1960’s are highly shocking, but it is the knowledge that citizens are still being murdered by our police that truly hits the hardest. Director Ava DuVernay uses intimate moments and talented actors to adeptly balance the moral lessons inherent to this story with the humanization of the venerated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The film covers a fairly short period of time during the year 1965; during this time period, Dr. King (played by David Oleyowo) was directly

“Man, I counted at least 15 black people on that monitor. I’m here at the academy awards, otherwise known as the White Peoples Choice Awards.” said Chris Rock to kick off the 2016 Oscars Academy Awards. The Awards were surrounded with controversy through and through. It was the second time in a row that absolutely no African Americans had been nominated. Considering that a lot of great movies came out in which African Americans either wrote, directed, or acted in, a few in the the Black community exclaimed that the racism in Hollywood needed to end. On the other hand, others felt that the reason that no black actors were nominated was because they were not good enough this year, or the one before that…, to earn a nomination. They feel as though

“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

In this paper, I’m going to explore roles that are mispresented because of a non-diverse Hollywood, talk about awards that aren’t recognizing other groups besides the majority (focusing on this year’s Oscars), and also how Hollywood has improved on being more diverse but also how they can do better. In Hollywood, a lot of films practice using white actors for

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.

The prequel to OscarsSoWhite was HollywoodSoWhite, according to Stacy L. Smith, a USC professor. It is believed that we do not contain a diversity problem, we have a inclusion problem. The study titled the Comprehensive Annenberg Report on Diversity, examined 109 films released by major studios. More than 11,000 characters were analyzed for gender, race, and ethnicity and LGBT status. Approximately 10,000 directors, writers, and show composers were examined. The gender of about 1,500 executives were

In addition to considering myself a champion of the supporting cast of the films and shows I regularly watch, I also do appreciate and value diversity within the film and television industry. While I may not voice my concerns publicly about the traditional lack of diversity within the industry, I regard this issue as one amongst a whole host of others that are vital to the ongoing success of this business. For whatever reason, I tend to have a heart for Asians within the industry who have exceptional talent and deserve to be recognized. In the case of Nelson Wong, I have noticed his work for several years now, so reaching out and asking him a few questions about his career is an action that matches perfectly not only with my own beliefs and value system, but certainly with the Hallmark network as well. Although the Christmas movies are past, I am honored to be able to share the career and thoughts of this astounding actor and benevolent human being.

What if every single individual that worked with you was only one race? This would change the outlook on how a business is operated and what we are being exposed to. Our options would be very limited and it would feel like we are in a bubble because we are being used to same culture experience repeatedly. The encounters that we face such as individuals being bias, prejudice, stereotypical, and discrimination to other individuals that we work with. Avoiding diversity related problems with organizations will result in better management, which will also lead to a better working environment.