Undeniably, almost everyone has an idea of what to expect when they go to see a movie in a cinema. At this point in time, movies tend to follow certain trends, and can be categorized into specific tropes. We all know the classical romance stories of the nerdy girl being able to “change” the athletic super-star guy to fall in love with her, and the tale as old as time of superheroes saving the world from the forces of evil are also evident in many people's’ minds. However, as we are progressing, it is becoming evident that there are many people’s realities that are not being projected onto the big screen, and that we tend to see the same types of people represented over and over again. It becomes bland after a while to see the same heterosexual …show more content…
caucasian actors and actresses acting in every hollywood film there is. Looking at America and the entire globe with a broader perspective, we can easily see that there are many more stories that are fresh and new to be told, and that Hollywood needs to expand their horizons. In order for Hollywood to become more diverse, it needs to start by including more diverse persons and their stories of various backgrounds, including differing ethnicities, females, and those of the LGBT community. Every year, hundreds of movies will be produced in Hollywood for the enjoyment of people all throughout the world.
However, the movie industry has been booming for years now, and creators are trying to gather up new ideas where and when they can. This has lead to movies being produced showcasing many other cultures, regions, and religions but there is only one problem: these movies meant to display the grand diversity of the world are being depicted by the same caucasian Hollywood actors. The phenomenon of originally characters of foreign ethnicities being portrayed in Hollywood films by white actors instead of actors of the correct heritage of usually referred to as “White Washing”. As of 2017, the public census has shown that specifically African-Americans compose 14 percent of the entire United States population (“Facts About Racial Discrimination”), yet hardly any movies are made to specifically target this audience by people of this descent. There are many instances of white actors being hired to play POC in big screen hits, with examples including Angelina Jolie, a woman of mixed-european heritage, playing an afro-cuban character in the 2007 film “A Mighty Heart”, as well as Carey Mulligan, another woman of mixed-european descent, playing an originally latina character in the 2011 flick “Drive” (“25 Times White Actors Played People Of Color”). The underlying issue here is that it’s not like there are a lack of actors and actresses of all different ethnicities to be …show more content…
hired, it is that directors keep favoring to employ white stars, even when they are meant to be representing other cultures. Feminism is a word that in this day and age is surprisingly rather controversial.
The basic concept of feminism is that females deserve to have equal rights and opportunities as their male counterparts do. It seems to be of a somewhat popular belief that because America is a first-world country that feminism is simply not needed here and that women always get the same opportunities as men do; however recent studies have shown just how unequally represented women in the Hollywood industry specifically are. In particular, women in the industry are consistently outnumbered by men for film leads 2:1, for cable news broadcasters 2:1, and for film directors at a staggering 12:1 (“2016 Hollywood Diversity Report”). There have even been lawsuits over the years over the evident favoritism of men in the industry, with a recent one in the works of being filed just this year by The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a Federal branch of the US (“Hollywood Could Be Sued For Discrimination Against Female Directors”). This lawsuit points out that only seven percent of last year’s films were directed by women, which is actually a decrease from 2015’s nine percent. As more and more women and entering and growing in the industry, it is appalling that they seem to be making less and less progress each year and even lost some of the ground they worked hard to obtain and pave. If the lawsuit were to be settled in favor of the EEOC, producers would likely have to adopt a rule where they
would have to at least interview female and minority candidates as part of their hiring process when hiring directors, to at least let more people have a chance at the job. Looking even further into the issue, if you happen to fall into both the minorities of being an American American or an Asian-American, as well as being a woman, the statistics of being a film director are approximately 3:50 and 3:30 respectively (“Gender Discrimination In Hollywood”). There are many women in the industry who are relentlessly working to make a name for themselves, but because they are often beat out for the job by their male counterparts, or simply not offered the job in the first place, it is more difficult for women to be successful in Hollywood. Hollywood is rather undiverse at this moment due to the fact that women are having a harder time becoming equally represented- it is currently a very male-dominated industry. It could be argued that Hollywood is primarily dominated by caucasians, and even more specifically white men, because they are simply the most fit for the films being produced. Some may say that Hollywood is a very inclusive environment, and the only reason why its not always diverse is due to varying talent levels; however, this cannot be the reasoning that we use to defend this discriminatory behavior in every single case. Granted, if we were to look at the payroll from 2016, we would find that there is only non-caucasian actor, and the boys outnumber the girls twenty to five in the top twenty-five highest paid and highly demanded actors (“World’s Highest Paid Actors”). The reality that is not being shown on screen is that there are many female actors and actors of a non-caucasian ethnicity that are struggling to make a name for themselves because of the barriers and obstacles that have been set in front of them. What Hollywood needs is a fresh take on the world, to portray it in a more inclusive manner. For the next generations, they need to be shown people and stories that reflect that they are going through and what their lives look like. Many famous actors have stated that when they were younger that they felt as if they were weird or out of the ordinary because they weren’t the characters being depicted on screens! One Hollywood Star named SAM ESMAI who was the Creator of the hit movie “Mr. Robot”, stated that “Growing up, I thought white male was the norm, the default character in every story. I never thought other possibilities could exist,” (“What It’s Really Like In Hollywood If You’re Not A Straight White Man”). Our goal as a society should be to make sure that adolescents have a role model that represents them, and to begin to tell different stories from new perspectives that we haven’t seen yet. Caucasians are not the only group that have talent, and we need to expand our horizons in that regard to start reeling in new and diverse talents. With Hollywood being smack dab in the middle of California, many would have expected to see more LGBT community centered films produced already! California is essentially considered one of the most open places to live as a queer individual, and the iconic gay flag was actually created in this state! However, even though this state as a whole is generally on the rather accepting and friendly side, that doesn’t mean that members of the LGBT community have found it just as easy to achieve fame and success as their straight counterparts. Being represented in Hollywood as a minority is a huge deal, with one individual even going as far as to say “The studios were more than an industry and producers of movies- Hollywood was a town and a cultural symbol,” (Abrams). If you were represented in mainstream culture, stigmas around your individuality began to disappear and acceptance began to take its place. One director of the film “Carrie”, Kimberly Peirce stated in an interview that “[Coming to Hollywood as an out person], it scared me. I thought if they don’t like this, I’m going to push their buttons and not mean to. I thought the gayness was what was going to freak people out, and in a lot of ways, it’s the femaleness that causes more problems in a straight, male world. That, I didn’t expect,” (“What It’s Really Like In Hollywood If You’re Not A Straight White Man”). While it is hard for LGBT to produce and create in Hollywood, is it also rare to stumble upon a film that has cast gay people in the correct light; while there may be more queer films out now than there were a couple of decades ago, that doesn’t mean that they are being represented in the best light. One screen writer named Abdi Nazemian stated that “There’s an assumption on the part of the filmmakers that viewers need a homophobic character as a point of entry and I don’t think that’s true anymore,” (Brekke). It seems to be the case that even when there are gay movies being produced, the creators feel the need to throw in cliche storylines about homophobia, and that is not always the case like Nazemian stated. There are many other stories that can and need to be explored so the up and coming queer youth has representation and recognition. In conclusion, while Hollywood has made greater strides to incorporate more and more types of people, they still have a long ways to go. The United States and the entire world as a bigger whole is not entirely populated by the same straight white men living an average-joe lifestyle. There are thousands of different cultures and people that want to represent and be represented on the big screen so they can show others what their lives are like, and inspire and shape the world to represent a much bigger picture than the same old same old. If Hollywood would like to become more diverse, they need to start incorporating more persons of different ethnicities, females, and those of the LGBT communities. There are millions of individuals whose stories are unique in a way that Hollywood has never seen before, and if their horizons are broadened, the doors to fresh new takes on the world will be unleashed- all Hollywood has to do is give them more of a chance!
Tangled was an entertaining eye opening illustration that included action, romance, comedy, that would be enough to keep the whole family entertained. Time and time again, Disney films are being criticized by the public because of the lack of ethnic diversity; this lack of ethnic diversity can be illustrated through the film titled Tangled. In 1995, Disney gave us Pocahontas and in the year of 1998 Disney had released Mulan. This showed the public that, Disney was in fact capable of creating films in which the lead protagonist was not white, however it wasn’t till more recently that racial diversity truly had taken stand when The Princess and the Frog (2009) was released. While, I applaud the efforts of Disney in attempting
In the latest Disney film, a live action rendition of Beauty and the Beast, there will be a character who is gay. I personally am excited for this, I think that starting to include a diverse range of characters to show to younger children and create new ways of teaching open-mindedness to children when they are young is very important. However, I am just curious and wondering if, given Disney’s track-record, a statement like this is actually true:
It’s September, the kids are back in school, and it’s time for another new season of television. Another round of must see Felicity, Friends, and Frasier, with a side of ER and some Nash Bridges for dessert. Loads and loads of Caucasian males and females making us laugh, and cry. What you do not see are Black, Hispanic, or other minorities making us laugh, and cry. In this day and age, where everyone gets a fair shot at doing what they really love, the same can not be said for minorities in the film industry. More and more minorities are being turn away in favor of Caucasian actors. It’s not only actors that are feeling the pinch, its also writers, directors, producers, and network execs.
In addition, due to negative feelings about Asian Americans prevalent in American culture, Hollywood’s attempt to expand its target audiences is constrained, and despite the increasing market values of Asian Americans, Hollywood is possibly unwilling to portray successful Asian characters for fear of provoking its mainstream audiences who hold prejudice against Asians. There is a dominant white preference over the effects certain stereotypes may have on Asians and Asian Americans (Park, 2005).
Although we have taken monumental strides in the past fifty years towards racial equality and diversity, it is still commonly argued that popular culture lacks some sort of racial representation. In the United States, the people who live here are vastly diverse when it comes to race and culture, yet in the media people of color get marginalized and stereotyped everyday in film, music, and etc.
African American representation in the film industry has always been a topic for discussion. Whether talking about character types and roles, the actors being cast or not cast, and the lack of diversity in front of and behind the camera. ‘The contemporary status of race in mainstream American culture is intimately bound to the process of representation within and through the mass media.’ (Rocchio, 2000, p. 4). Any role that was to be played by an African American kept in with the dominant stereotypes of the time of production; incompetent, child like, hyper-sexualised or criminal.
Hollywood’s diversity problem is well-known; however, the extent might be surprising to most Americans. According to a 2014 report by the Center for the Study of Women in Television, Film & New Media, found that females comprised only 30% of all speaking characters among the top grossing films of 2013. (Lauzen, 2014) However, minority women faired far worse than their Caucasian counterparts. As a matter of fact, if one looks at the numbers even female characters from other world’s were as better represented in film than some minority women; the numbers are as follow for women: Caucasian (73%), African American (14%), Latina (5%), Asian and other world tied (3%). (Lauzen, 2014) If the lack of representation were not enough consider a 2009 study which found that when minority groups are portrayed on television the portrayal tends to be negative. (Alexandrin, 2009) A study by Busselle and Crandall (2009) found that the manner in which African-Americans are portrayed, often as unemployed criminals, tends to have an influence on the way the public perceives African-American’s lack of economic success. Furthermore, the news media does an equally poor job in the ways that African-American’s are presented; according to the same study while 27% of Americans were considered “poor” in 1996 the images of America’s “poor” being presented by news media was heavily Black (63%). (Busselle & Crandall, 2002) Today, this can be seen in the way that African-American victims of police brutality are depicted in the media. Even when African-Americans are murdered at the hands of police for minor and non-violent offenses (e.g. Mike Brown, Eric Gardner, and Tamir Rice) they are often portrayed as thugs, criminals, and vandals. What’s more, seve...
The LGBTQ community has wanted to see same sex romances blossom on the screen for as long as film has been around, but overtime has come with some consequences. It has brought to light what people don’t want to talk about and has stereotyped all LGBTQ with the same wreck less, careless, and erotic lifestyles and behaviorisms. This is seen initially wit...
While watching movies, have you ever noticed that the villains in almost every single Hollywood film are of Middle Eastern or European descent? In a reoccurring theme of Hollywood, the villains in these films are almost always foreigners or people of color. This is a stereotype. On the other side of the spectrum, we often see that the heroes of these films are most often than not white males. This is another stereotype. Within the last few years, we’ve seen actors such as Will Smith, Morgan Freeman, and Zoe Saldana take the lead roles, so it can’t be said that there are no non-white heroes, but there certainly isn’t many. Hollywood action movies, moreover than other genres, are typically loaded with an abundance of stereotypes. The way these movies are composed and structured can tell us a great deal about the views held within the American psyche and who holds the social power. The harsh reality is that the media ultimately sets the tone for societal standards, moralities, and images of our culture. Many consumers of media have never encountered some of the minorities or people of color shown on screen, so they subsequently depend on the media and wholeheartedly believe that the degrading stereotypes represented on the big screen are based on fact and not fiction. Mary Beltran said it best when she stated in her “Fast and Bilingual: Fast & Furious and the Latinization of Racelessness” article, “ultimately, Fast & Furious mobilizes notions of race in contradictory ways. It reinforces Hollywood traditions of white centrism, reinforcing notions of white male master while also dramatizing the figurative borders crossed daily by culturally competent global youth – both Latino and non-Latino” (77). This paper will specifically look...
Racial and ethnic diversity on television is not something that I have ever really noticed as a problem, but sitting down, and paying very close attention to the people, their roles in the show, I was able to see that there was a lack of diversity on TV. I chose a random TV channel, one that I probably would not watch, and studied the characters in the show and in the commercials for over two hours, I realized that I had never paid that much attention to the people in the show. I noticed after I was done that the largest group of people in the show and on the commercials, were white people, although there was some diversity, maybe one or two people of a different nationality, gender, or race, that overall the lack of diversity was minimal compared
For the purpose of this study, I will critically examine the representation of homosexuality in Hollywood cinema. I will specifically analyse films from the early 90’s to mid 2000’s from ‘Philadelphia’ to ‘Brokeback Mountain’. This dissertation will argue that over the space of 12 years homosexuality has become an acceptable part of cinema. I will look at early Hollywood’s representation of homosexuality depicting how aesthetically so much has changed. The current paper will predominantly focus on the two films ‘Philadelphia’ and ‘Brokeback Mountain’, by critically analysing the aesthetic differences between each film as well as their overall importance to gay culture.
Stereotyping is a major issue in the world today, however, mostly in the United States. It is known as fixed impressions, exaggerated or preconceived ideas about particular social groups, usually based solely on physical appearance (The New York Company). Crash is a great example because it shows others stereotyping individuals in many ways. According to Schingel, it is the perfect analogy of how we as a human race deal with life, people and our own experiences. The movie, released in 2005, shows each character's point of view, rather it be from an African-American, Caucasian, or a Latino. It follows each character throughout the movie to show how they live their daily lives.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, however what is considered beautiful by some is not considered as beauty when discussing diversity within the media. Society is based on criticism of judging one’s characters body, shape and or race/ethnics background. In the media the society only sees one type that is only focused on perfection to the mind; however within the United States, it is very typical in that the media lacks ethnic representation, cultural identity and gender inequalities. There are no ethnic representation when it comes to the media world and that the media has been trained to believe that the ethnic groups are not valuable. African Americans and Hispanics writers are the minority group when it comes to a social group. According to journalist Prince and Television critic Deggans “CNN , let go one of its most high-profile anchor of color, Soledad O’Brien, replaced her with a white man, Chris Cuomo. Wolf Blitzer gave up one of his hours to another white man, Tapper. Though Zucker met with both National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalist to try and address their concerns, there has been no overt sign from CNN that it is bringing on any more anchors of color, ”(Mirkinson p.1).
Feminism is a movement that supports women equality within society. In relation to film, feminism is what pushes the equal representation of females in mainstream films. Laura Mulvey is a feminist theorist that is famous for touching on this particular issue of how men and women are represented in movies. Through her studies, she discovered that many films were portraying men and women very differently from reality. She came up with a theory that best described why there is such as huge misrepresentation of the social status quos of male and female characters. She believed that mainstream film is used to maintain the status quo and prevent the realization of gender equality. This is why films are continuously following the old tradition that males are dominant and females are submissive. This is the ideology that is always present when we watch a movie. This is evident in the films from the past but also currently. It is as if the film industry is still catering to the male viewers of each generation in the same way. Laura Mulvey points out that women are constantly being seen as sexual objects, whether it is the outfits they wear or do not wear or the way they behave, or secondary characters with no symbolic cause. She states that, “in traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote it-be-looked-at-ness.”(Mulvey pg. 715). Thus, women are nevertheless displayed as nothing more than passive objects for the viewing pleasure of the audience. Mulvey also points out through her research that in every mainstream movie, there is ...
Women have made progress in the film industry in terms of the type of role they play in action films, although they are still portrayed as sex objects. The beginning of “a new type of female character” (Hirschman, 1993, pg. 41-47) in the world of action films began in 1976 with Sigourney Weaver, who played the leading role in the blockbuster film ‘Aliens’ as Lt. Ellen Ripley. She was the captain of her own spaceship, plus she was the one who gave out all the orders. Until then, men had always been the ones giving the orders; to see a woman in that type of role was outlandish. This was an astonishing change for the American industry of film. Sometime later, in 1984, Linda Hamilton starred in ‘The Terminator’, a film where she was not the leading character, but a strong female character as Sarah Connor. She had a combination of masculine and feminine qualities as “an androgynous superwoman, resourceful, competent and courageous, while at the same time caring, sensitive and intuitive” (Hirschman, 1993, pg. 41-47). These changes made in action films for female’s roles stirred up a lot of excitement in the “Western society” (Starlet, 2007). The demand for strong female characters in action films grew to a new high when Angelina Jolie starred in ‘Tomb Raider’ in 2001 and then in the sequel, ‘Tomb Raider II: The Cradle of Life’ in 2003 as Lara Croft. Her strong female character was not only masculine, but was also portrayed as a sex object. Most often, strong women in these types of films tend to fight without even gaining a mark. At the end of each fight, her hair and makeup would always be perfect. The female characters in these action films, whether their role was as the lead character or a supporting character, had similar aspects. I...