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Problems of race in hollywood
Race in Hollywood cinema
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When a production team is in the process of creating a film, they have one goal in mind and that is to create a masterpiece. A masterpiece worthy of being talked about, a masterpiece worth remembering , a film worthy of recognition and nomination for awards. The topic I am going to explore is about one of the biggest controversies in the media world and that is the Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars and the assumption that they're racially biased against African American films. A few of the questions that I will conduct further research on is why are the Oscars racially biased? What movies deserved awards that weren't even nominated? Were the movies that weren't recognized a majority African American cast? How does it affect the community …show more content…
Jada Pinkett-Smith, Will Smith and Spike lee announced they were sitting out of the February 28th viewing because of the lack of diversity for the second year in a row. Actor Darrell Larson, 65, gave his two cents. "Race had nothing to do with it, nor should it," speaking of his nomination choices. "The 'backlash' is understandable, given the current state of the culture, but completely wrongheaded. Nothing should be done, nor even can be done. Any 'affirmative action' will taint the future winners who may happen to be nonwhite. We should make more films with diverse casts, but that is already happening, especially in television." Two years ago the historical film, 12 years a Slave, whose lead protagonists and director were black, won Best Picture. "I don't feel it is bias," David Huddleston stated, 85, who is perhaps best known for playing the lead character in The Big Lebowski. "I have nominated and voted many times for actors of color, both women and men. It is just not possible for everyone to secure an Oscar — or an Emmy or a Tony. Any given season, someone who may be worthy may also be unlucky." (Los Angeles
The first social issue portrayed through the film is racial inequality. The audience witnesses the inequality in the film when justice is not properly served to the police officer who executed Oscar Grant. As shown through the film, the ind...
Being one of the few black students to attend Tisch School of the Arts, the aspiring filmmaker’s first year at New York University was a particularly difficult one. Lee’s experiences, race, and upbringing have all led him to create controversial films to provide audiences with an insight into racial issues. Spike Lee’s first student production, The Answer, was a short ten minute film which told of a young black screenwriter who rewrote D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation. The film was not well accepted among the faculty at New York University, stating Lee had not yet mastered “film grammar.” Lee went on to believe the faculty took offense to his criticisms towards the respected director’s stereotypical portrayals of black characters (1).
John Small, a fourteen year old boy in Uptown St. Paul, proceeds into the Suburban World Cinema, anxious to see Abel Ferrara's Bad Lieutenant. He is equipped with a parental note, replete with the phone number where his parents can be reached to verify that they did indeed author the note should its authenticity be questioned. John pushes seven crumpled-up dollar bills and the folded note into the metal dugout under the box office window, only to be met with a tinny, disinterested voice booming through the round silver speaker mounted on the window: "No children under seventeen allowed! Sorry. This note isn't gonna cut it."
... model for how the entertainment and media industries depict black people must change. Despite the progress that blacks have worked toward since the days of slavery, society continues to give in to the monetary benefits of producing self-disparaging entertainment and media. It is not only up to the directors, editors, producers and writers to establish this change, but it should also be the demand of the people, or the consumer. If the images of black people in the media are improved the outlook within the community will improve as well. Not only will positive goals and achievements become more realistic for black people if the media outlets discontinue their practice of equating blacks with aggression, lawlessness and violence, but a greater good will also result for whites, which would be represented by a true autonomy and equality in American society.
In this essay I will be supporting two movies that has a very controversial issue. Controversial can happen all over, in many different situations. It’s a very deep disagreement that’s typically, prolonged. My first choice was “Straight out of Compton”. This overview will tell you everything about this film. When this movie first dropped it was worldwide. A lot of the most famous people play a part in it, rappers to be specific. This movie is rated the number one top controversial movie ever made, and certainly one of the most that’s hated and disliked. It’s a shocker and has explosive flicks. This movie promotes historic scenes. This movie also will influence others in a way, or even change the way of thinking. One of the main concentration
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...
Ever since I was a little girl, my mom used to have me watch movies in English so I would get better at the language. That activity soon developed into a longtime love for watching movies of all kinds. From comedies to dramas, I found that movies gave me a certain space for myself and showed me new places and worlds to explore. That love of movies led me to discovering one of the biggest influences in my life: The Academy Awards. I was ten years old when I first watched the ceremony and being so young at the time, all I knew was that a group of celebrities gathered to celebrate movies. Yet, as time went by and as I kept getting older and more knowledgeable about the awards, they became something more to me. The show not only changed my perspective about movies, but it also gave me a new insight into what I want to do with my life, and about the power of dreams and choices.
The article I chose this week is about how lack of diversity there are in roles in films made in the United States. The article stated that between the years 2007 and 2014, women only made up 30 percent of all speaking roles. Another article was released recently stating that that there are 700 popular films and represent inequality. This article looked at gender, race, and ethnicity. The top movies are only white, straight, young, and male. Out of the top 100 movies 73.1 percent of all speakers were white, 19 characters were lesbian/gay/bisexual, 19.9 percent of the characters were 40 to 64 years old, and women directed 1.9 percent of the movies. Films produced in 2014, not a single woman was starred over the age 45. These statistics pointed out how directors are prejudice when making decision about their characters. The article specified that art may be a mirror of life, but is often a misleading one in mainstream American cinema. Even though women are about half of the population they remain a persistent minority on screen.
Roxane Gay, the author of this article, believes that Hollywood has a race equality issue. Also, she believes that the Oscars has a race equality issue.The opinions in this article are something I do not agree with. Roxane Gay shows a well thought out argument but she does not have a lot of hard evidence to show a true race equality problem. Leading me to not agree with her, on the topic of the Oscars having a race equality issue. I believe that whoever is deserving of a Oscar will win one, or be nominated for one. Actors and actress should be nominated for an Oscar based on how well they perform their role in the movie, not by the color of there skin.
Black actors in Hollywood are among the most famous known and recognized in almost every country in the world. From Don Cheadle, Chris Rock, Oscar, Emmy and Tony Winner, Viola Davis to Oscar winners, Denzel Washington and Halle Berry to characters like Cookie from Empire on the Fox Channel. But during the Oscars of 2016, black actors expressed the frustrations of being snubbed in the nominations and felt unrecognized for their talents.
In 1996, there was a protest organized for the lack of diversity in the show. People where shocked when only one out of the 166 Oscar nominees were black (Breger, 2016). The type of conflict strategy used by the academy was not very effective since the issues had remained ever since (Alberts, J. K., Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T. K, 2011, p.250). Last year all the acting categories with filled with nominees who were white. The same thing that happened again this year. However, last year there wasn’t as much attention brought to the situation. This year, many celebrities have spoken about their opinions on the
Ethnicity and appearance has become a tremendous problem in the media due to the fact that they try to use it as a power to control creativity of abstaining the truth in media. According to journalist Nishijima, A, she refers to the Oscars and explains that it is very absurd how the media is slowly progression in lacking diversity. This was recognized when watching the Oscars and seeing that based off predominantly white nominees. Nishijima quotes “Boone Isaacs decl...
How are African American men portrayed in modern movies? How do these depictions influence the structure of our society and culture that we experience on the daily basis? These questions have been the focal point of my research. As I pursue to analyze the arguments of others on this topic, I dig a little deeper into the innerworkings that are effected, and come to realize the serious underling implications resulting from this conundrum. The first piece of literature I vetted was Mass Deception by Max Horkhiemer and Theodore Adorno on page 65 of out textbook Culture and Society by Matt Wrey. This article conveyed the power of media very well; helping to express just how much of a grip the media really has on the life of a citizen, likewise,
Instead, it should serve as a reminder that there is still work left to do. The fight for diversity in Hollywood did not end with Moonlight’s triumph over La La Land. Regardless of race, everyone must unite to ensure that people of colour in the entertainment industry receive the recognition they deserve. Above all else, we must not allow ourselves to become complacent after one year of ‘diverse’ Oscar nominations. After 89 Academy Awards, the appreciation is more than a little
Diversity in entertainment is clearly a major issue in Hollywood right now. So far, most of the debate has centered on racial balance in front of the camera. The importance of diversity in the entertainment world's power corridors should be obvious. It gives off a bad omen for a multicultural society when the major decisions affecting what we see on TV, hear in music, and watch in movies are made by a mostly homogenized group. Although Hollywood's under a great deal of social pressure to accept diversity, from a business standpoint the issue is far less urgent. Even the few minority executives in Hollywood often feel powerless to effect any change. The most significant contributions from people of color have come from directors and independent producers, people like Spike Lee, Gregory Nava, John Singleton, and Asian-American director M. Night Shyamalan. Although they have effected change in their own way, none of them are directly involved in Hollywood's corporate