THE MOVIE INDUSTRY AND DIVERSITYBY KALI MARCOTT

IS THERE DIVERSITY?• Yes! Hollywood in fact, produces movies and films that

harness a great amount of diversity.

• Different plots, story lines, climactic experiences, and twists range from all over the place in diverseness.

• The genres are endless and new ones are made all of the time.

• Yes, Hollywood does produce great movies that are diverse… but their actors and displays of people in the movies… not so much.

IS THERE DIVERSITY?• Now more than before, diversity is growing in the movie

industry, but even in 2017 this is still a constant struggle.

• According to Huffpost Living, “seldom have women, minorities or even nonconformist males held the center of a story, serving instead as the adjunct or love interest. Rarely the subject, most often the object.”

• While I was researching, I was thinking back to the movies I watch and I only had a handful where a non-white male wasn’t the lead.

STATS• According to a study done by the University of Southern

California, the results of actors/actresses that were white dominated any other represented race in movies.

STATS• Red represents white actors/actress, blue represents

black, purple represents Asian, orange represents Hispanic, and green represents other.

STATS• According to Romper, “4.9% of speaking or named

characters in the 100 top-grossing films of 2014 were Hispanic or Latino”

• “A tremendous underrepresentation considering the same people comprise 17% of the population. For Blacks and Asians, the number was slightly higher at 12.5% and 5.3%, respectively. In fact, only 17% of the same 100 films starred an actor of an underrepresented ethnic group.”

• These stats support the position of how much minorities are really underrepresented in the movie industry.

REPRESENTATION• Minorities of race and gender are represented just enough

but are very rarely portrayed to be the star of the show, as I previously said.

• HS Insider says, “suggests that Hollywood suffers an “epidemic of invisibility” for minorities and has the tendency to perpetuate stereotypes.

• A film called Moonlight, had a black director and and an entire black cast. During a Q & A, one actor said how much he appreciated the opportunity to work with a black director.

WHITEWASHING• Whitewashing is the practice in which white actors play

non-white roles; this can be found in many movies in all different categories.

• As Disney remakes their classics into live-action films, they are living under a microscope from their audience not to whitewash the remakes.

• Rumors were flying that white actors were going to play the iconic roles of Mulan and her love Shang, but Disney announced they are going to cast a Chinese cast! Thank god.

WHITEWASHING• Mulan is a step in the right direction but aside from just

this, whitewashing is still a constant struggle.

• From what I read and read again, America really hates that we whitewash cultures, but some cultures this doesn’t bother them to that extent.

• Ghost in the Shell is a Japanese remake of a Manga. Scarlett Johansson is going to be playing the lead role and she is white. The reactions of the released trailer were more positive than negative from the Japanese public.

GHOST IN THE SHELL, REACTIONS FROM THE JAPANESE PUBLIC• Surprisingly, many of the reactions were happy!

• They liked that Scarlett looked like the character, the colored eyes are a attribute in Manga and she fits that, her hair matches the character’s

• Many thought Scarlett was really pretty and they were happy with the choice. It was America who was angry about the casting role.

• Are we trying to make up for our whitewashing mistakes in the past?

WHAT WILL DIVERSITY DO FOR AMERICA’S PEOPLE?• With so many groups of people barlely being represented

on the big screen, the audience who is a largely a mixed pot, can’t fully connect because they don’t see themselves.

• Aside from that, when the minority groups are being displayed on screen it is usually a stereotype and for the most part, a negative one.

• When minority actors are in a role, and speaking that, they are very obviously stereotyped to fit “the token”.

POPULAR STEREOYPES• When we keep downplaying minorities, it enhances

stereotypes; this is why diversity in films needs to happen.

• According to ThoughtCo., they grouped the minorities out and assigned what their roles usually are in movies

• The groups were Latinos, Blacks, Asians, Arabs and Native Americans. Each of these are non-white groups who are portrayed minimally in movies.

BREAKDOWN• Latinos: Maids, Gardeners, Housework; Lovers; Sexpots;

Thugs; Immigrants

• Native Americans: Maidens; Stoic Indians; Magical Medicine Men; Warriors; Wild on the Rez

• Arabs: Muslims & Foreigners; Women-Veils, Hijabs, and Belly Dancers; Barbaric; Villains & Terrorists; Desert.

• Blacks: Domestics; Brash Women; Thugs; Black Best Friend; Magical Negro

• Asians: Foreigners; Dragon Ladies, Martial Arts; Mystical; Immoral

MOVIES ARE FOR EVERYONE• Movies are made for all different people; age, gender,

religion; There are movies for everyone.

• Many people end up relating or connecting with a movie or it’s characters or even the message behind the movie.

• Especially young, vulnerable children who are very impressionable, they too like movies. They are taking in everything that they see. If a non-white child is only seeing white people as the hero that can’t be a positive message to intake.

INFLUENCE• Not only are the movies or stereotyping hurting the non-

white or underrepresented groups, its only adding more support to the prejudice and discrimination that people have.

• So the little kids already don’t see themselves as the heroes, the white kids are only seeing themselves as that.

• White kids are learning too as they grow and watch movies, but what if they’re not learning the right things? We can hope that they are being taught correctly, but not everyone is.

TELEVISION, DIVERSITY, AND SELF-ESTEEM• Communication Research did a study on children’s

television use and self-esteem between about 400 black and white students

• Their results showed that white girls, black girls, and black boys felt inferior and white boys felt really good.

• Many of the things they watch reinforce these feelings, including superhero movies as well. Majority are white males heroes and the sidekicks or the damsels are girls or other races.

LONG TERM EFFECTS?• The study suggested that the way the kids felt about

themselves could be carried long term due to the constant visual of seeing their cultures portrayed in the same manor over and over.

• As well as, the white male is taught that everything is at his fingertips and all of the opportunities are available for him if he works hard, he is the hero.

• This adds into the kids starting to fulfill what people already see them as; whether it be good or bad.

GOOD EXAMPLES OF KIDS MOVIES• Disney is one of my favorite movie brands and although

they have been apart of whitewashing and underrepresentation, they are making strides to change that.

• Many of their movies, like Mulan, have had strong female lead roles and focused less on finding true love and more on the situation that they must conquer.

• As well as the strong female roles, they are starting to focus on other cultures as well.

DISNEY MOVIES

REFERENCESBlair, Gavin J. "'Ghost in the Shell' Trailer Exceeds Japanese Fans' Expectations." The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 18 Nov. 2016. Web. 20 Mar. 2017. Disney), (Photo:, (Photo: Disney Stills), (Photo: ABC), and (Photo: Disney Dvd). "All the Details You Need as Disney's Mulan Gets a Live Action Remake for 2018." Mirror. N.p., 30 Mar. 2017. Web. 20 Mar. 2017. Donato, Jill Di. "Is There A Race Pay Gap In Hollywood? #OscarsSoWhite Is Just One Part Of The Problem." Romper. Romper, 22 Jan. 2016. Web. 20 Mar. 2017. Heggie, Betty Ann. "More Diversity In The Film Industry Is Not An Option." The Huffington Post. The Huffington Post, 06 Oct. 2016. Web. 20 Mar. 2017. Nittle, Nadra Kareem. "Common Racial Stereotypes in Movies and Television." ThoughtCo. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.  Santhanam, Laura, and Megan Crigger. "Out of 30,000 Hollywood Film Characters, Here’s How Many Weren’t White." PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, 22 Sept. 2015. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.  "The Lack of Diversity in the Film industry." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.