Thursday, March 9, 2017
Film Blog 5, Question 1 (March 21st)
Hollywood has started to take steps to address critiques over its lack
of diversity, particularly in the areas of race and gender. What else, if
anything, needs to be done to make the film industry (behind the scenes) and
its products (movies) more representative of its audience? Limit: 12 responses
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Carly Knowles
ReplyDeleteHollywood has taken steps in order to address critiques over its lack of diversity, particularly in the areas of race and gender. However, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.
According to Brent Lang in Hollywood Is a ‘Straight, White, Boys’ Club,’ Blistering Study Finds, “The United States may be a melting pot, but when it comes to diversity, the films and television shows it produces are missing a lot of ingredients” (Lang). Some research was done a week before the 88th Academy Awards, an event that has had a lot of controversy over the years. Researchers looked at around 109 movies, and 306 broadcast, both cable and digital series. The findings showed that, “…a third of speaking characters were female, less than 30% were from minority groups and a mere 2% were lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Roughly half of the films and shows the study looked at lacked Asian characters and 20% had no black characters” (Lang). There has been a constant complaint that people of color are overlooked in acting and directing categories (Lang).
It’s hard to target the root of this problem because there are so many factors that play a part. USC professor, Dr. Stacy L. Smith, looked deeper into this issue. She focused on the speaking characters in scripted films between 2007 and 2017, discovering a gender ratio of about 2.3 speaking male characters to every one female character that was displayed onscreen (Haar). As stated by Dr. Smith in Industry Execs Discuss Hollywood’s Diversity Gap at Entertainment Finance Forum, “Only 26.3 percent of all speaking characters are not Caucasian or not white. Now this is completely out of step with the demographic profile of the United States. As we know, about 40 percent of the U.S. population are from underrepresented racial, ethnic groups” (Haar). She suggested that a possible solution would be to hire more women behind the camera because they are more likely to lead more diversity onscreen (Haar). I think this is a good idea because Hollywood isn’t just facing a racial issue. This issue involves the LGBT community, gender, minorities and more. Men have always been seen as “dominant” in the workforce, especially Hollywood. Giving women more of a chance in this industry would be extremely beneficial.
Knowles cont.
DeleteIn 2014 a study was conducted at UCLA that examine the gender and racial makeup of about 1200 movies and television shows from 2011 to 2012. With little surprise, the data showed that minorities are underrepresented. That was several years ago, and we are still having this problem. The film and television industry have never accurately represented how diverse America is, but the UCLA study took a look at the agencies. The agencies are considered the “gatekeepers” of the industry and the data suggests that agencies have fallen behind in keeping their groups of clients diverse (Rothman). For example, minority actors tend to be represented by smaller agencies, versus bigger agencies who hire white actors that are considered to have a “higher profile.” I think this is a problem to focus on because the agencies play a huge role in who gets noticed or not. It’s true that a filmmaker can hire a diverse cast, but if a minority actor can’t find good representation with a major agency, the filmmaker is limited (Rothman).
The Oscars is another event that has been hit with this conflict. In 2015, April Reign, created the hashtag, “OscarsSoWhite.” She did this in response to an all-white list of acting nominees for the Oscars. The following year, all the nominees were white again (Meehan). It wasn’t until 2017 that there was somewhat of a change. The 20 Oscar acting nominees consisted of several different black actors, including Denzel Washington, Mahershala Ali, and more. According to Reign, in #OscarsSoWhite Creator: More Black Nominees Doesn't Mean Oscars Are Diverse, “There’s still a lot of work to be done. Until anyone can go into the movie – not just during awards season, but let’s just say hi in the middle of March – and see themselves reflected on the screen no matter who they are, our work is not over” (Meehan). Even though there was some diversity added to the 2017 Oscars, there still needs to be nominations for Latino, Asian, people with disabilities and more (Meehan).
As stated before, there’s many different factors that affect the diversity in Hollywood. I think the agencies definitely need to give more recognition to actors, because they only started getting some at the 2017 Oscars. I also believe people standing up for what they believe in has a huge impact. April Reign still uses that hashtag today and it’s had a tremendous impact. Overall, the the root of the problem is hard to pinpoint, but it’s a work in progress.
Knowles cont.
DeleteCitation page:
Haar, Kara. "Industry Execs Discuss Hollywood's Diversity Gap at Entertainment Finance Forum." The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 03 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 Mar. 2017.
Lang, Brent. "Hollywood Is a ‘Straight, White, Boys’ Club,’ Blistering Study Finds." Variety. N.p., 22 Feb. 2016. Web. 17 Mar. 2017.
Meehan, Sarah. "#OscarsSoWhite Creator: More Black Nominees Doesn't Mean Oscars Are Diverse." Baltimoresun.com. N.p., 25 Jan. 2017. Web. 17 Mar. 2017.
Rothman, Lily. "Hollywood Diversity Study: Minorities Underrepresented at Agencies." Time. Time, 13 Feb. 2014. Web. 17 Mar. 2017.
It’s no secret that the film industry and Hollywood are dominated by heterosexual white males. “Television and digital players were much more diverse than big-screen entertainment. The percentage of female, minority and LGBT characters as well as female writers, directors and show runners at Hulu, Amazon, Disney and the CW all exceeded 65%,” unlike in the film industry where females make up roughly one third of the industry (Land, "Hollywood Is a ‘Straight…”). In order for the film industry to better represent it’s audience you would have to start making the focus of your movies more relatable to your audience. That means that movies need to start being about women and minorities, thus women and those stemming from minorities would need to be the lead roles in the movies. If films are more relatable to someone’s everyday life, similarly to how Moonlight was this past year, the film can achieve greater success while also breaking down the #HollywoodSoWhite stereotype. “In the top 200 films of 2015, ‘Forty-eight did not feature one black or African American female speaking onscreen,” now for an industry trying to break down the white male dominance, they do not seem to actually be following through with their promises (Haar).
ReplyDeleteSicbaldi Cont.
DeletePart of this issue stems from not having enough female directors. “Female directors are more likely to lead to more diversity onscreen… however female directors are not being hired to helm as much as male directors” (Haar). Thankfully, 2017 seems to be more promising when it comes to females directing higher profile movies. “Companies like Lucasfilm and Marvel have said that they are committed to finding female directors for upcoming releases,” alongside the already committed female directors for Wonder Woman, The Beguiled, and Pitch Perfect 3 (Lang. "Number of Female Directors…”). The shift to having more female directors is just the start to smashing the white male in film stereotype. Television writer, Shonda Rhimes has already proven that using a diverse cast in her show, Grey’s Anatomy, helped make a strong business for her.
Works Cited
Haar, Kara. "Industry Execs Discuss Hollywood's Diversity Gap at Entertainment Finance Forum."
The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 03 Mar. 2017. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.
Lang, Brent. "Hollywood Is a ‘Straight, White, Boys’ Club,’ Blistering Study Finds." Variety. Variety,
22 Feb. 2016. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.
Lang, Brent. "Number of Female Directors Falls Despite Diversity Debate, Says Study." Variety.
N.p., 12 Jan. 2017. Web. 16 Mar. 2017
From Walt Disney to Netflix, Hollywood has recently taken steps towards addressing its lack of diversity. “The United States may be a melting pot, but when it comes to diversity, the films and television shows it produces are missing a lot of ingredients” (Lang). Along with the diversity criticism, there is are also many other current problems with the film industry and its products. Criticized as a “straight white boys club” (USC Report), the film industry need to begin remodeling the landscape of Hollywood by including more roles and positions for women and minorities. We must understand also, that we are not just talking about positions on set, we are talking about all positions in the film industry. Katherine Pieper, a research scientist, believes that the higher the role, the less diversity you will find in Hollywood. “Women in film is true of executive ranks as well. When power or influence increases, the percentage of females decreases.” (Pieper)
ReplyDeleteDoig cont.
DeleteEveryone knows the problem and can see the problem but how can Hollywood begin addressing this problem? As mentioned above, we have a lack of women and minorities in all roles in the industry, but even more so, the higher the position. Hollywood should start by hiring directors that are either female or a minority. Lang believes that by hiring female directors, this will help open the door for more females in the industry, “Films with women directors employ higher percentages of female writers, editors, cinematographers, and composers than films with men behind the camera.” (Lang)
Improvements have been seen in Hollywood, all down to the hard work from women and minorities. Recently, in 2017, movies such as Pitch Perfect, and Fifty Shades of Grey have been two of the biggest releases. Women are showing that they are able to keep up and sell their great acting skills. They are also impressing big companies like Lucasfilm and Marvel who have committed to finding females to direct upcoming movies. (Lang) Hollywood’s decision makers whoever they may be, must open their eyes enough to let more outsiders in. I believe that with education and outrage, we can shift the balance of power when it comes to representation and inclusion. (Quora)
Work Cited.
DeleteQuora. "How Is Hollywood Failing Minorities?" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 30 Sept. 2016. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.
Lang, Brent. "Number of Female Directors Falls Despite Diversity Debate, Says Study."Variety. N.p., 12 Jan. 2017. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.
"From C-Suite to Characters on Screen: How Inclusive Is the Entertainment Industry?" USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.
Lang, Brent. "Hollywood Is a ‘Straight, White, Boys’ Club,’ Blistering Study Finds." Variety. N.p., 22 Feb. 2016. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.
ReplyDeleteThe lack of diversity in race and gender is an issue that has been plaguing the television and film industry for the past few years. Many celebrities have taken the time to speak up about this issue in regards to who is casted as a lead in a role, the difference in pay between a man and women, and the brains behind running of the shows and films. However, nothing has physically been done about the lack of diversity, “We can see that really nothing has changed over almost the last 10 years of the most popular content in cinematic storytelling,” (Haar 2017). This study showed not only the lack in change in the industry for the past few years, but that one of the major things that hasn’t changed and is lacking from the films and television shows is female leads and speaking characters.
Many female characters in movies are sexualized or created to fit the stereotype of what women are like. Instead female roles should be created to show women as strong, leaders, and independent because there is more to females than their sexuality and the stereotype outlined for them. One way this diversity of gender can make its way to the big and small screen is by hiring more female writers, directors, and board members, “Female directors are more likely to lead more to diversity onscreen,” (Haar 2017). An example of this is in the shows Jane the Virgin, Shondaland shows, and Golden Girls, which are seen as the, “promise of progress” on the small screen,” (Lang 2016). Each of these shows was created by a female and has strong female lead characters that break the mold that women are placed into within this industry. As well having these diverse female leads in television shows allows for a, “fostering diverse voices,” (Lang 2016). This can than help grow a wider audience base for companies, allowing them to gain more diverse viewers. Therefore if more television and film companies looked outside the box and utilized more female creators and writers especially the ones that they have, they could have them work on larger projects, such as films because the diversity on screen will not only help ratings, but will draw a new and distinct audience to these television and film products.
Another way that there can be more diversity within the industry on a behind the scenes level is through the make-up of the Academy and other major award shows voting. For the past few years there has been talk about the lack of diversity in the actors, actress, and movies nominated for awards especially The Oscars. One reason for this is because The Academy as whole lacks in diversity, “The Academy is trying to diversify its makeup. …female and ethnic-minority novitiates are being sought out,” (Cox 2017). This action being taken something that needs to be done and should’ve been done sooner. The diversifying of The Academy will allow for fresh eyes and different viewpoints to see and determine the eligibility and quality of the films. As well, by having more females and different races on the board it can help show the importance of a movie or a social theme that the movie posses that others may not see due to societal stereotypes.
DeleteLastly, In general societal stereotypes need to be broken not only for the behind the scenes level in regards to a female’s ability in working on films and television, but on level what type of characters actors and actress can play based on their race. As a whole the industry needs to stop putting actors and actress in a box based because of their race or gender because it is limiting their opportunities, and the ability to grow a wider audience.
Works Cited
Cox, David. "Did #OscarsSoWhite work? Looking beyond Hollywood's diversity drought." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 25 Feb. 2017. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.
Haar, Kara. "Industry Execs Discuss Hollywood's Diversity Gap at Entertainment Finance Forum." The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 03 Mar. 2017. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.
Lang, Brent. "Number of Female Directors Falls Despite Diversity Debate, Says Study." Variety. N.p., 12 Jan. 2017. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.
Hollywood is a “straight, white, boys’ club” (Lang), and while it has started taking steps to address critiques over its lack of diversity, particularly in race and gender areas, has it really made that much progress? According to a study conducted in 2014-15 across 414 films, television and digital episodes “only 28.3% of all speaking characters…were from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups…One-third (33.5%) of speaking characters were female” (“From C-Suite”). And it’s not just in front of the camera where the issues lie. According to the same study, “…a mere 15.2% of all directors an 28.9% of writers across film and every episode of television and digital series were female. Less than one-quarter (22.6%) of series creators were women across broadcast, cable and streaming content” (“From C-Suite”). Both in front of and behind the camera, Hollywood is still not doing much to include diversity, and while television has actually improved quite a bit, film hasn’t done much to even try to match that. The boardrooms of major media companies such as Disney, Netflix and Time Warner as well as the movies they choose to greenlight are “male-centric, monochromatic and overwhelmingly heterosexual…” (Lang). Still. Even in 2017. There is so much that needs to be done to make the film industry and its films more representative of its audience, as we can see that “…nothing has changed over almost the last 10 years of the most popular content in cinematic storytelling” (Haar).
ReplyDeleteI don’t want to say the solution is simple, because clearly it can’t be if we’re struggling this hard with it. I also don’t think the main problem lies in just hiring more women and African Americans because those are not the only two diverse groups out there who are being unrepresented. Therefore, I think the main action we need to take is to hire a more diverse workforce. Hire women and people of different races with different ethnic backgrounds and sexual orientations and belief systems to work behind the scenes. This might and hopefully will lead to creating more roles and hiring a more diverse acting work force, which will include more women and people of different races with different ethnic backgrounds and sexual orientations and belief systems. There is currently such a “lack of opportunities for women and minorities to rise up through the studio system” (Lang). Therefore, we need to work on changing that system so that there are more opportunities for these people in order to create a more diverse Hollywood system that accurately represents the population. There are so many people out there whose stories are not being told simply because Hollywood refuses to be more diverse and representative and it is not fair and it is not okay. America prides itself on being a “melting pot” and a country for the “free people”, yet Hollywood, one of our largest industries, refuses to represent this and instead continues to remain a ‘straight, white, boys’ club’. But if it wants to stop all the criticism it needs to get with the program and start including more diversity both in front of and behind the camera.
DeleteWorks Cited
DeleteLang, Brent. "Number of Female Directors Falls Despite Diversity Debate, Says Study." Variety 12 Jan. 2017. Web.
Haar, Kara. "Industry Execs Discuss Hollywood's Diversity Gap at Entertainment Finance Forum." The Hollywood Reporter 3 March 2017. Web.
Lang, Brent. “Hollywood Is a ‘Straight, White, Boys’ Club,’ Blistering Study Finds.” Variety 22 Feb. 2016. Web
Public Affairs Staff. “From C-Suite to Characters on Screen: How inclusive is the entertainment industry?” USC Annenberg School For Communications and Journalism 22 Feb. 2016. Web.
In the recent years, Hollywood has been highly criticized for their lack of diversity in the film industry. Chris Rock made a huge point to make note of this lack of diversity in his 2016 Oscar opening monologue. After this incident, as well as a few others, Hollywood is taking the steps to make changes in the film industry, specifically in the areas of race and gender. With this said, there are other changes that need to be done to make the film industry and its products more representative of its audience. I think one of the biggest changes that should be made is who is being hired for top positions. Variety recently reported, “...women made up less than 20% of entertainment companies’ corporate boards, chief executives and executive management teams. At lower levels, there is more gender parity...” (Lang). As we get down the line of “importance”, more and more woman begin showing up. This needs to be changed simply because half of the population is female, it is unfair to let men represent the top levels of these companies. Along with this, as for the production of movies, “women were most likely to find jobs on the sets of documentaries and dramas, and were least likely to be employed on action films and horror films” (Lang). I think this is absurd because there are so many women in the world; to think that only men watch and enjoy action and horror films is beside me. Along with the lack of involvement women have in these films, there is lack of opportunity for women and minorities to move up and also make equal pay as men, which I mentioned earlier.
ReplyDeleteActresses such as “Jennifer Lawrence, Natalie Portman, Elizabeth Banks, Jessica Chastain, and other stars, all of whom have publicly decried the lack of pay equity for women and the dearth of female filmmakers” (Lang). Along these lines, another problem with the industry is that it is extremely difficult to get into unless privileged and able to get your way in somehow. The Huffington Post recently stated, “Although great strides have been made to diversify the industry, the numbers don’t lie. The film industry is ruled by the white male from middle class or better socioeconomic backgrounds... Let’s face it, people hire folks who remind them of themselves” (Hope). The fact that these are the people that run the industry is difficult, because those are the ones whom are continually hired. This is only more difficult when new people with brilliant ideas try to enter the industry, and they are shut down because of looks, upbringing, background and the different qualities he or she possess.
DeleteWorks Cited
Hope, Ted. "38 Ways the Film Industry Is Failing Today." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 May 2010. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
Lang, Brent. "Hollywood Is a ‘Straight, White, Boys’ Club,’ Blistering Study Finds." Variety. N.p., 22 Feb. 2016. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
Lang, Brent. "Number of Female Directors Falls Despite Diversity Debate, Says Study." Variety. N.p., 12 Jan. 2017. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.
The characteristics of what groups of people are in the media was shocking because when watching content people do not typically examine diversity. I had no idea that women are underrepresented in the media and that only 33.5% of speaking characters are female (Smith 1). This is a major factor that needs to change in order for the media to better represent actual people because women make up 50% of the world. I was also unaware that men are the strong majority of people who are behind the scenes as well. If Hollywood hired more women behind the scenes then the content that will be produced will be much more diverse as well. Shonda Rhimes for example, is a diverse woman and therefore produces content that all types of people can relate to.
ReplyDeleteThe media industry is aware that it needs to make changes to better represent women, different races and other minorities but the industry really needs to make changes in the representation of people with mental and physical disabilities. This is something that is rarely seen at all yet 15% of people worldwide have a physical or mental disability (Brown 1). Recently the show ‘Speechless’ came out and it has a main character in a wheelchair because he suffers from cerebral palsy. ‘Speechless’ is one of the first shows to tackle issues related to having a physical disabilities and it is something that a whole community of people can relate to. It was a long time coming to have a show like this and hopefully there will be more shows of its kind to represent more groups of people. Very recently, Sesame Street has created a new character, Julia who has autism, so it is great to see the media making these steps in the right direction of being more inclusive and representing a larger demographic of people (France 1).
Studies show that big screen entertainment is less diverse than small screens and streaming services. In a study looking at broadcast, movies, and digital media only two percent of the content featured LGBT characters (Lang 1). These numbers are small because it is a more controversial topic but it is also the human rights movement of today so it is important that this group of people gets represented appropriately. ‘The Fosters’ is a great show that represents a family with two moms, a gay foster son and also a transgender character. This show truly represents diversity in a normal and positive way and there needs to be more shows and movies of its kind to represent a larger audience.
DeleteHollywood needs to produce more diverse content but in order to do that there needs to be diverse people behind the scenes creating it.
Work Cited
Brown, David. "15% Worldwide Have Physical or Mental Disability." CBS News. CBS Interactive, 09 June 2011. Web.
France, Lisa. "Meet 'Sesame Street's' Muppet with Autism." CNN. Cable News Network, Web.
"From C-Suite to Characters on Screen: How Inclusive Is the Entertainment Industry?" USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Web.
Haar, Kara. "Industry Execs Discuss Hollywood's Diversity Gap at Entertainment Finance Forum." The Hollywood Reporter 3 March 2017. Web.
Lang, Brent. "Number of Female Directors Falls Despite Diversity Debate, Says Study." Variety 12 Jan. 2017. Web.
Lang, Brent. "Hollywood Is a 'Straight, White, Boy's Club,' Blistering Study Finds.". Variety. Web.
Rock, Chris. "Chris Rock Pens Blistering Essay on Hollywood's Race Problem: 'It's a White Industry.'" The Hollywood Reporter. 3 Dec. 2014. Web.
Rosenberg, Alyssa. "‘Hidden Figures’ Is Terrific. Hollywood Could Learn a Lot From It." Washington Post 22 Dec. 2016. Web.
This may seem absolutely horrible, but I do not think that the film industry needs to represent specific audiences any more than it has already tried to do. For the sake of clarity, we are talking about the issue of women and minorities being underrepresented in the film industry. My statement may seem unbelievably naïve to you, but consider this; the film industry is comprised of filmmakers who have a specific vision for their product – that product being a film. It is up to the filmmakers to do all the things they deem necessary in order to see their vision come to fruition. In that process, the filmmaker will inevitably have to fill the roles and on set jobs with people that will get the job done the best according to the filmmaker’s opinion, similar to how a company would go about hiring a new employee. If the film’s goal is to have diversity, than by all means, diversity should be had. But making a big deal over underrepresentation is not worthwhile in my eyes. If actors and actresses who are a part of a minority feel oppressed, they should try to speak with those people who did not cast them to see what they could have done better. If the reason was solely based on their race or gender and had nothing to do with their talents or the role that they would be playing, then they have the right to argue for unequal opportunity, but that would be a rare case.
ReplyDeleteMost of this week’s articles touched on the fact that women and minorities are feeling underrepresented in film, but I would challenge those people to really think about the flip side. In Chris Rock’s article he mentioned Obama going for presidency compared to Jesse Jackson who wanted to disrupt the race when he said, “the difference between Barack Obama and Jesse Jackson was that Jesse Jackson never actually ran for president. He ran to disrupt the presidency. If he actually ran for president, he probably could have been president. Jesse Jackson won a bunch of primaries in Southern states, but not for five seconds did he think he could be president, whereas Obama was like, ‘Yeah, I could be president,’ and nobody stopped him. Literally, nobody stopped him.” If the underrepresented populations try to do everything in their power to get a certain role like Obama did with his presidency, then they have done their job as an actor or actress. At that point, it is up to those people making the film to fill the open roles with people who best fit the vision of the film. A study done by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University sheds some light on the breakdown of men and women in the film industry and can point to hard evidence of underrepresentation.
The study showed that “films with women directors employ higher percentages of female writers, editors, cinematographers, and composers than films with men behind the camera. Women made up 64 percent of writers on films from female directors, 43 percent of editors, and 16 percent of cinematographers. On films with exclusively male directors, women accounted for 9 percent of writers, 17 percent of editors, and 6 percent of cinematographers.” The same study showed that “Women were most likely to find jobs on the sets of documentaries and dramas, and were least likely to be employed on action films and horror films.” Underrepresentation? Perhaps. But it may not be a bad thing. In Chris Rock’s article, he talked about the film industry being a predominantly white industry whereas something like the NBA is a predominantly black industry. He said it’s not bad, but that’s how it is. The same goes for the film industry. Documentaries and dramas are a predominantly a female industry whereas action and horror are a male oriented industry. It’s not a bad thing, that’s just the way it is. It is possible that women are best suited for certain opportunities whereas men may be suited for different opportunities. There is nothing wrong with that.
ReplyDeleteThere should not have to be any government action in order to get the diversity that some people are looking for. Quoting a study on gender roles in film, USC professor Dr. Stacy Smith said, "we can see that really nothing has changed over almost the last 10 years of the most popular content in cinematic storytelling.” In my opinion, it is because most of the stories that have been told over the past 10 years have been the same stories with the addition of a number of sequels. Although diversity’s future looks grim right now, it will see the light of day at some point. Chris Rock talked about how he remembers at one time, black movies got judged on how they did relative to their budget where as now they get judged on the same scale as other movies. Diverse representation will probably play out the same way. There may come a time where a Mexican woman will play Snow White in Universal’s blockbuster picture of the summer. But be patient and let diversity work its way into the film industry naturally. It is commonly believed that film reflects society, so for those of you who believe it is a good idea to push diversity into the film industry, you may want to shift your focus to society in order to start to seeing better representation in film.
Works Cited
ReplyDeleteHaar, Kara. "Industry Execs Discuss Hollywood's Diversity Gap at Entertainment Finance Forum." The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 03 Mar. 2017. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
Lang, Brent. "Number of Female Directors Falls Despite Diversity Debate, Says Study." Variety. N.p., 12 Jan. 2017. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
Rock, Chris. "Chris Rock Pens Blistering Essay on Hollywood's Race Problem: "It's a White Industry"." The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter, 03 Dec. 2014. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe Hollywood race and gender issue is far from being progressed. There are a lot of issues that need to be addressed and changed before diversity is represented properly throughout Hollywood. Chris Rock, African-American comedian and actor, addresses a much more direct issue, “A better question is: Is Hollywood Mexican enough? You're in L.A, you've got to try not to hire Mexicans. It's the most liberal town in the world, and there's a part of it that's kind of racist — not racist like "F— you, nigger" racist, but just an acceptance that there's a slave state in L.A.’”
ReplyDeleteTo hear that from a well-known Hollywood star is frightening and undoubtable. People are starting to speak up and before you know it Hollywood will have no choice but to adapt. As Hollywood has started to take steps towards the direction of diversity, Disney has introduced the first gay character is the new realistic Beauty and the Beast movie; backlash ensued. There were boycotts within some movie theaters in conservative states, like Alabama, who decided to pull the film from the theaters. As Hollywood tries to progress toward diversity there are a lot of things to worry about. The idea is to represent the audience appropriately, but with controversial issues comes social discomfort. People and companies are hesitant to break the ice on such controversial issues.
In order for Hollywood to represent its’ audience better, they will have to structure behind the scenes drastically. As the Washington Post describes Hollywood’s race and gender issue, they confirm the issues with actual data. The Washington Post goes on to claim that among directors in Hollywood there are only 38 females to the 317 males. More shockingly, there are only 19 black directors out of 355 people. That ratio is alarming. It is the 21st century, and times are different. Something behind the scenes need to change. Washington Post analysis found, “Composed of Rod Lurie and many of the nation’s most celebrated filmmakers, the group is 89% male and 84% white, and roughly half are 60 or older.” The problem with Hollywood is that their behind the scenes representatives have a completely opposite interest than the audience. There should not be a bunch of old, white men handing out awards every year when they can’t even take the time to watch the most popular and successful black films. For example, Straight Out of Compton, the highest-grossing movie from a black director in history, was talked upon ‘Best Picture’ Oscar nominees, but was overlooked. Why were they overlooked? Because only one person out of all that could vote tried to watch the movie. He couldn’t even watch the whole movie because he complained about “too loud” rap music. The decision-making people in Hollywood are being exclusively biased and unfair when it comes to one of the most prestigious film awards in the world. I believe if there are issues within a company or industry, then it is reflected from issues and flaws within the management.
Alex, Bryan, and Er. "Backlash Grows over Disney's Gay 'Beauty and the Beast' Character." USA Today. Gannett Satellite Information Network, 05 Mar. 2017. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
Harwell, Drew. "The Staggering Numbers That Prove Hollywood Has a Serious Race Problem." The Washington Post. WP Company, 23 Feb. 2016. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
Looking at the content that has come out of Hollywood in the past four years, it is hard to overlook the increase in diversity and inclusiveness. Movies that represent or speak to certain demographics have started to appear not only more frequently, but also more substantially. Hollywood has started to put out films that clearly focus on African American history and culture, which win numerous awards including this year’s Best Picture Award by Moonlight. So on the surface, there is a clear progress in the right direction, adding to the diversity in an industry that has long been dominated by white male heterosexual mindset. However, studies on the inclusiveness of Hollywood reveal the vast underrepresentation of females as well as minority groups. While the content seems to become more representative, the inner-workings of Hollywood don’t show the same trend. Women comprised just 7 percent of all directors working on the 250 highest-grossing domestic releases in 2016, a decline of two percentage points from the level achieved in 2015 (Lang) and less than 30% were from minority groups and a mere 2% were lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. (Lang)
ReplyDeleteThe illusion that Hollywood is becoming more representative comes from the above-mentioned increase in films that clearly speak to certain minority groups and demographics, especially African Americans. But looking at the bigger picture, we see a serious lack of inclusivity of other groups in the American society. So while the general audience might be satisfied and of the opinion that Hollywood is finally “getting there” the reality is that the big dogs in Hollywood haven’t changed their composition, and the industry is still being controlled by white, heterosexual men.
I think that there is an enormous room for improvement in Hollywood’s inclusiveness and diversity. Most of this is comprised in the “background”, behind-the-cameras. Whether it is in the production field or the executive field, the number of females and minorities need to be increased. This does not call for a “special treatment” situation, but rather a release of the tight grip that Hollywood has on its traditional dynamics. The fact that of 4,284 directors assessed, a full 84.8% of directors were male and 15.2% were female raises giant red flags in the way that the system is set up in Hollywood. Moreover, it is alarming that out of the 407 directors evaluated, 87% were White and 13% were from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. Only two of the 53 underrepresented directors in film and television/digital series were Black women. This is clearly not because of lack of interest or involvement of these groups in the industry, but rather because of Hollywood’s lack of effort to become a more inclusive industry.
Overall, I think that the key to make Hollywood more inclusive and representative lies in the inner-workings of the industry. It is important to bear in mind that the percentage of on screen underrepresented characters increases 17.5% when an underrepresented director is at the helm of a scripted episode or film. The seemingly representative and “revolutionary” content that has been coming out of Hollywood can only cover for its negligent attitude towards diversity for so long before their lack of inclusiveness hurts the industry for good.
Lang, Brent. "Number of Female Directors Falls Despite Diversity Debate, Says Study." Variety. N.p., 12 Jan. 2017. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
DeleteLang, Brent. "Hollywood Is a ‘Straight, White, Boys’ Club,’ Blistering Study Finds." Variety. N.p., 22 Feb. 2016. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
"From C-Suite to Characters on Screen: How Inclusive Is the Entertainment Industry?" USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.