After years of begging, Lauren finally wrote a blog post for me:
As far back as the 1890s, we’ve been going to the movies. And since that time, film has extended a subconscious influence over our morality, our worldview, and our prejudices—and even for some of us, movies have been our only exposure to differing cultures, races, and beliefs. So, what happens when Hollywood gets it wrong?
It’s no secret that the movie industry is overwhelmingly white and male and has been since the inception of film, but a 2018 study by Dr. Stacy Smith analyzing the 1,100 top grossing films of the last decade shows the situation may be worse than we suspected. Of characters with an ascertainable race/ethnicity, 70.7% were white, 12.1% Black, 4.8% Asian, 6.2% Hispanic/Latino, and less for other ethnic groups. Overall, 29.3% of all speaking roles were from an underrepresented racial/ethnic group. In comparison to the demographics of movie ticket buyers or even the U.S. population as a whole, film underrepresents by a difference of 10 to 15%.
Behind the screen though, the stats get worse: of the 1,100 movies studied, only 5.2% were helmed by a Black/African-American director and 3.1% by Asian directors. The figures are similarly bad for producers, writers, and composers. While at first glance these numbers may not seem too bad, it’s worth pointing out that the authors found no significant change in minority representation in movies over the last 10 years.
While underrepresentation is a step up from no representation, the quality of roles offered to underrepresented groups is also lacking, characterized by stereotypes and inaccuracies. The Golden Age of Hollywood was infamous for its “Mammy” characters and depicting Black men as savages and rapists. And while we’ve gladly evolved out of that sort of characterization, more subtle stereotypes still abound. Think of Ned Leeds, the Asian computer geek who acts as Spiderman’s sidekick in the recent Marvel films. Or there’s the “magical Negro” stereotype epitomized by Morgan Freeman’s characters in several of his movies (e.g. Shawshank Redemption, Bruce Almighty). In other movies, would-be minority characters are white-washed, such as the real-life Mexican-American CIA operative Tony Mendez being played by Ben Affleck in Argo, or Tilda Swinton as the “Ancient One” in Doctor Strange.
This criticism is not new. Most recently, movies have been criticized for containing a “White Savior” trope. If you haven’t heard of this, check out Seth Meyer’s Late Night sketch explaining the concept. Movies such as Hidden Figures and Green Book may claim to be empowering and have good intentions (Hey look! We made a movie about Black people—we’re PC!), but often present a dangerously simplified version of race relations palatable enough for white audiences.
Movie-goers are becoming more aware and vocal in recent years about mis- and under-representation on screen with movements such as #oscarssowhite. However, the numbers remain resistant to change, particularly in intersectional groups. In 2017, 43 of the 100 top-grossing films did not depict one Black female character, 64 were missing a Latina, and 65 did not include an Asian female speaking character. This reflects how, often, inclusion in the minds of content creators is limited to having a “representative” from each group. It’s like Power Rangers—you have your Black Power Ranger, your girl Power Ranger, your Asian Power Ranger. One example of good intersectional exclusion recently is Moonlight, giving us a Black member of the LGBTQ+ community. Perhaps we need to expand our thoughts on what inclusion truly looks like.
So, if you’re any kind of good person you’re probably thinking of what we can do to make this better.
One idea that’s on the rise for actors and actresses is the inclusion rider, an idea developed by Dr. Smith, which could be inserted into their contracts to stipulate a certain level of diversity in the movie. Another idea from Smith is to focus on background characters and the rule of 5—add 5 speaking roles for intersectional women to next year’s top movies in small, background roles or supporting parts. Just doing this would create a new precedent in movies. Additionally, research shows that having a Black director leads to having more Black characters on screen, and the same for female directors.
Smith aptly describes the situation: “To address persistent on-screen diversity deficits, the answer may lie behind the scenes…Until biases in the consideration and hiring practices for these top movies are eliminated, the status quo will persist.” Let’s work on forming a culture where creators of all types are celebrated and encouraged.
Becoming aware of our nation’s history of marginalization is essential to having empathy for the situation of our fellow humans who continue to fight for representation. For more info on Smith’s study, you can find it here; for info on gender issues and movies, which I did not even begin to touch on and are magnitudes worse, check out this TedTalk.