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| Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II is coming to Netflix with Michelle Yeoh |
Don't get me wrong. We always need to be reminded about the inequities that exist in the portrayal of people of color in popular media, it's just that we all know what the problem is. What we need is a solution that will get acted upon.
The study from the Media, Diversity, & Social Change Initiative at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism offers comprehensive data that evaluates gender, race/ethnicity and LGBT status in movies.
“The picture that film presents is one that bears little resemblance to our nation’s demography,” said USC Annenberg Professor Stacy Smith, author of the study and founding director of the initiative, in a press release. “By examining the trends over time, it is clear that no progress has been made either on screen or behind the camera when it comes to representing reality. This report reflects a dismal record of diversity for not just one group, but for females, people of color and the LGBT community.”
Nevertheless, it might be worth reiterating what some of the report's findings:
Nevertheless, it might be worth reiterating what some of the report's findings:
- Gender. Only 30.2% of the 30,835 speaking characters evaluated were female across the 700 top‐grossing films from 2007 to 2014. This calculates to a gender ratio of 2.3 to 1. Only 11% of 700 films had gender‐balanced casts or featured girls/women in roughly half (45‐54.9%) of the speaking roles
- A total of 21 of the 100 top films of 2014 featured a female lead or roughly equal co lead. This is similar to the percentage in 2007 (20%), but a 7% decrease from the 2013 sample (28%).
- In 2014, no female actors over 45 years of age performed a lead or co lead role. Only three of the female actors in lead or co lead roles were from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds. No female leads or co leads were Lesbian or Bisexual characters.
- Less than a quarter of all speaking characters were female in the top animated films of 2014, which is a 7.4% decrease from 2010 but no change from 2007. Only 21.8% of speaking characters in action/adventure films were female, which did not differ from 2010 or 2007. 34% of characters in 2014 comedies were female.
- Across 700 films, a total of 9,522 characters were coded 40‐ to 64‐years of age. Less than a quarter (21.8%) of these characters were women. Only 19.9% of the middle‐aged characters were female across the 100 top films of 2014. This is not different from the percentage in 2007.
- Of those characters coded for race/ethnicity across 100 top films of 2014, 73.1% were White, 4.9% were Hispanic/Latino, 12.5% were Black, 5.3% were Asian, 2.9% were Middle Eastern, <1% were American Indian/Alaskan Native or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and 1.2% were from “other” racial and/or ethnic groupings. This represents no change in the portrayal of apparent race/ethnicity from 2007‐2014.
Only 17 of the 100 top films of 2014 featured a lead or co lead actor from an underrepresented racial and/or ethnic group. An additional 3 films depicted an ensemble cast with 50% or more of the group comprised of actors from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds.
Just over a quarter of characters in action and/or adventure (26.1%) and comedy films (26.5%) are from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups across the 100 top films of 2014. This represents no change from 2007 or 2010.
Only 19 Asian directors worked across the 700 top‐grossing films. This is an overall percentage of 2.4%. Only 1 Asian director was female across the films analyzed and was listed as a co‐director.ing character. This is the same number of movies without Black characters across the 100 top films of 2013. Over 40 movies across the 2014 sample did not depict an Asian character with any lines.
To me, what the study shows that in the seven years of data, much breast-beating from the major studios and influential producers and directors, not much has changed,
There are some signs that 2015 might be the year where people of color might see some progress in the movie industry. Never the less, I can't wait to see next year's report.
With the exception of Justin Lin' Star Trek Beyond, most of the action for Asian talent seems to be on television with Netflix's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II, the epic Marco Polo with - literally - a cast of thousands. Both of those productions will most likely eventually will have theatrical releases (in the lucrative Asian market). In addition, there are a handful of new series which will feature Asian/American leads which I'll write about in another posting.
Below is a Buzzfeed video that is kind of an amusing "what if." about movies that could have been cast with actors of color. (I'm giving this idea free to anybody who wants to write the script, imagine Breakfast Club with an "urban" - code for black, Asian, Latino - cast. I think that would give the film so much more depth than the original. Anybody interested?)
The commentary below the video is very troubling though, indicating how so many people just don't get people of color or the point of this video.
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