Preview

Underrepresentation In The Film Industry

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
163 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Underrepresentation In The Film Industry
African American actors, actresses, and directors are not highly compensated for their work. Many people do not like to think about racist Hollywood, however it exist and the U.S Entertainment industry is far from equal. In Viola Davis’ quote from her her 2015 Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy, she said "You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there” (Davis). This essentially means Hollywood must create more exciting roles for African Americans. A big problem apart of the wage gap is the underrepresentation of people of African Americans in Hollywood. As a result of under representation in the U.S. Film Industry, it is very challenging, finding equal pay. African American actors and actresses have just as much star power as Caucasian

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    In conclusion, Hattie McDaniels faced many obstacles in order to live out her dreams of becoming a performer, and making a name for herself in Hollywood. Today, we still see some of these obstacles that Hattie and other black actors had to go through, but we have examples like Hattie McDaniel’s to show us that we can make a changes in these dynamics. She paved the way for not only black performers, but for the African American community as a whole. I believe that Hattie McDaniel is a credit to her…

    • 1648 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The US, like Joy Mangano, his character in the film, holds its own struggle: to achieve equal pay between the actors and actresses of Hollywood universe.…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    On the evening of September 20th, 2015 at the sixty-seventh annual Primetime Emmy Awards, Viola Davis, lead actress of How to Get Away With Murder, portraying Annalise King, became the first African-American woman to win an Emmy for “Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.” While many people, men and women of all colors included, praised Davis for her award and the encouraging speech she gave in the wake of receiving it, others bashed and criticized her. Jaqueline Royster, too has experienced boundaries and has become accustomed to the unspoken rules of how one should do things in order to be seen a…

    • 180 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Hollywood Blacklist came into being in 1947 when the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) began to summon certain Hollywood entertainment professionals on the suspicion that their work was communist-inspired. As the media began extensive coverage of the proceedings, some writers, producers, and directors became known as the "Hollywood Ten." They included; Alvah Bessie, Herbert Biberman, Lester Cole, Edward Dmytryk, Ring Lardner Jr, John Howard Lawson, Albert Maltz, Samuel Ornitz, Adrian Scott, and Dalton Trumbo, eight of those subpoenaed was never called to testify. The congressional commttee was interested in the answers to two questions: “Are you now. Or have you ever been, a member of the Screen Writers Guild?” and “Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?” The Ten…

    • 1048 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Movies and films are important parts of not only our education, but also our life. Some teach us historical information or life lessons, and some just make us laugh. When we watch movies, we realize that many characters are just like us. As Linda Seger says, “Whatever our culture, there are universal stories that form the basis fall all our particular stories.” (Seger 386-387). One character that always seems to steal the audience’s heart is the one that doesn’t always fit in or that is different than the others. This character is known as the outcast archetype. Outcast archetypes are usually isolated from others for a certain reason whether it be gender, race, social class, or sexual preference. These characters usually do not change as they always stick out for some reason. In The Sandlot and The Blind Side, the main characters act as the outcast as they are different from those around them. Smalls in The Sandlot tries to make friends with a young baseball “team” while he has no experience with the sport at all. Michael from The Blind Side is one of the only African Americans at a private school where he learns to take advantage of his size and play football.…

    • 1246 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    This documentary is about eight women that share their experiences of what they have faced in their careers. It opens by one of the actresses saying that this industry is male dominated, and all opportunities are given priority to males then females. Another actress discusses in the documentary that the pay is lower for females and higher for males. In certain cases, females have to live off that allowance until they get a new cast. Other females take even lower pay just to have that role in the “show or movie.” Further, another actress discuss that they have faced discrimination in certain point of their careers for instance; in order to participate in a new cast, they have to be a certain ethnicity, age, height, weight, and physical appearance. Also some of the older actresses mentions that the older an actress get the less and less job opportunities they have for job openings.…

    • 489 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Since films were invented ask this when will you’ll finally see a change in hollywood since the 1900’s they’ve continued to do the same thing so will the cycle ever end. Charges of gender,racial bias and sexual stereotyping. blaxploitation movies in the 1970’s portrayed african american avengers of white injustice in movies like shaft, foxy brown, foxy cleopatra, sheba baby .godfather disco, car wash and sugarhill are all considered b-films of this genre .Actresses were Pam grier and Tamara Dobson during the 1970s’. Minorities and social issues became more visible in television. Sitcoms such as The Jeffersons (1980’s), what’s happening (Mid 1970’s) and chico man (the late 1970’s). A television spin off of the cosby show featured an all black HBCU and featured an all black and diverse cast including lisa bonet and marisa tomei it was diverse…

    • 424 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Today we see African Americans depicted in music videos, film, tv shows, news, and many other platforms of entertainment and media, but how many of those representations are correct? Realistically, it is impossible to represent whole racial groups and ethnicities, which is why generalizations and stereotypes are created. But the misrepresentation of African Americans in media and entertainment only further stimulates stigma, racism, mistreatment, and discrimination in and towards the black community.…

    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Bronze Screen

    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The history of Latinos in the Hollywood Motion Picture Industry is an example of one of the many dilemmas that Latinos have been faced with and furthermore have been able to overcome. Latino actors, writers, directors and most importantly the Culture have been a major contribution to the Hollywood film industry for many years. The Bronze Screen tells a story of the beginning and development of the Latino Community in the film industry.…

    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hollywood is amongst the top in power of the media empire in the United States, the productions that come out, become believed representations of the audiences that watch them, bringing down many that are shown in those productions. With audiences that are more than majority a darker color, than what are represented in Hollywood films, it brings to attention just how much of a problem it comes be. Minorities should be just part of the Hollywood creation, holding a social responsibility to derail from creating unrealistic stereotypes of ethnic characters that pigeonhole them, due to reasons of not having enough diversity in films and TV shows, create unwelcome clichés, and whitewashing over others cultures.…

    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Have you ever wonder why African-American males are usually drug dealers, pimps, convicts, or even a father with multiple children and is a deadbeat father? Or why does an African-American female have to be man-less, on well-fare with multiple children with different baby daddies, or even sometimes on the screen shaking her ass? Well to me this is exactly how most movies, television shows, music, and magazines portray African-Americans. The media portrays African-Americans in a stereotypical manner. Even though there may be some truth in these portrayals, they are sometimes unrealistic and unfair.…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Take a look at your favorite tv shows. Who are the ones dancing across your screen? Sneak a peek at upcoming movie trailers. What kind of leading ladies dominate our world? Let’s face it; it’s those with white skin. While there’s nothing wrong with caucasian actors and actresses, it’s the lack of diversity in their work. We’re getting tired of the same people gracing our screens, occasionally allowing the token Hispanic play a tired out stereotype. Hollywood must allow other cultures to paint the image of diversity alongside the established caucasian stars, rather than depicting a false picture of America.…

    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Blaxploitation

    • 1512 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In today 's culturally diverse, politically correct society, it is hard to believe that at one time racism was not only accepted as the norm, but enjoyed for its entertainment value. Individuals of African descent in North America today take the large, diverse pool of opportunities offered by the film industry for granted. Much like Canadian theatre however, there was a time when a black man in any role, be it servant or slave, was virtually unheard of. It took the blaxpliotation films of the early nineteen seventies to change the stereotypical depiction of Black people in American Cinema, as it took The Farm Story, performed by a small troop of Canadian actors, to create a Canadian theatre industry. To be more specific, it took the release of Melvin Van Peebles, Sweet Sweetback 's Baadasssss Song, in 1971, to change the tradition view of Black people in American film.…

    • 1512 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Black Women Stereotypes

    • 1890 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Although Black women are finally being recognized as lead characters in primetime television shows and movies their representations are not met without stereotypes. "Societal stereotypes about a wide…

    • 1890 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Underrepresentation In Media

    • 2556 Words
    • 11 Pages

    This situation had created the hashtag “Oscars so white” which spread and started to raise awareness of underrepresentation of people of color in Hollywood. Even though that there are some people of color present, there the main focus is always on the efforts of white Americans (Anderson, 2016). Viola Davis, an African American actress known for her role in “How to Get Away With Murder," had won an Emmy award, and in her speech, she had addressed Hollywood’s problem with underrepresentation of people of color in the media and the need for diversity. She started off the speech by saying, “In my mind, I see a line. And over that line I see green fields and lovely flowers and beautiful white women with their arms stretched out to me over that line. But I can't seem to get there no how. I can't seem to get over that line….The only thing that separates women of color from anyone else is opportunity. You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.” This part of her speech addresses the fact that people of color have difficulty getting roles and white Americans do not necessarily face this problem. With regards to casting, it is difficult for a person of color to get a role that does not cater to their expected behaviors and stereotypes. In order to people of color to prosper in Hollywood, there should be casting directors and producers that are willing to break stereotypical roles and hire people of color. The reason why many producers and casting directors are hesitant to do so is because they worry about the viewers response if they decide to cast a person of color because it would not cater to the majority race of America (white…

    • 2556 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays