Friday, February 23, 2018
Film Industry Blog 5, Question 2 (March 6th)
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
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Hollywood has made a clear and conscious effort to be more diverse in their films over the past few years. Moviegoers have been voicing their concerns of underrepresentation in films for a long time and they are finally getting what they want. As a result, these studios are receiving a lot of positive responses from ticket sales, fans, and celebrities.
ReplyDeleteThe new Disney-Marvel hit Black Panther earned itself the number one spot on in the box office bringing in a whopping $242,155,680 (Box Office Mojo). This hit film features a nearly all-black cast, which is a rare occurrence in the Film Industry. Disney spent a lot of time doing their research and making sure to cater to their target audience who are predominantly African-Americans. They even partnered up with the rapper Kendrick Lamar who released an album titled Black Panther: The Album that debuted Number 1 on Billboard 200. This cross-platform strategy was incredibly effective because they drew in the most diverse audience in the Northeast for a superhero movie and the largest portion of the audience were African-Americans (McClintock).
Race isn’t the only underrepresentation issue that has plagued the film industry. Gender underrepresentation is also being brought to fruition. The top grossing films of 2017 featured strong female roles for the first time since 1958 and they are: Wonder Woman with Gal Gadot, Beauty and the Beast with Emma Watson, and Star Wars: Episode 8 with Daisy Ridley (Fuster). The proof is in the numbers, audiences are showing an incredible response rate to films that are diverse. As a result, more and more studios are definitely going to become more inclusive and representative.
Despite the positive changes, there is still a long way to go. Behind the scenes of these films there is very little diversity. White males still dominate the creative side of Hollywood. According to Media, Diversity, and Social Change Initiative, upon analyzing 1,438 content creators, there are only 4.2% female directors, 13.2% female writers, 20.7% producers, and 1.7% female composers. Also out of 900 films, only 34 of them were directed by women (Smith, Choueiti & Pieper). The gap is astonishing, and because it is behind the curtain no one seems to be talking about it. The clear explanation as to why Hollywood lacks diversity is because the content creators themselves are not diverse. If there were more female and minorities in those roles, the films would certainly reflect that.
We are on the right track for 2018 and in order to continue this pattern, we should take it to the next step and start pushing for diversity behind the scenes. According to The Hollywood Reporter “After a string of seemingly anomalous box-office hits ('Get Out,' 'Girls Trip' and now Marvel's latest), THR columnist Marc Bernardin argues that these hits can be repeated if Hollywood pays attention to the real reasons they succeeded in the first place”(Bernardin). The response rate from viewers following releases of films that represent taboo topics and represent race and gender is certainly grabbing the attention of filmmakers. I project that more and more films will follow this trend and give their audiences what they want. Films that represent females and minorities will no longer be “unicorns.”
Works Cited
ReplyDeleteBernardin, Marc. “’Black Panther’: When Will African American Films No Longer Be Considered Unicorns?” The Hollywood Reporter. Feb. 2017. Web.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/black-panther-will-african-american-films-no-longer-be-considered-unicorns-1087823
Fuster, Jeremy. "2017’s 3 Top-Grossing Movies Had Female Lead for First Time in Nearly 60 Years," The Wrap 31 Dec. 2017. Web.
https://www.thewrap.com/female-lead-films-top-2017-box-office/
McClintock, Pamela. "Disney's 'Black Panther' Playbook: A Peek at the Marketing of a Phenomenon," The Hollywood Reporter 21 Feb. 2018. Web.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/black-panther-how-disney-created-a-phenomenon-1086820?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%27s%20Today%20in%20Entertainment_now_2018-02-21%2010:11:07_rrahman&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_tie
Smith, Stacy L., Choueiti, Marc, and Katherine Pieper. "Inequality in 900 Popular Films," Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative July 2017. Web.
https://quinnipiac.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-2389780-dt-content-rid-19315992_1/courses/MSS49501_18SP/Inequality%20in%20900%20Popular%20Films.pdf
"Weekend Box Office March 3 - 5." Box Office Mojo. Accessed 7 March 2017. Web.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?view=main&yr=2017&wknd=09&p=.htm
Do you remember #Oscarssowhite? I remember it was all that dominated my news feeds leading up to the 2016 Oscars. Since that movement a lot of other related movements have cropped up in Hollywood but also in society at large. All this conversation around diversity and representation in Hollywood then might lead someone to believe that something is being done about these issues, but that’s not really what the data shows. While in the past year or two there have been way more mainstream Hollywood movies with extremely diverse or mainly black casts, namely movies like Moonlight, Get Out and Black Panther, and these movies are victories for sure, but they are still only a drop in the bucket when it comes to Hollywood as a whole.
ReplyDeleteWhen talking about representation in Hollywood, it’s easy to point out why Hollywood needs to get more inclusive. People just like it, diverse movies do better both nationally and internationally. You think it would then be a no brainer to make movies more diverse yet Hollywood is still so resistant. Looking at the article ‘Black Panther’ proves that diversity sells, but is Hollywood buying it? By Lisa Respers France for CNN entertainment, we can see via the Hollywood diversity report that as of 2018 there are still many gaps in representation both in front of and behind the camera.
With that in mind then it is important to talk about the movies that do, in fact, do something to make Hollywood more inclusive. Some such movies, as mentioned before, are Moonlight, Get Out and, most recently, Black Panther. Articles like ‘Why ‘Get Out’ and ‘Moonlight’ are Breakthroughs in Black Filmmaking’ by Bilge Ebiri for The Hollywood Reporter not just because of their diversity but of the messages they convey. How Moonlight portrays the ‘hood’ as a softer place and Get Out does the opposite portraying white elite spaces as more sinister. This type of praise continued on to Black Panther in articles like ‘Will ‘Black Panther’ be a ‘Watershed Moment’ for Black Studio Films?’ by Tatiana Siegel also for The Hollywood Reporter, the answer seems to be maybe. It’s a bit soon to tell and with the earlier stated Hollywood resistance to inclusion it seems fair to say that there’s a decent change this will change nothing, but there are a lot of hopeful people that movies like this will wake Hollywood up.
Looking all of this especially the date about inclusion it’s clear to see that a case can be made to use the #Oscarssowhite every year but there are very important movements currently in the works that could lead to more opportunities for not just actors and actresses of color but also for people of color behind the camera.
Works Cited
Ebiri, Bilge. “Critic's Notebook: Why 'Get Out' and 'Moonlight' Are Breakthroughs in Black Filmmaking.” The Hollywood Reporter, 7 Mar. 2017, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/why-get-moonlight-are-breakthroughs-black-filmmaking-critics-notebook-984129.
France, Lisa Respers. “'Black Panther' Proves That Diversity Sells, but Is Hollywood Buying It?” CNN Entertainment, CNN, 27 Feb. 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/02/27/entertainment/hollywood-study-diversity/index.html.
Seigel, Tatiana. “Will 'Black Panther' Be a ‘Watershed Moment’ for Black Studio Films?” The Hollywood Reporter, 15 Feb. 2018, www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/will-black-panther-be-a-watershed-moment-black-studio-films-1084398.
It appears that in the entertainment industry when one scandal ends, one begins. There has been a clear effort in Hollywood to incorporate and honor its diverse actors, producers, screenwriters and more. Although, there has been a shift to focus on the lack of inclusivity for females, not just those of a different race. For example, “Females comprised 24% of protagonists featured in the 100 top domestic grossing films of 2017. This represents a decline of 5 percentage points from 29% in 2016. Meanwhile, the percentages of female characters of color increased in 2017. The percentage of Black females increased from 14% in 2016 to 16% in 2017. The percentage of Latinas more than doubled from 3% in 2016 to 7% in 2017, and the percentage of Asian females increased from 6% in 2016 to 7% in 2017” (Lauzen 2017). These numbers show a clear shift towards the inclusivity of colored individuals, while women as still not getting the recognition they deserve.
ReplyDeleteWhile efforts have been made, they are minimal. For example, Wonder Woman starring Gal Gadot was a box office sensation making over $820 million. But, the movie was not nominated for a single award at this year’s Oscar’s. According to IndieWire, “Superhero films often have a hard time breaking into the major Oscar races, but one movie actually did this year: “Logan” is nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. Many expected “Wonder Woman” to be the obvious superhero awards contender this year, which made the deserved “Logan” nomination all the more surprising” (Sharf 2018). Logan stars Hugh Jackman as its male lead.
At this point in time, I feel that it’s time for Hollywood to address the issue, not the women themselves. These women have begged and pleaded to have their voices heard, with little to no recognition from those in power. In fact, there were several blatant mentions of the #MeToo movement at last night’s Academy Awards. One of them being when Ashley Judd, Salma Hayek, and Annabella Sciorra appeared on stage together to present a video discussing the importance of diversity and representation in Hollywood. Another shining moment was when Frances McDormand made her acceptance speech for best actress. She said, “I have two words to leave you with tonight, ladies and gentlemen: inclusion rider. No, I’m not going to explain what that means—you’re going to look it up, and you’re going to like it.” After researching what this is, it is an equality clause that ensures diversity on film sets.
While minority inclusion is definitely making waves since past years, it is not where it should be today. Hollywood is taking minimal efforts to address these issues unless it directly affects the industry. The Hollywood Reporter makes an interesting notion to say that “Real change means that we see women working across multiple years and that the number of opportunities for female directors expands each year” (Sun 2018). Going forward, there need to be more opportunities for women behind the scenes. I think that on-screen, women get well-deserved rolls and recognition from the public, but there needs to be more of that coming from the Academy. I think that there needs to be more publicity for the underrepresented directors as well. Jordan Peele got plenty of recognition for his film Get Out, but what about Greta Gerwig? These are just a few of the simple ways that Hollywood could be more representative of its audience, and the time for change is now.
Works Cited
Lauzen, Martha M. It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World: Portrayals of Female Characters in the 100 Top Films of 2017. Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, 22 Feb. 2018.
Sharf, Zack. “Gal Gadot Reacts to ‘Wonder Woman’ Oscar Snub by Not Caring About It at All.” IndieWire, 25 Jan. 2018, www.indiewire.com/2018/01/gal-gadot-reacts-wonder-woman-oscars-snub-1201921679/.
Sun, Rebecca. “Eight Women Directed a Top 100 Movie in 2017, Study Finds (Exclusive).”The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Jan. 2018, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/eight-women-directed-a-top-100-movie-2017-study-finds-1071527.
The overwhelming response to and success of Black Panther has illustrated the power of showcasing diversity within the film industry. In an industry where the roles have long been dominantly white, it is refreshing to finally see this shift within films. Black Panther truly set itself apart from other films; not only did it display great racial diversity, but also gender diversity. Black Panther has proven to be a step in the right direction for Hollywood in terms of diversity, but there remains a long road ahead for representation within film.
ReplyDeleteIf we look into gender discrepancies within films, there is still a major gap that exists between men and women both on screen and behind the scenes. The reading Inequality in 900 Popular Films exposes this gap. Data shows that “of the 100 top films in 2016, 34 depicted a female lead of co lead”(Smith). Women have long been cast as additions, rather than leaders within films, and tend to be heavily sexualized compared to their male counterparts. In 2018, it is deplorable that women are still represented in this way, and undermined as a whole. While this is occurring on camera, the same inequality exists behind the scenes. The reading discusses how the film industry is “not female friendly”. Looking at 1,438 content creators, only 4.2% directors were female, only 13.2% of writers were female, and only 20.7 producers were female. Without including diversity in these stages of films, it is extremely difficult to create diversity on screen. There needs to be an increase in female involvement in order to bridge the gender gap within films, and to ultimately represent women on the same level as men,
Lack of racial diversity also remains a problem within Hollywood. According to data, white characters make up 70.8 percent of overall characters within films. This gap also can be a result of a lack of representation behind the scenes, where white people are at the forefront of content creating and decision making. Dr. Stacy L. Smith discusses this inequality in an article Hollywood Diversity and Inclusion See Little Rise in 10 Years. She discusses her study, which is referenced above, and writes “These are embarrassing findings to a progressive industry that cares deeply about inclusion. The activism is clearly not reaching studio decision makers.” (Smith). Additionally, if we look into both race and gender, there is a major decrease in representation. Eight Women Directed a Top 100 Movie in 2017 exposes this inequality. The article states that “Black and Asian directors are cropped out of film”(Sun). Data reveals that 64 out of 1,223 directors were Black and 39 out of 1,223 directors were Asian. As a member of the audience , I am hopefully we can make strides to better represent our society. Growing up, I could watch a movie and easily find a character that I resonated with, and it is my hope that everyone else can experience this as well.
http://variety.com/2017/film/news/hollywood-diversity-little-rise-study-1202510809/.
Smith, Stacy L., Choueiti, Marc, and Katherine Pieper. "Inequality in 900 Popular Films," Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative July 2017. Web.
Sun, Rebecca. "Eight Women Directed a Top 100 Movie in 2017, Study Finds," The Hollywood Reporter 4 Jan. 2018. Web.
At the 2017 Oscars, Barry Jenkins`s film, "Moonlight", won Best Picture. In my opinion, gender and race were at the forefront of everyone`s minds during the show. However, statistics about minorities and female leads in recent films were staggering. Minorities and women didn`t receive enough speaking roles in U.S. top charting movies. While it may seem that diversity and inclusion were hot topics in film reviews; scholarly studies negate these forward-thinking suggestions. Dr. Stacy Smith, Marc Choeuti, & Dr. Katherine Pieper composed a detailed study about how women and minorities are severely underrepresented in films and movies. Smith et al stated: “Across the 100 top movies of 2016, 34 depicted a female lead/co-lead which is not meaningfully different from the percentage in 2015 (32%). Only three movies featured underrepresented female actors as leads or co-leads, which is identical to 2015” (p 6). Female leads in films are low with 2.3 to 1 ratio. Women need more leading roles, and should be hired to direct female protagonist films! The dominant group of white producers winning in each category contradicted minorities and diversity activists` progressive messages. This makes me wonder, will ever be a change to this industry? Will only a few Black and possibly Latino men receive awards so #OscarssoWhite is avoided?
ReplyDeleteThe Oscars and similar award shows need to act on these diversity and inclusive messages when casting actors and producers. Brent Lang and Mannie Holmes wrote Variety`s, “Yes, Oscars Are A Little Less White – but Hollywood Still Has a Lot of Work to Do.” Lang and Holmes reveal that diversity issue reflects how movies perpetuate these cultural biases and stereotypes in the media. Holmes quotes actor Aldis Hodge in the statement, “I don’t think there should be praise [for the number of minority nominees]; I think there should be an understanding that this should have happened and that this should have been happening for many years,” says Aldis Hodge, an actor who has appeared in “Hidden Figures” and “Straight Outta Compton.” “I don’t want to sound negative, but this is something that — in terms of recognition — this should be a normalcy. Inclusion should always be a normalcy because the contributions do not come in one color in the industry” (p 1). According to Box Office Mojo`s 2016 Domestic Grosses List, Buena Vista (Disney) is listed as one of the top studios to have high grossing movies. Yet the repetition of the top-grossing media studios overpowering talented minority writers and in the theaters is a discriminatory issue. Diversity in movies begins with theaters promoting underrepresented filmmakers to get people to vote for newer inclusive movies. Movie studios and award shows must change the game to make these hopeful messages a reality in the future.
Works Cited
Box Office Mojo. “2016 Domestic Grosses.”
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2016&p=.htm. Accessed 5 March 2018.
Lang, Brent, and Mannie Holmes. “Yes, Oscars Are a Little Less White - but Hollywood Still Has a Lot of Work to Do.” Variety, 17 Apr. 2017, variety.com/2017/film/awards/oscar-diversity-hollywood-women-minorities-1201992208/. Accessed 5 March 2018.
Smith, Stacy L , et al. “Inequality in 900 Popular Film.” Annenberg Foundation, July 2017, pp. 1–48. USC Annenberg School of Communications and Journalism. Accessed 5 March 2018.
For the better half of a decade, award shows have been the center of controversy. Not enough women get nominated, not enough minorities get nominated and it sometimes seems like only white men win awards. Last night, however, I watched The Oscars and the director of “Coco” said that representation matters during his acceptance speech. He is right and this is a topic that needs more attention but I know we’re slowly getting there. Since 2015, Hollywood has started taking baby steps to address these critiques. I don’t think anything else needs to be done but I do think that ore needs to be done. Movies like “Black Panther” where strong black actors are focused on should be more common. When it comes to feminism, we certainly need more movies to pass the Bechdel Test. Movies like “Lady Bird” and “The Post” should be commended for not only passing the test but featuring strong women as the protagonists.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Jeremy Fuster of The Wrap, “the rise of money-making stars like Ridley and Gadot continues a trend of female-led blockbusters that have popped up this decade starting with Jennifer Lawrence in the “Hunger Games” films.” Hopefully this “trend” will find its way into being the norm one day considering it certainly isn’t commendable for a white man to be the center of an award winning film. This brings me back to “Black Panther.” Not only is it a movie with a nearly all-black cast, but it is a great movie. Marvel made a “big step in inclusion for Hollywood and beyond, putting the spotlight on marginalized communities (Ramos). People of all genders and races seem to enjoy the blockbuster and that should be the point of movies—to entertain everyone.
Something that is becoming more of a requirement in Hollywood these days is representation.
Last night’s Oscars had multiple people calling out society for its shortcomings when it comes to representation in Hollywood. Kumail Nanjiani from “The Big Sick” also advocated the importance of representation in Hollywood. "Some of my favorite movies are movies by straight white dudes about straight white dudes. Now straight white dudes can watch movies starring me, and you relate to that. It's not that hard, I've done it my whole life” (Keaney). If a little comic relief is all it takes for people to understand, then that’s okay because it is important for people to watch movies and be able to place themselves into the characters’ shoes; it is truly significant that women of all shapes, sizes and colors are on the big screen and I can only hope that one day it won’t need to be a controversy to have strong women on television.
References
Ramos, Dino-Ray. "‘Black Panther’: Hollywood Cannot Stop Praising The Groundbreaking Marvel
Blockbuster." Yahoo! Entertainment, 19 Feb. 2018, www.yahoo.com/entertainment/
black-panther-hollywood-cannot-stop-031848508.html. Accessed 6 Mar. 2018.
Fuster, Jeremy. "2017’s 3 Top-Grossing Movies Had Female Lead for First Time in Nearly 60 Years," The Wrap 31 Dec. 2017. Web. https://www.thewrap.com/female-lead-films-top-2017-box-office/
Keaney, Quinn. "You Need to Hear Kumail Nanjiani's Poignant Thoughts on Representation in This
Oscars Montage." POPSUGAR, 5 Mar. 2018, www.popsugar.com/entertainment/
Montage-About-Representation-2018-Oscars-44637691. Accessed 5 Mar. 2018.
It’s no secret that Hollywood has had an absence of diversity, specifically in regards to race and gender. However, they have been making an effort to become more diversified and representative. Personally, I believe the start of becoming more inclusive began when the #Oscarssowhite movement began. Just recently the Oscars aired and it has been two years since the iconic hashtag surfaced on Twitter and took over the Internet. The movement began because actors, directors, fans, and others involved in the film industry were disappointed with the Academy’s decision of having no nominees of color in the four acting categories. This movement took off and had several people boycotting the Oscars, in hopes that they would become inclusive in terms of who they nominated and what type of films they nominated. This year the Oscars certainly displayed some progress in the Academy’s diversity efforts; though there is still so much more they could be doing.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I would like to talk about a few films that have contributed to making Hollywood more inclusive. Movies such as Get Out, Moonlight, and Black Panther have been groundbreaking films within the film industry displaying a different outlook on diversity. Get Out and Moonlight both were top domestic box office films that debuted on the same weekend. The Hollywood Reporter stated, “After years of African-American filmmakers not getting much Oscar love or many opportunities to direct mainstream pictures, two had broken through, each in his own unique way” (Ebiri).
Despite these movies being low budget, Get Out cost about $5 million and Moonlight cost about $1.5 million, yet, they each succeed in terms of ticket sales, nominations, and awards. These films are important because they depict a much deeper description of how minorities are portrayed in cinema, specifically black actors. Moonlight displays the world that has been portrayed and embedded in societies heads for quite some time; a low-income urban environment that is populated by drugs, drug dealers, users, and would seem like your typical ‘coming-of-age-hood-story'. However, Moonlight went beyond those boundaries and expanded through its storyline. Viewers didn’t leave with what Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie would say is a “single side story’, we left with the understanding that theirs more to a person character than simply just their exterior.
However, Get Out is somewhat the exact opposite of Moonlight, not in terms of how characters are depicted but rather characters in general. Bilge Ebiri stated, “If Moonlight showed us the inner city and its denizens in an unexpected light, Get Out does something similar with its wealthy, liberal, “tolerant” milieu, filled with the kinds of people we’re supposed to like”. Get Out can be interpreted in so many ways, as an uncanny allegory for gentrification, a portrait for racial anxiety or a look at how performative tolerance can mask something even more insidious. Shawn Tyler describes it as "the consequence of thinking that America became some post-racial bastion because of Obama’s two terms as president.”
These films were iconic, not only because of the sales made at the box office but because they were each directed by black directors; and even with their low budgets, they still manage to produce great films.
Black Panther has taken Hollywood by storm, shattering box-office records and becoming a great success. It is unapologetically black, featuring a virtually all-black cast, a black director, a black soundtrack and is based on a black African storyline. This film depicts Africa in a way that the media never has, it displays the beauty, genius, courage, and compassion the people of Africa have for their country. During its four-day opening weekend, Black Panther made $242 million domestically and $427 million worldwide. Alan Jenkins from the Hollywood Reporter stated, “At a time when the president of the United States is describing Black nations as “shithole countries” and denigrating African-American communities and people, Black Panther is a cultural response with global significance”. Although this film is fictional, it has certainly made people think about how often minorities are misrepresented in films. It has also provided a form of representation for children and even adult who never see someone who resembles them playing a role that does not conform to degrading stereotypes.
DeleteOverall, Hollywood still has a lot work to do when it comes to equal and accurate representation of minorities in films. These three films are proof that film-featuring minorities in leading roles have the ability to be successful, however, the work should not stop at these three films.
Jenkins, Alan. "The Global Significance of 'Black Panther,'" The Hollywood Reporter 23 Feb. 2018. Web.
Ebiri, Billge. "Why 'Get Out' and 'Moonlight' Are Breakthroughs in Black Filmmaking." The Hollywood Reporter 7 March 2017. Web.
"2 Years After #Oscarssowhite, The Academy’s Diversity Efforts Seem To Be Working — Slowly." Vox. 2018. Web. 6 Mar. 2018.
There is a glass ceiling that has been threatening to shatter in Hollywood for a long time now and straight-affluent-white men have dominated this industry since its inception. Films like “Black Panther”, “Wonder Woman” and the entire LGBTQ+ community have recently been pushing up against that glass with full force, but much has to be done before it can even crack.
ReplyDeleteOther than the argument “that’s how it has always been,” another huge question regarding diversity in Hollywood is probably, “Is there a demand for it?” The answer: overwhelmingly yes. The general demographic of moviegoers is made up of 49% of minorities, and their representation in movies is not being met at a mere 29.2% (Smith, 2017). People want to be able to connect with characters and see a place for themselves. As of 2017’s statistics, that place still isn’t Hollywood.
Marvel’s “Black Panther” has shown that there is a way to have diversity in films and to do it well. Marvel’s most recent superhero success made $669 million dollars in its opening weekend (Jenkins, 2018). That film can tear down so many stereotypes about black people and bring light to how little representation there is in Hollywood. One film amongst hundreds made in any given year is not going to even dent that glass ceiling. There needs to be more opportunities for minorities earlier in life. High school and middle school initiatives that gives camera equipment and resources to the underrepresented in the United States is albeit a small, but necessary addition to breaking that glass.
As the “Time’s Up” and the “Me Too” movement continues to grow without an end in sight, movies like “Wonder Woman” can help to bring light to issues that women have in a man’s world like in Hollywood. The director of “Wonder Woman,” Patty Jenkins, did a great job and it showed when the film grossed $822 million dollars (Siegel, 2018). Despite women being 50% of the United States’ population, only 4.1% of directors were women in 2017 (Smith, 2017).
With such a large population and a large moviegoer demographic, there is no reason as to why that number is so low other than their job being unsafe and not being taken seriously. Why did a man have to direct “Justice League” when Jenkins openly admitted that she wanted the job? The aforementioned movements are great, but there aren’t coordinated. They don’t have a leader and they don’t have goals set. The movements’ leaders need to get their act together before they can start to truly push against the diversity ceiling.
I often wonder why those in the LGBTQ+ community often get the short end of the stick in Hollywood. In depictions, they are always oversexualized, shown as “damaged” individuals or are people that have to hide who they truly are. According to Gallup data, the LGBTQ+ community makes up 4% of America’s population (Allen, 2017). That may be small, but that is still 11 million people. If Hollywood had to lose 4% of its gross income from films, then they would realize how truly impactful the community could be.
As a fun experiment, I took the top box office film of 2017 – “Star Wars Ep. VIII: The Last Jedi” that made $1.3 billion dollars’ worldwide (the-numbers.com, 2017) – and calculated what 4% would do to that number, as if everyone in the American LGBTQ+ community refused to see their film. The answer is $52,000,000 or $52 million dollars. That is a hit that no industry wants to take. Hollywood directors and producers should learn the value of 4%.
Representation in Hollywood shouldn’t be a hit or miss. As long as it is done well, it will always be a hit. Minorities and the underrepresented will be willing to go see films that they can connect to or feel that they could help to create in the future. They just need to be given the chance. If the audience demographics and the demographics in the film industry start to look similar, then we can see that glass ceiling shatter in our lifetime.
DeleteWorks Cited
Allen, S. (2017, January 14). Just How Many LGBT Americans Are There? Retrieved March 05, 2018, from https://www.thedailybeast.com/just-how-many-lgbt-americans-are-there
Jenkins, A. (2018, February 23). The Global Significance of 'Black Panther' (Guest Column). Retrieved March 05, 2018, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/black-panther-global-significance-1087878
Siegel, T. (2018, February 15). Will Black Panther Be a "Watershed Moment" for Black Studio Films? Retrieved March 05, 2018, from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/will-black-panther-be-a-watershed-moment-black-studio-films-1084398
Smith, S., Choueiti, M., Pieper, K. (2018, July). Inequality in 900 Popular Films. Retrieved from Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative (web).
Top 2017 Movies at the Worldwide Box Office. Retrieved March 05, 2018, from https://www.the-numbers.com/box-office-records/worldwide/all-movies/cumulative/released-in-2017
Hollywood has undergone what is easily the biggest evolution in its history over the past two years or so in terms of gender and race inequality. Huge strides have been made in the industry but it is nowhere near enough to be considered equal. Films like Black Panther, Moonlight, Get Out, and Wonder Woman are proof that a film can survive without a white male lead. It isn’t just the casts that could use diversification but the rest of the industry that handles every other level of the film making process.
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest changes I would like to see, and one that is slowly being challenged, is the number of women that are directing movies in Hollywood. Directing in Hollywood has been a boys club since the very start and the numbers haven’t moved much as, “The share of female director on the top 100 list rose from 4.2 percent to 7.3 percent from 2016 to 2017, but throughout the decade, the figure has been flat, with women directors accounting for just 4.3 percent the total since 2007” (Sun). This shouldn’t come as a surprise if you follow the movie industry at all. Hollywood will attach itself to a female director for a little while and use it as a means to prove they are gender inclusive. It happened with Kathryn Bigelow who directed the Hurt Locker in 2008 and Zero Dark Thirty in 2012. Since then she hasn’t directed any big Hollywood movies. The hope now is that Petty Jenkins, Greta Gerwig, and Dee Rees, among others are able to turn the tide and stick around as long as their male counterparts. Franchises are the bread and butter of Hollywood now and few, if any, female directors are given the opportunity to direct them. Patty Jenkins looks set to blaze a trail in this regard as she will be directing future Wonder Woman films. More female and minority directors will mean that the cast and crew will slowly begin to diversify as well. One example is movies directed by black directors featured a black lead 81% of the time (Sun).
These problems persist all the way down because as of 2017, “women comprised 18% of all directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and cinematographers working on the top 250 domestic grossing films” (Lauzen). This is almost the exact same percentage as in 1998 so almost no progress is being made. It’s exciting to see a handful of movies make waves that feature female directors but it is the countless positions below director that we never hear about that are heavily populated by men. This falls in line with other scary statistics that show just how far Hollywood has to go. Only 12% of films in 2016 had a balanced cast and men outnumbered women 2.3 to 1. Couple that with the fact that 70.8% of characters are white and you can see why many aren’t excited about the steps Hollywood has made yet (Smith).
Lauzen, Martha M. "The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes Employment of Women on the Top 100, 250, and 500 Films of 2017," Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film. Accessed 5 Mar. 2018. Web.
DeleteSmith, Stacy L., Choueiti, Marc, and Katherine Pieper. "Inequality in 900 Popular Films," Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative July 2017.
Sun, Rebecca. "Eight Women Directed a Top 100 Movie in 2017, Study Finds," The Hollywood Reporter 4 Jan. 2018.
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ReplyDeleteFuster, Jeremy. "2017’s 3 Top-Grossing Movies Had Female Lead for First Time in Nearly 60 Years," The Wrap 31 Dec. 2017. Web. https://www.thewrap.com/female-lead-films-top-2017-box-office/
ReplyDeleteThe addressing of the lack of diversity in Hollywood is a battle on two fronts: on screen and behind the scenes. When it comes to on-screen diversity I believe that Hollywood is making strides in the right direction, and that it needs to take the momentum it has going and continue. As we’ve seen very recently the largest movie across the globe right now is a film staring a predominately black cast, with strong female characters playing a prevalent role, and the soundtrack was produced by a predominantly black music label in TDE. The diversity in cast and promotional materials brought a greatly diverse audience to theatres and earned $242.2 million in the first four days. According to Pamela McClintock in her Hollywood Reporter Article, Disney’s ‘Black Panther’ Playbook: A Peek At The Marketing Of A Phenomenon, “Black Panther drew the most diverse North American audience ever for a superhero film. African Americans made up the largest share of the audience, or 37 percent, followed by Caucasians (35 percent), Hispanics (18 percent), Asians (5 percent) and Native American/Other (5 percent), according to comScore. Generally, black consumers make up around 15 percent of the audience for such fare.” On the front of on-screen gender diversity 2017 was a landmark year as well. Jeremy Fuster points this out in his article, 2017’s 3 Top-Grossing Movies Had Female Lead for First Time in Nearly 60 Years, for The Wrap. He writes, “For the first time since 1958, the top three highest grossing domestic releases have featured female leads. […] According to data from Box Office Madness and Box Office Mojo, which respectively log box office charts for films released before and after 1980, it has been 59 years since films fronted by women have swept the podium at the box office.”
ReplyDeleteThough the on-screen realm is making great strides the best way to make sure this inertia grows is to address the issues that take place behind the camera. Though some progress has been made behind-the-scenes there is still much ground to be made up. In 2017 three more women directed films that were in the top 100 grossing films of the year, which for all intents and purposes is an improvement, though small. That being said we also see that it is common for female directors to not get the opportunity to stay in the director’s chair for long. Dr. Stacy L. Smith is quoted in Rebecca Sun’s Hollywood Reporter Article, Eight Women Directed a Top 100 Movie in 2017, Study Finds, as stating, ““As we said last year, most female directors are ‘one and done’ when it comes to helming popular films, particularly women from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups,” […]. “Real change means that we see women working across multiple years and that the number of opportunities for female directors expands each year.” Alongside this the hiring of directors of color has not made any progress. Sun points out in her article that the study found that 81% of the 63 films directed by a black director also feature a black lead. Sun references the study’s authors’ opinions on the issue: “This tendency to hire black directors only for films that ‘match' the racial background of the director severely limits how often these individuals can work.”
As enjoyable to see the progress that has been made within Hollywood is it is not yet time for Hollywood to be patting itself on the back. There is still a lacking of opportunity for diversity in high-ranking positions behind-the-scenes, and until this is addressed the issue of diversity within Hollywood is far from solved.
Fuster, Jeremy, and Sean Burch. "Female Lead Films Top 2017 Box Office Hits For First Time In 59 Years." TheWrap. N.p., 2018. Web. 6 Mar. 2018.
McClintock, Pamela. "Disney's 'Black Panther' Playbook: A Peek At The Marketing Of A Phenomenon." The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 2018. Web. 6 Mar. 2018.
Sun, Rebecca. "Eight Women Directed A Top 100 Movie In 2017, Study Finds (Exclusive)." The Hollywood Reporter. N.p., 2018. Web. 6 Mar. 2018.
For a long time, Hollywood has been plagued by a lack of diversity, representation, and inclusion. For a while American audiences internalized this level of minority representation, but as the American political climate has shifted over the last decade, more credence and attention has been given to issues of minority representation in the media industry. The intense praise and notoriety of Black Panther has demonstrated that an all-black cast can still bring in huge audiences, and if anything, that was a distinguishing caveat of the film that satisfied thousands of movie-goers who wanted to view the film, regardless of its subject matter.
ReplyDeleteHowever, gender inclusivity has not been given these same treatments, as there are major discrepancies between the inclusion and compensation between men and women in the film industry, a similar phenomenon in every other industry as well. “Eight of the female leads/co leads were women 45 years of age or older at the time of theatrical release, with only one of these from an underrepresented racial/ethnic group. By way of comparison, 29 movies depicted male leads/co leads in this age bracket. Seven of the male actors 45 years of age or older were diverse. A total of 39 different characters comprised ensemble leads, with 64.1% played by male actors and 35.9% played by female actors.”(Smith) This effectively demonstrates the roles Hollywood has forced women to serve on-screen – always below men, except in one category: “Females were much more likely than males to be shown in sexually revealing attire and partially or fully naked...”(Smith) Representation like this has tangible effects on the way society treats women as it continuously reinforces harmful norms and views towards women.
Rebecca Sun’s article in The Hollywood Reporter sorrowfully starts with, “The good news is that three more women directed a top 100 film in 2017 compared with the year before.”(Sun) Only 8 female directors would place in the Top 100 movies of the year, and unsurprising but damning statistic about the current state of gender and race inclusion in the film industry today. The statistics prove even worse for female minority groups, as Sun writes, “Out of the 109 helmers of 2017’s films, just six were black and five were Asian, virtually unchanged from recent years. Just eight of the 1,223 total directors in the sample were women of color and just one of the eight women to make the top 100 list for 2017 — Everything Everything’s Stella Meghie — is black; the other seven are white.”(Sun)
Despite all of this, there indeed has been progress made, so it is good to remark on the successes of Lady Bird and Star Wars for both featuring strong and courageous female protagonists and disrupting a perpetual pattern of submissive female roles in mainstream film. As Jeremy Fuster writes for The Wrap, “According to data from Box Office Madness and Box Office Mojo, which respectively log box office charts for films released before and after 1980, it has been 59 years since films fronted by women have swept the podium at the box office.”(Fuster)
Fuster, Jeremy. "2017’s 3 Top-Grossing Movies Had Female Lead for First Time in Nearly 60 Years," The Wrap 31 Dec. 2017. Web. https://www.thewrap.com/female-lead-films-top-2017-box-office/
Sun, Rebecca. "Eight Women Directed a Top 100 Movie in 2017, Study Finds," The Hollywood Reporter 4 Jan. 2018.
Smith, Stacy L., Choueiti, Marc, and Katherine Pieper. "Inequality in 900 Popular Films," Media, Diversity & Social Change Initiative July 2017.