Is TV Too White? Visible minorities make up less than 30% of all those who appear in the top 100 films of 2014, according to University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communication (Smith et al). A number which is too low to represent the diversity of multicultural countries such as Canada, United States, Australia, etc. When asked what are the difficulties of working in the entertainment industry, amateur actors from various backgrounds mostly mention the complicated task of finding available and suitable roles. From the beginning of the film era, ethnic minorities have been underrepresented, especially in Hollywood. Unlike white Caucasian actors, the number of roles which are available for ethnic minorities is low. A study conducted by USC Annenberg School of Communication shows that black actors constitute 12.5% of the characters
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By applying facial makeup to caricature East Asian features, a non-East Asian actor (normally a Caucasian actor) can transform into his/her character. An example of this controversial method is used in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961); Mr. Yunioshi was played by yellowface-donning Mickey Rooney. Even if the character had been played by a Japanese actor, it still could not have dodged the criticism from the public since it was an extremely offensive role. Similar to yellowface, blackface is a term referring to an act of a non-black performer representing a black person. Although this method was likely discarded decades ago, its remnants still remain in today’s media. One of the famous plays of Shakespeare, Othello, was adapted for screen in 1965 with Laurence Olivier – a white British actor – donning blackface. There are arguments which claim that the white actors cast in these leading roles are talented, but this does not discount the fact that then and now there are many ethnic actors available to fulfill these
By applying facial makeup to caricature East Asian features, a non-East Asian actor (normally a Caucasian actor) can transform into his/her character. An example of this controversial method is used in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961); Mr. Yunioshi was played by yellowface-donning Mickey Rooney. Even if the character had been played by a Japanese actor, it still could not have dodged the criticism from the public since it was an extremely offensive role. Similar to yellowface, blackface is a term referring to an act of a non-black performer representing a black person. Although this method was likely discarded decades ago, its remnants still remain in today’s media. One of the famous plays of Shakespeare, Othello, was adapted for screen in 1965 with Laurence Olivier – a white British actor – donning blackface. There are arguments which claim that the white actors cast in these leading roles are talented, but this does not discount the fact that then and now there are many ethnic actors available to fulfill these