Briona Whitehead
Professor Long
English 101
20 November 2016
Lights, Camera, Where’s The Diversity
“Lights, Camera, Action,” is a saying that many have heard when it comes to films. The film industry has been around since the late nineteenth century. It has made way for people to express their thoughts and or ideas through some form of media and it is able to reach many people. Since the beginning of time, the film industry has not represented everyone fairly. From “blackface” all the way to not casting the right people for the roles they are supposed to play. Minorities are not represented in the film industry like white people are. The film industry today is similar as it was back in the 1900s. Minorities often time are not used in the roles …show more content…
Native American often time are not given the roles that they are to play. The film industry has not represented Native Americans favorably. Sometimes films have portrayed Native American as a fierce or violent group of people ready to attack. Native American on Network TV: Stereotypes, Myths and the “Good Indian” states that “These same terms – savage, ruthless, merciless, fanatic – had been used for centuries to describe American Indians.” Arabs have also faced racism in the film industry. They have been stereotyped to no end. Those of who are Muslims, Iranians, or Arabs have dealt with stereotypes in the film industry since 9/11. Representation of Arabs, Muslims, and Iranians in an Era of Complex Characters and Storylines says …show more content…
Asians often time are not cast for the role they are supposed to be cast as rather a white person is put into that role. An example of that today would be the movie Ghost in the Shell (2015) it is a live action movie for the anime series. Scarlett Johansson was cast as the lead role for a character that should be Japanese. Hollywood Goes Oriental by Karla Fuller says that “In the film The Mask of Fu Manchu the face belongs to Boris Karloff as he appears for the first time in the title role. Karloff’s facial features are the visual focus in this first shot set in Fu Manchu’s scientific laboratory. His figure, dressed in Chinese costumes, faces a mirror that reflects a distorted, grotesque, and larger-than-life image of his face” Scarlett Johansson and Borris Karloff are two of the many examples in which minorities are not used for the roles that they are meant. Whites are used to filling the roles that are not meant for them at all. They can try to understand the culture they are trying to be for a film, but it will never be them. Hollywood Goes Oriental also stated that “The most well-known Oriental figures on the Hollywood screen were almost always non-Asian actors made up to look Asian. From the film industry’s earliest day’s African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and Asians have been impersonated by performers of other ethnic groups.” Film-makers cast roles to whites and they
Professor Long
English 101
20 November 2016
Lights, Camera, Where’s The Diversity
“Lights, Camera, Action,” is a saying that many have heard when it comes to films. The film industry has been around since the late nineteenth century. It has made way for people to express their thoughts and or ideas through some form of media and it is able to reach many people. Since the beginning of time, the film industry has not represented everyone fairly. From “blackface” all the way to not casting the right people for the roles they are supposed to play. Minorities are not represented in the film industry like white people are. The film industry today is similar as it was back in the 1900s. Minorities often time are not used in the roles …show more content…
Native American often time are not given the roles that they are to play. The film industry has not represented Native Americans favorably. Sometimes films have portrayed Native American as a fierce or violent group of people ready to attack. Native American on Network TV: Stereotypes, Myths and the “Good Indian” states that “These same terms – savage, ruthless, merciless, fanatic – had been used for centuries to describe American Indians.” Arabs have also faced racism in the film industry. They have been stereotyped to no end. Those of who are Muslims, Iranians, or Arabs have dealt with stereotypes in the film industry since 9/11. Representation of Arabs, Muslims, and Iranians in an Era of Complex Characters and Storylines says …show more content…
Asians often time are not cast for the role they are supposed to be cast as rather a white person is put into that role. An example of that today would be the movie Ghost in the Shell (2015) it is a live action movie for the anime series. Scarlett Johansson was cast as the lead role for a character that should be Japanese. Hollywood Goes Oriental by Karla Fuller says that “In the film The Mask of Fu Manchu the face belongs to Boris Karloff as he appears for the first time in the title role. Karloff’s facial features are the visual focus in this first shot set in Fu Manchu’s scientific laboratory. His figure, dressed in Chinese costumes, faces a mirror that reflects a distorted, grotesque, and larger-than-life image of his face” Scarlett Johansson and Borris Karloff are two of the many examples in which minorities are not used for the roles that they are meant. Whites are used to filling the roles that are not meant for them at all. They can try to understand the culture they are trying to be for a film, but it will never be them. Hollywood Goes Oriental also stated that “The most well-known Oriental figures on the Hollywood screen were almost always non-Asian actors made up to look Asian. From the film industry’s earliest day’s African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and Asians have been impersonated by performers of other ethnic groups.” Film-makers cast roles to whites and they