Turn on the TV. Go to a movie theater. What do we see? It does not matter what channel that the television is set on, chances are, no matter what is being watched, it will be the same thing: a white majority of men and women of all ages in movies with the black characters either dying or being side characters. The problem with this situation has always been a growing curiosity for me even when I was younger; I always wondered why there were not more people of color, people who were represented an accurate depiction of how the world actually looked, and I am sure that many other black people have felt the same way. Even as I am older today, I still wonder why there are not more black people in movies.
Though the media are making minor progress with making sure diversity is present, there is still a long way to go before there is equal representation for all races and solely, in this case, black people and movies. The movie industry lacks positive black representation because of its lack of ethnic diversity, lack of roles and accolades for black actors, and its stereotypical portrayal of black people. …show more content…
One major problem with the development of films that is often overlooked is the casting. There have been many times where people who were in charge of casting actors for their movies have been threatened and boycotted against because of their whitewashing. Whitewashing is the act of casting white people in a role that was meant to be for an ethnic character. The lack of representation is not the only reason people find whitewashing offensive; the logic of whitewashing a character gives off the idea that white people are more preferred despite the actual intended race for the
Though the media are making minor progress with making sure diversity is present, there is still a long way to go before there is equal representation for all races and solely, in this case, black people and movies. The movie industry lacks positive black representation because of its lack of ethnic diversity, lack of roles and accolades for black actors, and its stereotypical portrayal of black people. …show more content…
One major problem with the development of films that is often overlooked is the casting. There have been many times where people who were in charge of casting actors for their movies have been threatened and boycotted against because of their whitewashing. Whitewashing is the act of casting white people in a role that was meant to be for an ethnic character. The lack of representation is not the only reason people find whitewashing offensive; the logic of whitewashing a character gives off the idea that white people are more preferred despite the actual intended race for the