Diversity In America

Inclusion is a major issue, and will continue to be an issue in today’s media. Yes, there is an array of voices in the media, but the positive voices and stories often get overshadowed by negativity. There’s a misconception that certain stories are not worthy of being told, or are a too risky. For example, I saw this first-hand while taking one of my television development courses. While some students pushed for diversity in their made-up television shows, others remained close-minded about even the smallest of details, such as casting for their television shows. This was a problem, because they did not see a problem.

People of all races enjoy a good film or tv show but, they sometimes are not being represented equally. Representation matters because, it is important to teach the younger generations about their race’s worldview on what they find normal. Kenneth and Mamie Clark conducted a psychological study where, “children were shown two dolls, one black and one white. They were asked to choose which one they preferred, which one was ‘bad’ and which one was ‘good.’ The results were the same across races: the children generally preferred the white doll and saw that doll as ‘good’…. but it is really no surprise if you look at the media these children are consuming”(The

During the process of producing a television series, the demand for the producers to introduce their characters with only their highlighted traits make it impossible for viewers to gain a deep understanding of the community that the characters represent. One of the stereotypic traits that is usually seen on movies and television shows is societal difference that each race is placed into. Michael Omi in his article In Living Color: Race and American Culture stated that “in contemporary television and film, there is a tendency to present and equate racial minority groups and individuals with specific social problems” (546). There are many films and television shows found today that ground racial minorities into a specific social problems that are related to the color of their skin. It can be inferred from the current popular culture that this stereotype still persists.

Minority groups are composed of approximately “15.7% of prime time drama casts, even though they represent 25.4% of the population” (Horton). Racism in the media planted its roots early and deep within the executive sectors of the entertainment industry—-film studios, production agencies and casting directors. In its initial creation, Hollywood was cultivated by being severely risk-averse. The television/film industry was instituted largely by Eastern European Jews in the early 20th century and has since failed to prosper any significant progression of integrating multicultural actors into televised productions playing leading roles. We as a collective society

A decade ago, the first of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – Iron Man – was released. Since then, Marvel has produced several films and TV series. Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Spider-Man are some examples. If anyone has been up-to-date with Marvel Cinematic Universe, then it’s not so difficult for him or her to figure out that all protagonists and most supporting roles have been of Western ethnicity, or played by white actors/actresses. Until recently, it was essentially considered that the superheroes had to be “white”. That does not only apply to Marvel, but also to its rival, DC. In fact, this statement is not only limited to superhero films. According to the study, from Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the Media, Diversity,

The entertainment industry has a history of praising diversity, but failing to make a real effort to embody our country’s diversity in their narratives or in their writing rooms. Television shows have recently seen a sizable increase in POC main characters, but writer’s rooms still remain largely white and male. Various diversity programs exist that are dedicated to increasing nonwhite employment in television, but these are not an answer to the problem at hand. These programs often lead to tokenism on set instead of authentic integration. Shows are paid to have a nonwhite writer, who is usually kept at their entry-level position.

How the Hollywood writers and filmmakers present other ethnicities in its productions? The standard images of the diversity in America formed the offending stereotypes that other ethnic people wanted to break. The stereotypes of the other ethnicities easily can be found in the Hollywood films and shows that influenced the America. As John R. Terry stated in the Hollywood, Racial Depictions in, “The construction of these images follows a pattern in Hollywood of reproducing stereotypes, yet there are also independent filmmakers who have offered positive depictions of these groups” (333). The Hollywood writers and directors have a social responsibility to avoid stereotyping the ethnic characters on the topics of racial stereotypes, gendered

One point that is mentioned in the video is how the film industries still refuse to include diverse casts because of their belief that having such casts will hinder ticket sales of a production. Therefore, this fear has led the movie industry to produce less diverse casts in comparison to the television industry. Xing, on one hand, states that there is a “lack of specific data” to determine how audiences respond to ethnic images (11). Thus, Xing believes that it is too soon to make the judgement that audiences will not watch productions with diverse

Breaking Bad and Orange Is the New Black (OITNB) have seemed to make breakthroughs in the entertainment world. Both shows have a vast following as they have proven how exciting and dramatic television can be. One, depicting the life of middle aged drug kingpin and the other exploring the life inside of a female penitentiary. From an entertainment perspective, both show will leave its viewers on the edge of their seats anticipating what will happen next. However, it is highly interesting to examine both TV series from a critical point of view to understand the concepts and idea’s used to convey diversity. Both Breaking Bad (BB) and OITNB address the issues of diversity in a social context. By evaluating and criticizing several forms of diversity, we can see how each show either accepts or challenges our perception of diversity in the mainstream industry. Also by critically breaking down character roles, scenes, and themes of both TV series, we can understand how influenced our social understandings and perspectives are. Lastly, by explicitly focusing on the themes of sex, masculinity and femininity, which all formulate the concept of gender as well as exploring the depiction of criminality, this paper will critique how BB and OITNB approach diversity. A contrast between the two series will also be made by evaluating secondary themes such as behavior, stereotyping as well as the characteristics of the mainstream culture in order to understand the depiction of diversity

Asking for proper representation within the entertainment industry should not be an outrageous request. However, it seems that it is a request that is always ignored, or, (if it is acknowledged), executed poorly and inaccurately. One common instance occurs in nearly every film set in ancient Egypt, more specifically, and most recently, “Gods of Egypt,” which has a primary cast composed almost entirely of white members, thus neglecting the history of the film’s setting and adding to the monotonous cycle of misrepresentation. Currently, though, there are issues with representation in regards to the upcoming film, “Anything” which stars Matt Bomer playing the role of a transgender woman.

The support for more diverse characters is noticeable in an article by Matthew J. Smith Ph.D. written for The Washington Post. The article titled A Brief History of Racial and Gender Diversity in Comic Books Movies is where he makes his point that the need for more diverse characters in entertainment such as comic books and their motion picture counterparts. In the article he argues that most of the population wants what they see to represent them fully. However, he acknowledges there are many characteristics that hold true with the minority groups, such as growing up in Brooklyn and

“Diversity is everywhere.” Is it really everywhere? Even on our television shows? Many would beg to differ. Throughout the course of television history, we see television ranging from documentaries to drama to reality. As there is drama and comedy on our screens there isn’t a healthy range of races or ethnicities throughout TV shows. In 2017, we live in an America with over millions of people of different backgrounds, but that does not seem to reflect how it is represented on television shows. The portrayal of diversity on our television screens isn’t shown as much as it is seen throughout America, thus creating stereotypes of multiple minorities and unflattering perceptions from less educated viewers.

People often assume that if a show or movie contains one racially diverse person, it should be considered “diverse”; this assumption or viewpoint is completely absurd. This is further described as tokenism, the practice of making only a perfunctory or symbolic effort to do a particular thing, especially by recruiting a small number of people from underrepresented groups in order to give the appearance of sexual or racial equality

Diversity, at least in theory, means that everyone of every race/gender/sexual orientation is included, but not as a stereotype. This was not the case in the past. In the year 1937, Walt Disney released its first full-length animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. There was less sense of “political correctness,” such as caring about diversity, or worrying about the message being sent to young children, especially girls. There were no protests, and everyone accepted the movie “as is”. In 2008, the movie Tropic Thunder came out, with the “PC culture” starting to gain traction, and used the word “retard”. This word became part of society even more so than it had before, and many people who knew someone who was actually, medically retarded, got upset. Now, in 2017, there are at least eleven Official Disney Princesses, and a very definite “PC culture”. Society has changed a lot, even from 2008, and companies that specialize in pop culture have a social responsibility to make sure everyone is included, but in a respectful way.

The writers and the directors play an important role in TV industries. They have the huge responsibilities of what kind of movies or shows are introducing to media. How characters are portraying, what kind of theme the movies or shows have, and how to present them in front of the audience, are all depend on writers and the directors. Films and televisions are widely spreading the concept of racial minorities of Asian actor or actress that develop the concept of ethnic culture stereotypes in the audiences, most of the times filmmaker don’t pay attention toward the consequences that movie may lead up to. The Hollywood writers and directors do have a social responsibility to avoid stereotyping ethnic characters in terms to avoid racial segregation, inequality, and femininity in mass media.