Not only are minorities suffering in the newsroom, but also in film and television roles. I came across an article that caught my eye posted on Variety regarding diversity in Hollywood.
In the article, Screen Actors Guild, SAG, reported last month that minority performers have decreased in roles from 29.3% in 2007 to 27.5% in 2008. SAG also provided a breakdown of statistics of races in film and TV roles for 2008.
Statistics
- 72.5% Caucasian
- 13.3% African-American
- 6.4% Latino-Hispanic
- 3.8% Asian-Pacific Islander
- 0.3% Native American
- 3.8% other-unknown
Questions
- With Caucasians making up 72.5% of film and television roles, what are your thoughts?
- Why do you think Asian-Pacific Islander and Native Americans are not in as many roles?
SAG president Ken Howard stated his concern regarding the diversity lag on-screen and television, and what SAG plans on doing about it.
“The diverse and multicultural world we live in today is still not accurately reflected in the portrayals we see on the screen,” he said. “We will continue to work with producers, hiring executives and industry professionals in accurately portraying the American scene by ensuring equal access to employment opportunities for all of our members.”
SAG, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Actors Equity and Writers Guild of America held the inaugural Hollywood Disabilities Forum at UCLA in October.
The meeting reported that male actors continually fill the majority of roles-two roles for every female role. Roles have increased for males 40 and older and for females 40 and older.
Opinions
Personally, I feel the lack of diversity in film and television roles is no surprise. I do see more television shows with an array of ethnicities as lead characters than in film.
Shows
- Desperate Housewives
- Grey’s Anatomy
- Tyler Perry’s House of Payne
- Gossip Girl
But I can say it caught me off guard to see how many roles are led by Caucasians. The SAG cannot give any answers to why this statistic is so high and why there is such a huge gap between the other races. I highly doubt it is because of the downfall of the economy, I think that would be the poorest excuse ever. But hey, it seems like everybody is blaming the economy on everything, so why not Hollywood? America is becoming a more diverse country, so why aren’t we seeing more diversity on-screen? I believe it is because minorities are misrepresented and forg
otten in the media. It is as if minorities are a needle in a haystack-lost and buried under the majority.
On a brighter note, it was reported just last year Latinos were making progress in Hollywood. Imagen Foundation founder Helen Hernandez said in an article, “The current status of Latinos in the business is not as dismal as in the past; it’s better than it was 10 years, even five years ago.”
There is always a start to everything. I believe minorities will soon have an equal chance in the business world as soon as their voices are heard and represented. Minorities need to take pride in themselves and speak up.
