There must be a change to the underrepresentation of minorities in films
by Penelope Carrillo
Throughout the development of pop culture we have seen a shift in casting that has resulted in more opportunities for minorities in film yet there is still significant underrepresentation within the movie industry.
Recently, Disney released the news of Halle Bailey being cast for the role of Ariel in the Little Mermaid live action film and many internet users criticized this decision due to the color of her skin. Twitter users even went to the extent of using #NotMyAriel and #Colored to shame Disney for their choice on the Little Mermaid.
This has occurred in a variety of different films in which racist America refuses to believe that a person of color has the capabilities of playing a role that for them is seen to be only white.
According to USC’s Annenberg Inclusive Initiative research study, it was seen in 2017 taken from 1,100 films that there was a total 29.3% of minority characters. It can be seen that the percentage of Black, Hispanic, Asian, and other racial characters in the movie industry has not changed since 2007 whereas the percentage of white characters have had an increase of 6.8%. To grow up as a minority in America and have an inability to see your culture represented in main media platforms damages the vision for young children.
For young Latino kids, it wasn’t until 2017 that their culture was represented in the movie Coco where Día de los Muertos was celebrated. This was the first time these children had the opportunity to relate to the families in a movie. For the first time, they witnessed the traditions they part take in annually within their families on a movie screen.
The issue with Hollywood is the lack of authenticity that they portray due to the stereotypes they base many films on to represent certain groups. Many kids are brought up questioning why the don’t look like any of the Disney princesses or Pixar characters they so heavily admire due to the stigmatization of minorities in the movie industry. This leads to lower self esteem due to the feeling of invisibility within society.
Although there has been a small change, these corporations need to take a next level step in order to include marginalized groups as a key part of motion pictures. Their good intentions and small steps for reduced social marginalization is no longer good enough. We need to see our melting pot of cultures represented in the movie industry.
