The Force of Inclusion: Recasting the Big Screen and the Boardroom
“Generations of black kids [grew] up rooting for Luke Skywalker and Han Solo — would it be difficult to imagine generations of white kids becoming obsessive Star Wars fans if the main character was a black guy?”
- Stereo Williams
“The Force Awakens,” newest episode of the Star Wars film franchise, has been applauded by many commentators for its diverse cast. I first became a Star Wars fan at the age of five when my mother took me to see “The Empire Strikes Back” (I was too young to watch “A New Hope,” the first production, and would not have an opportunity to see it until years later). In retrospect, the original trilogy had underwhelming diversity in terms of gender, race or any other dimension of difference.
Protagonists in mainstream Hollywood films have traditionally been cast as white men, which is also the predominant demographic of public company executives and United States presidents. As a young African-American boy watching “The Empire Strikes Back” and it’s successor “Return of the Jedi” in 1980 and 1983 respectively, I was mesmerized by Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), the would-be savior of “a galaxy far,far away.” I was also inspired by Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) who affirmed that there was a place for those who shared my ethnic identity in an epic, blockbuster film, even if only in a supporting role.
“The default is so male in our society that it just doesn’t occur to people to say, ‘Why isn’t the boss or the best friend or the landlord a woman?’ [It] so easily could be.” — Geena Davis
The absence of women and other minorities in pivotal cinematic roles would become more apparent to me as my social awareness evolved in high school and college. Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) was an iconic, quasi-feminist character in the original Star Wars franchise, yet she was overshadowed by a male-focused storyline that reinforced the belief that men are the real heroes and leaders on-screen and in real life. Now with “The Force Awakens,” we have a woman in the lead role of Rey (Daisy Ridley) and an African-American man playing Finn (John Boyega), who is the deuteragonist. The casting of young (primarily white) women as protagonists in big budget movies is a trend that seems to be gaining traction through the successful film adaptations of young-adult novel series such as the “Twilight,” “Divergent” and “The Hunger Games” trilogies, as well as soon-to-be released “The 5th Wave.”
The question is, does the diversification of film and media in general have an impact on people’s attitudes towards those perceived as different? Research that has been conducted on political commercials and television news indicates a possible correlation. In a University of Pennsylvania, Annenberg School of Research study, conducted during the 2008 presidential election, determined a decline in racial prejudice among 2,636 white subjects. The researcher Seth K. Goldman concluded that the inundation of images of then Senator Barack Obama as a “decent, eloquent, hardworking family man,” countered negative stereotypes of blacks as lazy and/or deviant.
A 2015 University of Houston and University of Munich in Germany study, co-authored by Temple Northup and Florian Arendt, examined the effects of news coverage on racial bias in the United States and Austria. The results demonstrated that regular exposure to stereotypical news coverage contributes to negative implicit attitudes towards African-Americans in the U.S., and “foreigners” in the Austrian context.
Before Obama was elected president, a mass American audience had been exposed to Morgan Freeman as Tom Beck in “Deep Impact” and Dennis Haysbert as David Palmer in the television series, “24,” along with other portrayals of black presidents on film and TV. Positive portrayals of groups who have historically been subjected to stereotyping, objectification and marginalization may not solve the problem of unconscious bias, but they can help reduce it. Following the same logic, the increased depictions of women as Commander in Chief (most recently with Alfre Woodard as Constance Payton in “State of Affairs”), and the ubiquitous presence of Hillary Clinton — politics aside — is having some degree of subconscious influence that is opening more minds to the possibility of a woman president. In the case of Obama, it has become clear that being elected as president and being respected as president can be two very different things.
“While correlation does not equal causation…, the correlation does indicate that when companies commit themselves to diverse leadership, they are more successful.” — McKinsey
However, when it comes to Fortune 500 CEOs, technology moguls, venture capitalists and executive board members, the role models for women and minorities are scarce in popular culture and in the corridors of economic power. Despite making up more than 50 percent of all professional and technical employees, a mere 14 percent of the top five executive leadership positions at S&P 500 companies are held by women and only 5 percent are female CEOs. Minority CEOs who are African-American, Latino or Asian collectively comprise a mere 4 percent of the top 500 companies.
Among S&P corporate boards all but 16 have at least one woman as a board member, according to a study by Grant Thornton. However, most of the women are employed as non-executive directors. When the researchers analyzed the financial performance of the largest companies across three economies (the United States, United Kingdom and India), the opportunity cost — or profits foregone — by companies with male-only boards is $655 billion. In other words, there seems to be a correlation of multiple billions of dollars in lost revenue due to a lack of executive gender diversity.
In another study from the University of Utah, authored by Alison Cook and Christy Glass, offers further evidence that the inclusion of board members from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds also increases value. Companies with minority directors on their boards that represent diverse professional backgrounds and networks, and had influence over corporate initiatives, had stronger governance and more effective operational systems. Racially and ethnically diverse boards also contributed to enhanced breakthrough product improvements and innovation.
“America has long been viewed as “the land of opportunity,” where, with hard work, most people can succeed regardless of their family background. However, opportunity has not been available to all.”
- Brookings Institution
Despite growing evidence that diverse executive teams and boards are critical to the overall performance of businesses, there is a significant underrepresentation of people of color and women who occupy these corporate spaces. Those with African-American, Latino and Asian backgrounds comprise 36 percent of the U.S. population, but make up only 12 percent of Fortune 500 board of directors, while women of all races and ethnicities constitute almost 51 percent of the total population and 16 percent of directorships.
The lack of inclusion on corporate boards is symbolic of untapped diverse talent and missed economic opportunities throughout our society. Just as large companies must reimagine what corporate executives and board members look like, venture capitalists and investors must alter their concept of the ideal high-growth entrepreneur. Unfortunately, many young people know more about what it takes to become a jedi (a fantasy occupation) than they do about how to become a corporate executive, investment banker or management consultant. They may have heard of Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, but they lack the exposure, connections and capital to emulate their entrepreneurial success. If we can not leverage the force of true inclusion in the United States, then the American Dream will be reduced to a lottery ticket that only an elite few will have an opportunity to win.
