Diversity Isn’t a Priority
It is obvious that diveristy is not a priority in filmmaking and Hollywood — anything will come second to breaking box office records and earning money. Though it’s unfortunate, it’s impratical to expect anything less from the industry now, or even in the future. It’s a business, and a business needs to make money. However, it’s the means of moneymaking that frustrates me, and people like me — people of color. The few opportunities that are created for POC in film, as in the role was meant to be portrayed by a person of color, are sometimes (most of the time) taken away from the minority.
Major Hollywood tentpole films such as The Last Airbender, Doctor Strange, Ghost in the Shell, The Great Wall of China all exhibit a minority character (in this case, Asian) being portrayed by a White actor/actress. In The Last Airbender, adpated from the highly loved Japanese manga Naruto, casted a White child actor born in Dallas, Texas as its titular character. It does not get more White than that. Ghost in the Shell, also adapted from a Japanese manga, casted Scarlett Johansson. Put a black wig on her and suddenly she blends in amongst an otherwise mostly Asian cast. She has no shortage of roles or casting opportunities — so why take this one away from someone (a POC) who could really use this visibility?
Once again, it is obvious that diversity is not a priority in Hollywood film. A lot of it is contingent on the marketing power and leverage of American celebrities such as Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson to 1) greenlight a movie and 2) market the movie domestically and internationally. It’s an institutional issue that is embedded in the Hollywood “studio system,” but when addressing an industry that prides itself on achieving art through cinema, how can you dismiss art’s obligation to reflect society? Today’s society is an amalgamation of so many diverse cultures and people of varying backgrounds, so it would only be appropriate that film reflect that.
Television has been doing a better job about this. There are more diverse TV shows on the airwaves now than there has ever been before. With shows like Luke Cage, Empire, Master of None, there is an abudance. However, not to discount the progress of TV, there is a lot more TV being produced than movies. The amount of time and investment that goes into TV is partial to that of a studio film with budgets that exceed $100M. Of course, this is no excuse for the homogenous landscape that film boasts, but it is a contingency that inhibits further progress.
Though it’s not much of a solution, I believe that one way to counteract this tradition of reverting back to old habits of casting those that can “guarantee” a certain amount at the box office through the sheer power of their name and brand is to, well, develop stars out of people of color. That can only start by investing into their success by casting them, marketing them, and supporting them as the talented inviduals they are — regardless of their skin color.
