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PEOPLE & ARTS Wednesday 8 January 2020
Pop culture in 2010s marked gains in diversity, inclusion

By JOCELYN NOVECK tured transgender charac-
NEW YORK (AP) — When ters. TV, though, has been
the family-friendly Hallmark far ahead of film. “The top
Channel recently pulled, Hollywood studios have
under pressure from a always been a decade
conservative group, a set behind,” says Ellis. The rea-
of ads featuring a kiss be- sons, she says: a years-long
tween two happy brides development pipeline for
at the altar, backlash was movies, the huge bud-
swift — to say the least. gets of big films, and Holly-
Within hours, stars like Ellen wood’s fear of breaking its
DeGeneres and William own comfortable formulas.
Shatner were tweeting in But things are slowly mov-
protest to their many fol- ing.
lowers, and LGBT advo- BEYOND #OSCARSSOWHITE
cates were mobilizing a America is increasingly di-
boycott via social media. verse. Movie audiences
This was on Saturday; by are increasingly diverse.
Sunday evening, Hallmark And diverse movies make
had reversed its decision, money, because people
and apologized for what like to see stories and char-
it acknowledged as a mis- acters that reflect their own
take. This Feb. 26, 2017 file photo shows Barry Jenkins and the cast and crew of "Moonlight" accepting lives.
Whatever it says about cor- the award for best picture at the Oscars in Los Angeles. Despite all this, says Darnell
porate missteps, the epi- Associated Press Hunt, dean of social scienc-
sode also says something es at UCLA and an author
about how our popular mind) and the winner list of change, says Stacy L. past decade matches the of the annual Hollywood
culture has changed in a was more diverse. But true Smith, director of the USC import of that “Ellen” mo- Diversity Repor t, progress
decade, with diversity and racial diversity in entertain- Annenberg Inclusion Ini- ment, the decade began toward racial diversity in
inclusion concerns tak- ment remains an elusive tiative at the University of with the launch — actually the industry has been frus-
ing center stage, says Sar- goal, despite slow progress. Southern California. in 2009 — of both “Glee,” tratingly slow, and lagging
ah Kate Ellis, president of “Things have certainly im- An example: last year, 39 of which put a spotlight on behind TV.
GLAAD, which advocates proved,” says Gil Robert- the top 100 Hollywood films LGBT youth, and “Modern In their most recent report,
for LGBT people in Holly- son, president of the Afri- were led or co-led by a fe- Family,” which introduced issued in early 2019, the
wood and played a key can American Film Critics male character, Smith says; the couple of Mitchell and authors write that in Holly-
role in Hallmark’s reversal. Association. “Ten years in 2007 the number was 20, Cam, two dads who adopt wood, “people of color re-
“This decade has been ago, you didn’t have an so it has essentially doubled a Vietnamese daughter. mained underrepresented
about diversity and inclu- Ava DuVernay, a Jordan in a decade. And there is “These were really big mo- on every industry employ-
sion — at least the starting Peele, a Shonda Rhimes, a progress behind the cam- ments,” Ellis says. Another ment front in 2016-17.”
of the conversation,” says Kerry Washington,” he says. era, too. “We’re really see- was last year’s best-actor Looking at the decade as
Ellis. “Communities who “And my God, you couldn’t ing changes, slow but real Emmy for Billy Porter for a whole, Hunt notes in an
have been left out of the have even imagined significant movement in “Pose,” the first openly interview that while TV has
seats at the table for de- ‘Pose,’” he says, referring some of these institutions,” gay black man to win the registered some “notable
cades and decades are to the Ryan Murphy TV se- she says. award. progress” both in front of
finally starting to find their ries set in the ’80s ballroom Progress has also been seen Inroads also were made in and, to a lesser extent,
voice, and their footing.” culture with the biggest LG- in the music business, in di- children’s programming. behind the camera, there
And a major element, ob- BTQ cast ever assembled versity of film critics, and in “Doc McStuffins,” the Dis- hasn’t been much progress
viously, is the power of so- for a scripted show. scripted TV, she says. And ney Junior children’s car- in terms of people of color
cial media: “It enables us to “The door has opened,” he yet there are areas sorely toon, featured a family led in executive suites, which
connect with each other, says, adding that inroads lacking: representation of by an interracial, lesbian are still dominated by white
find each other and orga- have also been made for female characters over 40 couple, and the Disney men. And in movies, the
nize,” Ellis says. Asian American actors in films, for example, and Channel kids’ show “Andi situation is worse.
Speaking of viral protests, and stories, but less so for women of color. And trans Mack” introduced a key “As the country becomes
this was also the decade Latinos. “Has the industry women characters are gay character. more diverse, the under-
of #OscarsSoWhite, the reached the place that rarely seen in major films. And it was only a quick representation becomes
hashtag launched by activ- we want it to be? No, but “Every group should be glance between male more severe,” he says.
ist April Reign in 2015 when things have gotten better.” able to see themselves on- characters, but “Beau- And while his research
none of the 20 acting nomi- In her speech at the 2018 screen,” Smith says. ty and the Beast” took has found there has been
nees were actors of color. Oscars, soon after the A LONG WAY SINCE ’’EL- the plunge and actually progress over the decade
Incredibly, the same thing Harvey Weinstein scan- LEN” showed a gay moment. for female directors in the
happened in 2016, forcing dal launched the #MeToo It’s hard to imagine that “It’s a step in the right direc- top 200 films, there’s been
the Academy of Motion era, Frances McDormand back in 1997 when DeGe- tion,” says Ellis. Can Elsa’s “zero progress” in the per-
Picture Arts and Sciences urged women to demand neres came out on her TV (hoped-for) coming-out in centage of directors of
to launch a major member- an “inclusion rider” in con- show, the words “I’m gay” the “Frozen” franchise be color for the same years
ship overhaul aimed at di- tracts to help achieve gen- were so groundbreaking. far behind? (they’re both around 12
versifying its overwhelming- der parity. Almost two years “We were all but non-ex- Caitlyn Jenner’s revelation percent.) And so, he says,
ly white, male, older ranks. later, evidence of progress istent in popular culture in 2015 that she was trans- a film like “Black Panther,”
The following year, “Moon- for women in front of and a few decades ago, and gender helped shine a light with a star-packed black
light,” about the coming- behind the camera is slow now we’re very much on that community, and cast and a black director
of-age of a gay black man, but steady. The entry of grounded in popular cul- popular shows like “Orange (Ryan Coogler), is more of
won best picture (after “La streaming giants like Netflix ture,” says Ellis, of GLAAD. is the New Black,” “Trans- an outlier than an example
La Land” was ... oh, never has accelerated the pace While no milestone this parent” and “Pose” fea- of real change.q