Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Tuesday 1 augusT 2017
APNewsBreak: Study says films

exclude women, Hispanics

By LINDSEY BAHR lead or co-lead — and only ters. Most of those — 79.1
AP Film Writer three of those were from percent — were white and
LOS ANGELES (AP) — In underrepresented groups. 76 of the 100 films had no
2016 “Moonlight” won best “We see a real stalling out,” LGBT characters. Only one,
picture and “Hidden Fig- Smith said. “Mooonlight,” featured a
ures” was the 14th highest In terms of race and eth- gay protagonist.
grossing film of the year, but nicity, the landscape re- The study also examined
popular Hollywood films re- mains largely white, with characters with disabilities
In this Friday, Feb. 19, 2016 file image made from video, Dr. Sta-
cy L. Smith, of the USC Annenberg School for Communication mained as white and male- Hispanics grossly under- — its second year doing so
and Journalism, appears during an interview in New York. dominated as ever. represented compared to — and found that despite
Associated Press A new report from the the breakdown of the U.S. nearly 18.7 percent of the
Media, Diversity, & Social population. U.S. population identifying
Change Initiative at the Of the speaking charac- as disabled only 2.7 per-
University of Southern Cali- ters surveyed: 70.8 percent cent of all speaking char-
fornia’s Annenberg School were white; 13.6 percent acters were depicted as
for Communication and black; 5.7 percent Asian; disabled.
Journalism, provided first to 3.1 percent Hispanic; and Behind the camera, things
The Associated Press, finds less than 1 percent Ameri- continue to be dismal for
that the representation of can Indian, Alaska Native female directors — in 2016
women, minorities, LGBT or Native Hawaiian. there were only 5 female
people, disabled charac- According to the latest U.S. directors out of 120 (includ-
ters in films remains largely Census, the nation is 61.3 ing co-directors) and none
unchanged from the pre- percent white, 17.8 percent were black.
vious year, despite the Hispanic, 5.7 percent Asian, Every year there are indi-
heightened and attention 13.3 percent black, 1.3 per- cators of change, howev-
to diversity in Hollywood. cent American Indian and er, including this year with
At the bottom of the rung Alaska Native and 0.2 per- the successes of “Wonder
and most egregiously dis- cent Native Hawaiian. Woman,” ‘’Get Out” and
proportionate to their U.S. More striking still is the film “Girls Trip” among others,
demographics are women, by film “invisibility” break- and more on the horizon.
Hispanics and disabled down, which finds that 25 of The Academy of Motion
characters. Exclusion, the the 100 films did not feature Picture Arts and Sciences
report says, is the norm in a single black character has also recently made
Hollywood, not the excep- in a speaking role; 54 films strides to diversify its mem-
tion. had no Hispanic charac- bership.
For nine years since 2007, ters (14 higher than in 2015); “The question is with all of
USC has analyzed the de- 44 had no Asian characters these high-profile exam-
mographic makeup of (a rare improvement from ples, will the memo to Hol-
every speaking or named 2015 which tallied 49 films lywood be read seriously
character from each with zero Asians). and will they actually start
year’s 100 highest-grossing For women of color, it’s a engaging in more inclu-
films at the domestic box bleaker story. sionary hiring practices,”
office (with the exception “We can’t just talk about Smith said.
of 2011), as well as behind- females in film anymore. USC has a number of rec-
the-camera employment What our data shows most ommendations for chang-
for those films including powerfully this year over es — including adding five
directors, producers and any other year is the real female speaking parts to
composers. epidemic of intersectional each top film (which would
“Every year we’re hope- invisibility in film,” Smith said. result in gender equity in
ful that we will actually see “If you cross gender with just three years) and en-
change,” Stacy L. Smith, race and ethnicity, you couraging A-listers to im-
a USC professor and the see that the bottom really plement equity clauses into
study’s lead author, told drops out for females of their contracts.
The Associated Press. “Un- color on screen.” The organization is also
fortunately that hope has The data speaks volumes: available to studios and
not quite been realized.” 47 films featured no black content creators looking
Women remain vastly un- females; 66 had no Asian for advice, understanding
derrepresented when it females; and 72 had no His- or even lists of working fe-
comes to both speaking panic females. male directors to consider.
roles and lead or co-lead- Also largely invisible are “Diversity is not just some-
ing parts in films. Of the LGBT females, who were thing that just happens,”
4,583 speaking characters excluded from 91 of the said Katherine Pieper, a
analyzed from the top 100 top 100 films of 2016. research scientist on the re-
films of 2016, 31.4 percent There was a notable in- port.
were female, a number crease in films with gay “It’s something you have
that is basically unchanged speaking characters in to think about and aim
since 2007. Also, only 34 of 2016 — 36 up from 19, but for as an objective and
the films depicted a female zero transgender charac- achieve.”q