Moving Toward Diversity in Film 

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By Fiona Poth '24

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Are the Oscars still too white? Nine years ago, in April of 2015, no actors of color were nominated in the acting categories. This fact seemed to ignore many Oscar-worthy performances by actors of color, including David Oyelowo in Selma. The director of Selma, Ava DuVernay, a woman of color, was also overlooked. And the film, which told the story of Martin Luther King’s march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965, did not win best picture.  This resulted in the social media campaign #OscarsSoWhite, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that presents the Oscars, adopted new rules in 2020 as part of the Academy’s Aperture 2025 Initiative to encourage cultural and gender diversity in cinematic productions by establishing guidelines that films had to meet to be nominated for best picture beginning in 2024. However, nine years later, although Da’Vine Joy Randoph, an actress of color, won for best supporting actress for her work in The Holdovers and the guidelines are officially in place, there is still important work to be done to promote realistic diversity representation in films, and by not doing so, the film industry is perpetuating outdated stereotypes. Perhaps the two questions that need to be asked nearly a decade later are: Is Hollywood still too white? Why do its films tell only white stories?

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Because the Oscars are the preeminent awards for cinematic productions, they reflect the movies being made, who is being cast, and who is working to create films. For example, in 2024, only one actor of color won out of four in the acting category and only seven of twenty individuals nominated were of color. The lack of both nominees and award winners of color reflects the fact that casting is rarely diverse.  For example, the Common Sense Screen Media 2021 Report shows that, although Hispanics make up 19 percent of the United States population, they are cast in only 5 percent of the roles in top-grossing films. Perhaps more alarming is the fact that individuals of color who are cast are often cast in stereotypical roles.  For example, the report shows that Hispanics are often cast as laborers, maids, and criminals in cinematic productions. This stereotype casting is not limited to one ethnic group. Further, Indigenous Peoples are cast as warriors, Asians are often depicted as intelligent and the model-minority, and Blacks are seen as athletes.  Because 44 percent of adults in the United States attend at least one movie each month in theaters and watch more than 13 movies a month, viewers' perceptions of ethnic groups are influenced by this casting and these films (Lindner; Stroll).  The Common Sense Report confirms this by indicating that young people of color are often discouraged and feel limited by these stereotypes, and other ethnic groups often accept the stereotypes that they view as accurate. These views can enforce social inequalities and limit the development of empathy among viewers because viewers see themselves as different.  Nigerian-born author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie spoke eloquently to this problem in her TED Talk, The Danger of a Single Story. She commented, “Stories can be used to empower and to humanize” but also “Stories can break the dignity of a people.” Therefore, these findings suggest that it is important to consider not only if individuals of color are being cast but what types of roles are available to them and what stories are being told in these films.

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The new rules governing presentation and inclusion as part of the Academy’s Aperture 2025 Initiative are both modest and long overdue. While some might assert that the purpose of most artistic expression is to reflect the artist’s view rather than provide a mirror of society’s racial and gender makeup, movies and television have been uniquely exclusive in portraying stories that are predominately white and male, excluding the voices of many and, unfortunately, continue to do so. The “UCLA Hollywood Diversity Report” published in March 2023 confirms that the majority of film leads are white males and that actors of color are more likely to be cast not on the big screen but on streaming platforms, which are not as widely viewed and are compensated less. This fact suggests the existence  of a race-based class system in Hollywood.

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It comes as no surprise that this would be true because most movies and television shows are created by white men.  Specifically, the UCLA Report found that 73 percent of film directors were white males. Further, 60 percent of these white men were producing films with budgets over 30 million dollars.  This same UCLA Diversity Report found that only 17 percent of directors and 12 percent of writers could be described as people of color.  Similarly, only 17 percent of directors and 12 percent of writers were women.  Given that directors and writers are predominantly white men, most of the stories these directors create have a white man as the lead. Further the report found that in 2022 only 22 percent of lead actors were people of color.  These data are representative of 2022, not 1952. While American society has progressed in many areas to be more accessible and more inclusive of minority groups, Hollywood continues to lag.  

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The Academy’s newly proposed standards for films may help alleviate some of the continuing lack of diversity in Hollywood and are easy for studios to satisfy. Any movie considered for an Oscar must meet two of four standards aimed at improving inclusion and representation in the film industry. For example, a film can include a minority actor as one of its leads, have 30 percent of its ensemble cast come from minorities, or have a storyline centered on an underrepresented group.  Meeting any one of these criteria will allow a film to satisfy these rules. This is an example of only one of four different standards. The others are focused on the diversity of the directors and writers, providing inclusive apprenticeships and internships which are critical in building a career in Hollywood, and building inclusive audience participation. For example, even a film that tells the story of Ireland in the Middle Ages, which was considered a uniform place, can easily satisfy two out of four of these standards by giving opportunities to members of minority groups as interns or in the efforts to market the movie. Oppenheimer, Best Picture Winner in 2024, satisfied these requirements primarily by using women in production instead of a diverse cast on screen.  Objections that these rules will interfere with artistic freedom or creativity find no support when the standards are examined in detail. 

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However, these new standards do not appear to be adequate. Hollywood needs to ensure that the movies it creates tell stories that are representative of all Americans and that these stories are varied so that stereotypes are not reinforced. Studies have shown that movies with more diverse casts or that tell stories from a range of cultural perspectives “are more successful at the box office, attracting a more diverse and larger audience” (Lopez).  Further the UCLA Diversity Report found that Asians, Blacks, and Latinos make up approximately half of the frequent moviegoers and purchase a majority of the tickets to popular blockbusters. That being true, Hollywood will likely find that following the Academy’s standards and setting higher standards for themselves may have the added benefit of being good for its bottom line. The film and television industry is a large and growing part of the economy. The Academy’s standards provide an incentive to ensure that every member of society can participate in that enterprise. Therefore, the Academy’s new standards warrant cautionary applause. However, they must also be expanded to ensure that Hollywood continues to produce films that tell all stories and cast actors of all colors.  Diversity in Hollywood cannot be merely temporary or a token Oscar on awards night. It must be a commitment by each member of the film industry to tell all the stories because society needs to hear them and learn from them. Until this is achieved, the Oscars will be white, Hollywood will continue to be white, and the stories told will be told from an exclusively white perspective.