The New Jim Crow: A blog about the systematic white actors found in Hollywood.
Hollywood has a diversity problem. And by “diversity problem,” I mean that it’s full of white people.
I know what you’re thinking: “Hollywood is a meritocracy. If there were talented actors and directors of color out there, they would be cast in major motion pictures.” Well, I hate to break it to you, but that’s a myth. The truth is, there are numerous qualified non-white individuals who are routinely passed over for meaty film roles like “The Human Torch” or “The President of the United States.”
Let me tell you my story. Like many of you, I am a big fan of superhero movies. But after watching Iron Man 3 for the seventh time, I realized that something was missing from this otherwise flawless franchise: the presence of an ethnically diverse lead actor. To be clear, I’m not accusing the filmmakers of racism; Robert Downey Jr.’s character Tony Stark isn’t specifically written as white. Rather, the issue is that casting directors are only willing to consider white actors for these roles.
So I decided to do something about it. I went out and shot my own Iron Man 3 trailer with
The New Jim Crow: A blog about the systematic white actors found in Hollywood.
It\’s no secret that we live in a society that is mis-representing race, gender, and sexuality. Much of what we see has been affected by the media, in particular Hollywood.
This blog is dedicated to documenting the white actors found in our favorite films and television shows, as well as their white directors and producers.
When I was a student at USC Film School, I was surprised by how little attention was given to the problems surrounding race and gender in the media. It seemed odd to me that my peers were so oblivious to this systemic problem that I knew all too well from my upbringing in southern California.
My classmates couldn\’t relate to stories about growing up Latino or having a mother who had to work two jobs just to support her family. They didn\’t understand what it meant for a girl like me with brown hair, brown eyes, and skin darker than average to be called \’exotic\’, or \’the Mexican girl\’, or even \’the Mexican princess\’.
The fact is that many of us are not represented on screen. We are not seen as true people with real emotions and dreams; we are merely stereotypes written by writers who
The New Jim Crow: A blog about the systematic white actors found in Hollywood.
Okay, I know that’s not really true, but it sounds good. And it also sounds like a great title for a piece about the continued lack of diversity in Hollywood and how we need to start expanding our definition of diversity beyond just race and gender.
It’s already gotten to the point where you can’t even go to a movie anymore without being assaulted by the same old faces. I mean, seriously, how many more times do we need to see Matthew McConaughey in a movie? Or Jennifer Lawrence? How many more times do we need to see Leonardo DiCaprio playing a rich guy who gets what he wants? Or Kristen Stewart playing a brooding teen? Or Johnny Depp playing an eccentric character with weird hair?
This is boring! This is boring! This is boring!
We are living in an age of unprecedented access to information, culture, and entertainment. There are literally millions of stories out there that have never been told on screen before, and yet all we ever see are the same old stories with different names attached to them. The problem is not that there aren’t enough talented actors and actresses available; it’s that Hollywood keeps recycling the same ones
The New Jim Crow: A blog about systematic white actors found in Hollywood.
I was recently discussing the casting of a new historical drama with a friend, who asked “Why do they always get white actors to play black people in movies?” I replied that it is because white people are the dominant group in Hollywood, and therefore we can only expect them to cast other white people. It is not so much that these actors are intentionally trying to steal the roles from black actors, rather it is just the way things have always been done. We then moved on to discuss how there were so many different types of white people involved in the industry. My friend remarked how it seemed like every movie she saw featured at least one or two Caucasian actors.
As I mentioned before, this is due to Hollywood being dominated by Europeans and Europeans-Americans. In fact, if you look at any major studio today, you will find that they all employ mostly Caucasians (with some exceptions). This means that when casting directors look through submissions from all over the world, they will pick out those who resemble themselves more closely than others – even if there are talented individuals who don’t fit into their criteria exactly but still have what it takes to perform well on screen!
In this era of “diversity”, why are white actors so dominant in Hollywood? Why do, Jada Pinkett Smith, George Clooney and Spike Lee feel the need to boycott the Oscars?
The New Jim Crow is a website devoted to exposing the systematic racism in Hollywood. This website will argue that “Hollywood” should not be a monolith, but rather a reflection of our country’s demographics. We no longer live in a segregated society but we do live in one where white actors are overrepresented.
In this era of diversity, why are white actors so prominent? One reason is that producers and directors seek out people who look like them. We at the New Jim Crow believe that Hollywood should lead by example. Another reason is that there are not enough roles for non-white actors. This website will examine how these roles can be expanded.
White people make up less than 10% of the world’s population, but they dominate Hollywood like they never have before. White actors play more than 90% of all leading roles, according to research by UCLA’s Ralph J Bunche Center for African American Studies. That’s up from 86% in 2006 and 81% in 2005.
White actors in Hollywood are racist and whitewashed.
If you’re a fan of the original version of Avatar, you’ll know that the main character is clearly a person of color. I actually don’t remember exactly what race he is, but he’s definitely not white.
But when it comes to the casting of the upcoming sequel, Hollywood decided to cast a white guy in his place.
Before we get into it, I want to say that I think this happens a lot. I’m sure there’s a ton of examples that are worse than this one, but this one just rubbed me the wrong way when I heard about it because I really like Avatar.
So here’s what happened: James Cameron told Entertainment Weekly that not only is Sam Worthington coming back for the sequel as Jake Sully, but “Stephen Lang is going to be very much front and center” after dying at the end of Avatar.
