Race swapping and whitewashing

[Soundwave]

curl-6 said:

Soundwave said:

I don't think your numbers are accurate.

https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/black-representation-in-film-and-tv-the-challenges-and-impact-of-increasing-diversity

 While their overall representation among film casts is broadly in line with the Black share of the US population (13.4 percent), Black actors play only 11 percent of leading film roles and are often funneled to race-related projects, which typically receive lower investment in both production and promotion.

Linear, old fashioned TV is OK for black actors, probably in part because black people watch more TV than any other demographic:

https://afro.com/blacks-watch-more-tv-than-any-other-group-nielsen-says/

But representation in modern platforms like streaming is still dismal, 5% of leads in streaming shows (Netflix, Disney+) are black. 

The representation for Latino (the fastest growing part of the US population), Asian (2nd fastest), and other ethnicities is still dismal:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2020/10/22/black-representation-tv-grows-but-diversity-off-screen-lags-study/3720579001/

Although the study shows shows that Black characters have become better represented on TV, it points out that other minority groups are far from proportionally represented onscreen and elsewhere. Latinos and Asian Americans remain significantly underrepresented in nearly all industry positions; there is minimal presence in any job category for people of Middle Eastern and North African descent; and there's virtually zero representation for Native Americans on TV.

So basically black people get some representation on network/cable TV because likely TV execs are desperate as its a dying format (whoopity doo). 

PoC having 40% of movie leads is just patently false. You can look at the top theatrical releases from 2022: Top Gun Maverick (white lead), Black Panther WF (black lead), Dr. Strange (white lead), Avatar 2 (well mostly blue people, but the lead live action is white), Jurassic World Dominion (white lead), Minions (animated), The Batman (white lead), Thor Love & Thunder (white lead), Spider-Man: NWH (white lead), Sonic 2 (white lead for live action), Black Adam (mixed ethnicity lead), Elvis (white lead), Uncharted (white lead), Nope (black lead), Lightyear (white lead character), Smile (white lead), The Lost City (white lead), Bullet Train (white lead), The Bad Guys (animated), Fantastic Beasts (white lead). 

So tallying that up you get 15/20 have white leads, 3/20 have black or mixed race leads, 2/20 are animated animals/non-humans. 0/20 are Latino, 0/20 are Asian, so basically talking CG animals or cartoons have a better shot at leading a movie than a Latino or Asian. 

I'd also ask what is the problem even if black people or any other ethnicity was over represented for a period of time on TV or film? You know perfectly well white people have been over represented in those areas and continue to be (see the movie breakdown above), why is it only a problem if it's blacks that have over representation once in a while? Ask yourself why there is this double standard, because you don't seem to complain when its white people being over represented. 

I think the discrepency lies in that the McKinsey article uses data from 2015-2019, while representaton stepped up a lot in the last few years.

Your other link also draws on data back to 2017, so it's a few years before the curve.

As far as movies go, I'd take an actual study over anybody's forum list.

I don't think any reasonable person would say that people of colour don't deserve strong representation, I certainly don't think anyone here is arguing that, I think the sentiment is more that race swapping established characters isn't a good solution.

I mean, why not create original characters instead for example. Surely that way would be better for everyone. The goal should be equitable representation for all, not tit for tat.

Representation has only stepped up in the last several years because of pressure and work by PoC groups and it's mainly a rise in linear television, which isn't the giant ass prize that I think you believe it is ... getting in on linear old fashioned TV at this point is like having the no.1 game on the Wii U in 2016. It's a dying format. It's not even like 2015-19 is some ancient time period too, lol, that's just a few years ago. 

You can easily look at the top 20-30 movies of every year for the last 20 years, you don't need a study for that, tell me when you find multiple years with PoC headlining 30% of those films. This is not even opening the can of worms that Latino and Asian groups are still under-represented across the board in everything. 

There aren't that many race-swapped characters to begin with (as in PoC taking jobs from white actors when white actors get are overwhelmingly represented and have a broad range of roles they can audition for). Ariel being black one time isn't the end of the world. If you're going to talk about "tit for tat", then as far as I'm concerned should that not apply to white people not crying or making a giant ass stink every time any other group gets a little more representation here and there? 

Can there be some freaking maturity there in understanding that they have been over-represented in media and still are especially in terms of leading roles in big ticket film/TV projects? Instead the reaction is more akin to a spoiled 5 year old throwing a fit at their birthday that other kids are getting to eat some of their birthday cake and the entire cake is not for them, even though they are still getting the biggest piece? Can we acknowledge that too? 

Last edited by Soundwave - on 19 July 2023