Angelus Errare
Banned
So I was with a few friends earlier today and we were dicussing movies. The four of us (myself, my best friend Yoon, and two others). We were initially speaking on the how some movies are so badly written not in story but rather in how the character goes about solving the major issue in the story (the overarching story could still be good but this kills a movie for me). Anyways, we somehow got on the subject of just having more diverse main characters in the American film. At one point one of my friends basically states he "cannot relate" to nonwhite main characters; his argument being when he watches a movie he sees himself as the character on screen and when they're black/asian/female it takes him out of the movie and he's more reluctant to see the movie. Honestly I felt this was a really weak argument he presented, I say this because both myself and Yoon despite not being white have no problem/choice with relating to movie characters. So I don't see why he or anyone else who shares his mindset can't do the same when presented with minority characters.
On that subject I've read views about romance depictions in film making people uncomfortable. I've read people saying that they don't like watching white women hooking up with males of different ethnicities on screen, but they're fairly okay with off screen suggestion. This has always been mindblowing to me as well; I was looking for a thought piece written by some guy giving his reason he doesn't like seeing it. His argument is that he and many men like him unfortunately see women as "property" for lack of a better word (I think he says something about the woman being like the trophy for the main and that seeing a white man "conquer" a minority woman is like an ego boost; while seeing a minority male "conquer" a white woman annoys them and feels like an attack on his manhood).
I personally don't understand that; but on some level many people in Hollywood must think this way themselves, or assume the audience thinks the same way because despite BM/WF making up the largest percent of interracial relationships in the US, they're the least represented in media. While WM/BF are grossly over represented in media. Another issue is that WM/*F romances are always shown on screen, while minority male/white female are rarely shown on screen (random example being in Prometheus. Charlize Theron/Idris Elba's quickie isn't shown on screen in any capacity only insinuated).
Given how Hollywood works (assumption of audience + focus groups) this is a large problem with increasing diversity in films; Hollywood assumes that movie goers won't want to watch a movie in which the main character isn't a white male as it will turn too many people off. Now at one point in the US this definitely might have been the case.
I want a serious discussion on this with as little berating and insulting as you guys can muster (I know I'm asking a lot but GAF pls). For those who also feel this way, can you explain in more detail why you do feel this way? Can anyone give a bit more detail as to why people in America feel this way?
This was horribly written in rush, I kind of just typed without really thinking through what I was trying to convey, sorry; I'll edit it later when I'm not mentally all over the place, in the interim pls understand!
On that subject I've read views about romance depictions in film making people uncomfortable. I've read people saying that they don't like watching white women hooking up with males of different ethnicities on screen, but they're fairly okay with off screen suggestion. This has always been mindblowing to me as well; I was looking for a thought piece written by some guy giving his reason he doesn't like seeing it. His argument is that he and many men like him unfortunately see women as "property" for lack of a better word (I think he says something about the woman being like the trophy for the main and that seeing a white man "conquer" a minority woman is like an ego boost; while seeing a minority male "conquer" a white woman annoys them and feels like an attack on his manhood).
I personally don't understand that; but on some level many people in Hollywood must think this way themselves, or assume the audience thinks the same way because despite BM/WF making up the largest percent of interracial relationships in the US, they're the least represented in media. While WM/BF are grossly over represented in media. Another issue is that WM/*F romances are always shown on screen, while minority male/white female are rarely shown on screen (random example being in Prometheus. Charlize Theron/Idris Elba's quickie isn't shown on screen in any capacity only insinuated).
Given how Hollywood works (assumption of audience + focus groups) this is a large problem with increasing diversity in films; Hollywood assumes that movie goers won't want to watch a movie in which the main character isn't a white male as it will turn too many people off. Now at one point in the US this definitely might have been the case.
I want a serious discussion on this with as little berating and insulting as you guys can muster (I know I'm asking a lot but GAF pls). For those who also feel this way, can you explain in more detail why you do feel this way? Can anyone give a bit more detail as to why people in America feel this way?
This was horribly written in rush, I kind of just typed without really thinking through what I was trying to convey, sorry; I'll edit it later when I'm not mentally all over the place, in the interim pls understand!
