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[UnemployedVillain]

So as a black male I have to say I love that Hollywood is finally being called out on it's overwhelming white male problem and that minorities are finally started to be noticed, and more importantly, the stigma of minority = too risky is at least starting to disappear and be exposed for the nonsense it always was. However, I noticed that even in attempts to add diversity Hollywood is pretty damn non-diverse.

Let's say they want to add a minority male to a movie. 99% of the time it's a black guy and while I love seeing familiar faces on screen, I can recognize that all other races are getting the shaft. For decades we've had well known black actors. Sidney Poitier, Eddy Murphy, Will Smill, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Samuel L Jackson, there's not a TON, but no one would ever struggle naming a well known bankable black actor. What about asian? Who have we had since Jackie Chan or Jet Li, who were both typecast as "Asian dude who doesn't speak english well, but knows martial arts"? Chow Yun Fat was famous for a second with Crouching Tiger and John Cho seemed to have peaked at Harold & Kumar, which is probably the only movie I can even think of starring minorities who aren't black. And then there's all the other races where it's hard for the average person to even name a famous star of theirs.

And then on the women site, it's pretty much only white females being cast anytime a woman is in a lead role. Take the new Star Wars (both Rogue One and TFA), The Hunger Games, Mad Max, Kill Bill and going back Terminator and Alien. All white females. In fact the last major movie I can think of starring a non-white female lead was Monster's Ball and before that Jackie Brown! And I wouldn't be surprised if black woman was also the go to for minority female lead!

 

[Tagyhag]

Unfortunately Hollywood is still taking baby steps.

Hispanics are seriously underrepresented when you factor in the percentage of movie-goers.

 

[neurosyphilis]

Totally agree with everything you said. Especially the last point about all female leads being white.

 

[neojubei]

I'd like to see more Asian-American leading men in movies.

I'd wonder how a romantic comedy would do in America if the lead characters were an Asian male and Black female and the wacky best friend was Latino male or female.

 

[dancingphlower]

I'd like to see more Asian-American leading men in movies.

I agree with this, as far as Hollywood goes. For now I'll have to look overseas for my leading Asian Male films.

 

[illmatic22]

There's like, how many Latinos in this country? Yet we're still underrepresented. Asians and Native Americans too.

Totally agree with everything you said. Especially the last point about all female leads being white.

this too

 

[Frozenprince]

My people have The Rock.

And... um.

Uhhhhhhhhh.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Pretty much. Even with recognizable black males, black women are grossly underrepresented in meaty roles.

And don't even get started on Asian representation. Tell me when a brown person gets a role that isn't a fucking cab driver joke or a terrorist.

"Baby steps" my ass. Hollywood is still racist as fuck, with minority representation existing in the slimmest possible form so some producer or whatever can act like they have "done their duty" in showing how non-racist they are by tossing table-scraps to people of colour.

 

[hirokazu]

Yep. Star Wars is getting pretty diverse now but even it still seems to keep it pretty safe when it comes to the leads.

 

[Sickboy007]

My people have The Rock.

And... um.

Uhhhhhhhhh.

Canadians?

 

[Ashes]

Korean drama and pop seems to be popular with international audience, so I do think Hollywood is missing an opportunity here. Especially since Korean films really took off with western critics in the last decade.

 

[MHWilliams]

Statistically, Hispanic male and female leads are the most underrepresented given the US population.

I've mentioned this before, but Hollywood works on a rough tier system.

1. White Male
2. Black Male/White Female
3. Black Female/Hispanic Male
4. Everyone Else Dreams of Getting Lead Roles

You may quibble with the specific placement, but that's roughly what you tend to see in Hollywood. Television is a bit better with Asian and Hispanic representation, but if you're Native American and Middle Eastern you're fighting for whatever scraps there are. Some actors of various races can find success in other markets, with a number Asian American or Asian Canadian actors and actresses finding great roles in China, Korea, and Japan. Doesn't really fix the situation in Hollywood though.

 

[UraMallas]

Canadians?

Probably pro wrestlers.

 

[SlimySnake]

i think 'part' the problem is that most Asian and Indian people dont tend to go into show business. They get pushed into engineering/medical by their parents, but we are seeing some asian and indian comedians break into mainstream so that's progress i guess.

As for black people and hispanics, it's straight old Hollywood racism. Also, most action movies nowadays are based on comic books which star white males and that screwed up any progress people like Danzel, Will Smith, Jamie Foxx and others had made in the 90s and early 2000s. We haven't had a single big name black action hero since those guys. literally a decade of nothing. Yes, this is Marvel's fault lol.

Didn't CHris Rock or Dave Chappelle once said that black women never get hired for lead parts? i think the last big black actress we had was Hally Barry who won an Oscar in 2001 and got a couple of part in a Bond movie and even her own shitty superhero movie. but nothing after that.

 

[Napoleonthechimp]

Korean drama and pop seems to be popular with international audience, so I do think Hollywood is missing an opportunity here. Especially since Korean films really took off with western critics in the last decade.

Korean drama and pop has its own unique style which is likely what appeals to people. So transplanting a bunch of Korean actors into Hollywood isn't going to replicate that.

 

[neojubei]

Korean drama and pop seems to be popular with international audience, so I do think Hollywood is missing an opportunity here. Especially since Korean films really took off with western critics in the last decade.

I've been watching a lot of Korean dramas on hulu but its not the same. So many damn romantic comedy being turned out by Hollywood and rarely if ever are the couples non-white. I'd love to see a big budget Hollywood romantic comedy staring an Asian guy with an Asian girl. Knowing studio executives they would want one of the couples to be white before they would greenlit the movie. so sad.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

I've been watching a lot of Korean dramas on hulu but its not the same. So many damn romantic comedy being turned out by Hollywood and rarely if ever are the couples non-white. I'd love to see a big budget Hollywood romantic comedy staring an Asian guy with an Asian girl. Knowing studio executives they would want one of the couples to be white before they would greenlit the movie. so sad.

I guarantee if such a movie was pitched, by the time it was greenlit it'd have turned into a white guy and asian girl

 

[Frozenprince]

I guarantee if such a movie was pitched, by the time it was greenlit it'd have turned into a white guy and asian girl

The asian girl would then be relegated to a side character in punch-ups.

 

[Comfort Jones]

Unfortunately Hollywood is still taking baby steps.

Hispanics are seriously underrepresented when you factor in the percentage of movie-goers.

I just realized how true this is.

Put a gun to my head and I don't think I could even name five.

 

[Ashes]

I just realized how true this is.

Put a gun to my head and I don't think I could even name five.

I named ten off my head, and got two wrong. Antonio Bandaras is Spanish, as was Penalope Cruz. And technically Eva longoria is a TV actress, even if she probably lives in Hollywood.
Also I'm from Britain, so British Actors are technically foreign, but not really. we're very well represented.

 

[UnemployedVillain]

I just realized how true this is.

Put a gun to my head and I don't think I could even name five.

Uhhh Michelle Rodriguez, Danny Trejo and that bald dude who always plays a gangbanger

 

[Brakke]

Remeber when Kal Penn was in Superman Returns and got title sequence billing but had like one line as a generic goon. That was secretly super cool casting. What a bizarre career that dude had.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Uhhh Michelle Rodriguez, Danny Trejo and that bald dude who always plays a gangbanger

Michael Pena. WE'RE GETTING THERE!

 

[orochi91]

Would love to see more Asians in leading roles.

We are sorely underrepresented, lol

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

Asian americans are shit out of luck for the most part. Hollywood will reach down and pluck the super successful Asian actors and directors out and have them in a few movies but Asian Americans don't even have that "luxury".

Hell they can't even get starring roles in the remakes of Asian films.

 

[KonradLaw]

The industry's state isn;t helping. The middle tier movies are dissapearing and those are natural place for increasing diversity.

It's much better in television, because there's just a lot more shows being made.

 

[neojubei]

Would love to see more Asians in leading roles.

We are sorely underrepresented, lol

I agree. When the The Maze Runner came out i was wondering why couldn't the Asian guy be the main character and the white guy be the co-star. It would not have hurt the movie none if the main character was Asian-american.

Asian americans are shit out of luck for the most part. Hollywood will reach down and pluck the super successful Asian actors and directors out and have them in a few movies but Asian Americans don't even have that "luxury".

Hell they can't even get starring roles in the remakes of Asian films.

It hurt my heart to see my sassy girl remade, especially with white lead actors, its not like Hollywood is hurting for another romantic comedy staring a white couple. Waaaay back in my days of writing scripts for fun, I wrote an american remake of my sassy girl because i loved the Korean version so much. In my version

Spoiler

the movie would be based in LA staring Aaron Yoo (he is my heart) and he meets up with a girl from South Korea visiting LA for her first time who is completely drunk on the train. They have a cute funny relationship for a few weeks (movie time) and she up and leaves him. He goes to South Korea to find her only to find out she died 5 years earlier.

 

[Ashes]

I agree. When the The Maze Runner came out i was wondering why couldn't the Asian guy be the main character and the white guy be the co-star. It would not have hurt the movie none if the main character was Asian-american.

Apart from being unfaithful to the novels? I know Asians get whitewashed regularly, but I like adapted screenplays to be faithful to the book they are taking the material from.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

So as a black male I have to say I love that Hollywood is finally being called out on it's overwhelming white male problem and that minorities are finally started to be noticed, and more importantly, the stigma of minority = too risky is at least starting to disappear and be exposed for the nonsense it always was. However, I noticed that even in attempts to add diversity Hollywood is pretty damn non-diverse.

Let's say they want to add a minority male to a movie. 99% of the time it's a black guy and while I love seeing familiar faces on screen, I can recognize that all other races are getting the shaft. For decades we've had well known black actors. Sidney Poitier, Eddy Murphy, Will Smill, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Samuel L Jackson, there's not a TON, but no one would ever struggle naming a well known bankable black actor. What about asian? Who have we had since Jackie Chan or Jet Li, who were both typecast as "Asian dude who doesn't speak english well, but knows martial arts"? Chow Yun Fat was famous for a second with Crouching Tiger and John Cho seemed to have peaked at Harold & Kumar, which is probably the only movie I can even think of starring minorities who aren't black. And then there's all the other races where it's hard for the average person to even name a famous star of theirs.

And then on the women site, it's pretty much only white females being cast anytime a woman is in a lead role. Take the new Star Wars (both Rogue One and TFA), The Hunger Games, Mad Max, Kill Bill and going back Terminator and Alien. All white females. In fact the last major movie I can think of starring a non-white female lead was Monster's Ball and before that Jackie Brown! And I wouldn't be surprised if black woman was also the go to for minority female lead!

They are not finally being called out on in. It's been going forever, and they are very good at banking on it. Remember Black Oscars of 2004?
It's all about talking everyone after their mouth, and saying they understand, and that they are sorry. Hollywood is a corrupt and racist institution which culture was primarily stolen from European filmmakers.
Instead of giving a shit about Hollywood and their circle jerking, I'd be much more interested in watching a superior independent scene of filmmaking that creatures a better and more universal culture. PC upsets is just free marketing for them. It reminds me of when General Motors have 13 people killed by faulty cars, and they manage to spin it to a positive thing about how they want to transcend and become a global leader in auto safety.
Or the clothing companies who, every time a new case emerges about their clothing being made by children in slave like conditions in the third world, that they intent to oblige and honor new counter measures to fight child labor and exploitation, which we all take part in as we support the practices. Very little actual happens or changes. It's more like vetted PR speak. Empty words and changes that on the surface seems significant but dont mean much.

I don't for a second buy that Hollywood is changing, nor are the studios. All they are doing is reassuring, doing whatever steps they need to seem PC, and then go back to their old ways. Hollywood is an industry where it is not uncommon for pretty young upcoming women to give blowjobs to reach the next audition.
And I think the Sony leaks showed the mentality and hierarchy of all the studios. Not just Sony.
Furthermore, racial diversity is just one step. A big part of it is the other narrow-minded small stories that also take a lot of space, as so many actors and actresses are young and pretty, with so few roles going to less attractive people. And to older people. It signifies many of the same me-too stories that Hollywood is about. I'd like to see more diverse films, not more of the same shit with a black guy or a Asian guy. That's better, but not anywhere near enough, because the current hollywood landscape is pathetic.

It is up to the international community to support films from other regions. But if we keep showing up and supporting these comic book superhero movies, then you've partaken in the status quo and supported them.
There is a lot of really good shit coming out Cannes, Belinale, Venice, Korea and other places. So it feels weird to me that some people who talk about diversity doesn't seem to want to watch films in other languages or from other countries.
Everyone else has to tell better stories. European and Asian productions need to be able to better in their global competitions. Who knows, maybe when globalization reaches Nigeria and India in a more cultural significant push, their resources (and very large local film markets) will be able to have a broader appeal to a global market.

Chinese markets mean more and more to Hollywood. They cannot be ignored, and like all other populations, they too want to see someone from their neighborhood on screen, and I think in that sense, with all the chinese-location scenes being serviced to Chinese audiences, that it will manifest into chinese actors.

It really bothers me when I hear people who say they refuse to see films in non-english. I think that is a big part of the problem. There are fantastic films with non-white actors being released all the time, but they often don't get a chance.
I read a while back that Yimous Hero (Jet Li, Donnie Yen) back in 2002 was still the second highest grossing non-english box office film in the US, after Passion of the christ. Of all films, it is the anti-semite piece of shit torture circle jerk fest that rides supreme. That is just sad.

The Raid 2 is better than 90% of the action films that has come out of hollywood in the last 15 years. It's the Raid that should rake in over a billion, not garbage like Age of Ultron. Boring elevator CGI bullshit.

 

[Not]

I thought you were talking about Hollywood as a work environment. You want to know where all the white people in So Cal are?

2nd biggest minority behind the scenes? Asians. By far. Including south asians. Maybe one black person per studio. He always has glasses.

Funny how that ratio is reversed in front of the camera

 

[Abounder]

Hollywood might as well be the NATO allies show, for what it's worth I foresee more blockbuster opportunities for Asians especially if China lifts restrictions for more theater runs.

But some franchises already give me hope like Big Hero 6 (albeit an animation with a fun robot) and anything with the Rock (also he's the top international box office star) or Zoe Saldana (not a lead but Trek/Avatar/GotG are all huge hits, and shows how small of a world Hollywood is especially for diversity)

 

[Replicant]

I agree. When the The Maze Runner came out i was wondering why couldn't the Asian guy be the main character and the white guy be the co-star. It would not have hurt the movie none if the main character was Asian-american.

I'm just glad they made him an important character. In other films, they'd have killed him in the first few minutes of the first film. But that's because the book written him as an important character otherwise you know damn well Hollywood would have whitewashed the character. I mean, they kind of did with Katniss after all.

 

[Not]

I'm just glad they made him an important character. In other films, they'd have killed him in the first few minutes of the first film. But that's just because the book dictated it so otherwise you know damn well Hollywood would have whitewashed the character. I mean, they kind of did with Katniss after all.

I love Ki Hong Lee. He should be the fucking teen heartthrob, not Whatisface McCaucasian. At least Zayn Malik isn't white. Maybe he'll act.

 

[neojubei]

I love Ki Hong Lee. He should be the fucking teen heartthrob, not Whatisface McCaucasian. At least Zayn Malik isn't white. Maybe he'll act.

I agree.

Apart from being unfaithful to the novels? I know Asians get whitewashed regularly, but I like adapted screenplays to be faithful to the book they are taking the material from.

Character's race changes from book to script like the movie 21. And we all know most young adult books wont be greenlit into movies unless it has white lead actor.

 

[SixMachine]

I thought you were talking about Hollywood as a work environment. You want to know where all the white people in So Cal are?

2nd biggest minority behind the scenes? Asians. By far. Including south asians. Maybe one black person per studio. He always has glasses.

Funny how that ratio is reversed in front of the camera

One hilarious thing I like doing is watching action movies and watch for the the stunt doubles. In a bunch of Jackie Chan films, even though he might be in a non-asian country, like Shanghai Knights if you look closely, you can see things like an Englishman turn chinese for a few frames for a stunt or that Native American warrior is some painted asian guy.

 

[milkham]

i scrubbed through an episode of hawaii 5-0 once, everyone was white except maybe one villain, strangely even the asian cast members weren't there.

 

[Hsieh]

It's pretty well documented that diversity in Hollywood means one white man, one black man as a representative of all non-white people, and one white woman as a representative of all women. This phenomenon has already been given the name "Missing Black Woman Formation".

http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/2008/01/mbw-formation/

 

[neojubei]

Right now, population-wise, Hispanics/Latinos are the most underrepresented.


(Also, Asian usually means Asian female, whereas black usually means black male. :<)

Agents of Shield follows this formula to a T.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Agents of Shield follows this formula to a T.

Yyyuup

 

[kerotan_eater]

i think 'part' the problem is that most Asian and Indian people dont tend to go into show business. They get pushed into engineering/medical by their parents, but we are seeing some asian and indian comedians break into mainstream so that's progress i guess.

It's a bit of a catch-22. If Hollywood doesn't push for minorities, with more diversity programs, casting and more minority stories on screen, the simple fact of the matter is less minorities are going to want to even attempt Hollywood.

It's a depressing fact when, nobody can even mention one true leading ... say leading man who is full Asian, South Asian, Middle-eastern, American Indian or Hispanic/Latino who Hollywood would be willing to put as a star in their own blockbuster movie currently

Seriously... one. Can anyone come up with even one?

You might be able to find one lighter skinned Hispanic/Latino though, though I can't name one off the top of my head.

 

[Ashes]

I'm just glad they made him an important character. In other films, they'd have killed him in the first few minutes of the first film. But that's because the book written him as an important character otherwise you know damn well Hollywood would have whitewashed the character. I mean, they kind of did with Katniss after all.

Katniss is probably and most likely white though. I mean I doubt Hollywood would have gone for olive skinned actress who isn't white when they were looking to cast the part, so the process is racist, but reading the books, I never got the impression that race was thing where Katniss is concerned.

 

[Zaptruder]

Yeah, the minority problem is very very very far from over until we see fair representation for asian roles (I'm assuming here every other demographic gets serviced as well, because we're the lowest on the totem pole in Hollywood D

Just because black actors are turning up at a rate proportional to their demographic (even if not in lead roles), really doesn't mean the whole 'marketable' logic has been trumped. It's still more there than ever, just the demographics of marketability are changing sloooowwwwllyyyyy.

I mean, you'd think with the international box office, Hollywood would want to pander a bit more to the asian market... but apparently not.

 

[Ashes]

It's a bit of a catch-22. If Hollywood doesn't push for minorities, with more diversity programs, casting and more minority stories on screen, the simple fact of the matter is less minorities are going to want to even attempt Hollywood.

It's a depressing fact when, nobody can even mention one true leading ... say leading man who is full Asian, South Asian, Middle-eastern, American Indian or Hispanic/Latino who Hollywood would be willing to put as a star in their own blockbuster movie currently

Seriously... one. Can anyone come up with even one?

You might be able to find one lighter skinned Hispanic/Latino though, though I can't name one off the top of my head.

Man? how about a child? The jungle book is the biggest film coming out soon. I don't know his name though.

If it's a guy. Probably Jon Cho in Hollywood. And Ben Kingsley or Dev Patel in the UK.

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Man who are some Asian American men who could carry starring roles(not just based on star power)?
Males:
Daniel Dae Kim
Ian Anthony Dale
Steven Yeun

 

[Replicant]

Katniss is probably and most likely white though. I mean I doubt Hollywood would have gone for olive skinned actress who isn't white when they were looking to cast the part, so the process is racist, but reading the books, I never got the impression that race was thing where Katniss is concerned.

I'm neither for or against J Law casting. But I can understand why some people back then think Katniss could be POC. Not only because of the description of her character, but also because her original district, Panem, sounds like an Indian name.

 

[not psycho]

It really bothers me when I hear people who say they refuse to see films in non-english. I think that is a big part of the problem. There are fantastic films with non-white actors being released all the time, but they often don't get a chance.

Yeah, it's actually pretty weird when you think about it.

The Asian Box Office is bigger than the US box office. There is an absolutely massive amount of Asian entertainment media out there with Asian actors, including some actors who left North America to become big elsewhere (like Godfrey Gao). Asia has 60% of the world population... China and India alone are 37% of the world.

Realistically, why do we ignore Bong Joon-ho non-English movies in the US (such as Memories of Murder) while George Miller's Fury Road (Australian director, English actor, South African actress) gets a lot of attention? None of them were born in the US. Asian media should get way more attention here.


As for Asian American romantic actors, Sendhil Ramamurthy (Covert Affairs, Heroes, Beauty and the Beast).

John Cho, Kal Penn, and Daniel Dae Kim also have romantic roles. Clearly television is much better at it than movies here.

 

[Not]

Man who are some Asian American men who could carry starring roles(not just based on star power)?
Males:
Daniel Dae Kim
Ian Anthony Dale
Steven Yeun

Ki Hong Lee my man

Daniel Henney

Godfrey Gao my main man

Vincent Rodriguez III

Maybe that kid from The 100?

There are some pretty hot talented dudes out there if you're actually looking

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

One of the reasons I can't be as excited with everyone else for Star Wars having another female lead in Rogue One is cuz it's another white lead.

For hispanics all we got now is Zoe Saldana and Oscar Isaac.

 

[LaNaranja]

Agents of Shield follows this formula to a T.

And the two latinos on the team were were sent home and haven't been seen in weeks.

 

[KonradLaw]

I agree. When the The Maze Runner came out i was wondering why couldn't the Asian guy be the main character and the white guy be the co-star. It would not have hurt the movie none if the main character was Asian-american.

Probably because there were no asian americans in fan favorited tv shows Both Thomas and whatever that girl was called came from such shows, ones that are spammed all through tumbrl. They were bassicaly looking for somebody unltra cheap, that still had some recognizability.