My topic that I am going to write about has to do with the issue of diversity in mass media. Over the years, we saw some progression in the representation of POC’s (people of color) in TV and film with some shows like Blackish, Fresh of the Boat, and Scandal, that see people of color as leads instead of the token minority, along with movies like Straight Out of Compton, Creed, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens that gained praise from critics. However, there are still some things we can improve on, like casting white actors to play roles that were written for POC’s, limiting actors to roles that perpetuate stereotypes, and not hiring filmmakers that are POC’s.
With the majority of filmmakers being white, the possibilities and opportunities for filmmakers and actors that are people of color are significantly smaller compared to the opportunities for white actors and filmmakers; and even if a film starred an actor that was a person of color, the prestigious award usually go to their white costars, which is what happened to some movies like Creed at the Oscars this year.The Washington Post mentioned, however,that some movies have gotten criticized for whitewashing roles;movies like Exodus: Gods of Kings and Aloha bombed at the box office. We’ve also made some strides in hiring more POC’s. For example, the new trio in Star Wars: The Force Awakens includes two new leads, John Boyega and Oscar Isaac, who are both POC’s and broke away from the traditional all white trio’s that previous movies had. Also, the director of Creed and Fruitvale Station, Ryan Coogler, is now set to direct the new Marvel movie Black Panther, a movie about an African superhero. As you can see, we are making some strides when it comes to diversity, but it is still a problem that needs a little more time to fix.
Modern Arguments in Composition 