Hollywood’s Pledge to be More Culturally Diverse: Tokenism or Genuine?
- frontpageinitiative
- Aug 14, 2021
- 2 min read
In 2016, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the annual Oscars ceremony, pledged to make Hollywood more culturally diverse. They intended to double the number of minority members in the organization and highlight their voices in the industry. Although actors have called this a step in the right direction, they have also acknowledged that the industry still has a long way to go in achieving cultural diversity. Critics have argued that their pledge to be diverse is a simple act of tokenism and is not genuine. Tokenism refers to the practice of making only symbolic but otherwise empty efforts to recruit members of a minority or under-represented group in an attempt to appear diverse or equal.
Hollywood has historically pushed for a white-centric narrative since its inception more than a century ago. Although there were some POC actors in Hollywood’s early years, they were almost always portrayed negatively or in supporting roles to merely help the white protagonists shine. It was only during the 1960s onwards – when the Civil Rights Movement happened – that POC stories became more relevant in the media. Although more POC stories were depicted in subsequent decades, many films were directed by white men, making the stories and experiences less authentic. The claim that Hollywood largely excludes people of colour is reflected in Oscar nominations in certain years like 2016, when all the nominations in the four acting categories featured only white actors. As a result, multiple A-list stars decided not to attend the awards ceremony.
Any attempts to be diverse fail more often than not and characters from minority backgrounds are simply token characters. Many shows recast POC characters and dedicated time to highlight Black voices particularly after the Black Lives Matter movement. However, this only happened after pressure was applied from the population to amplify Black voices. In Hollywood, many POC cast members are only hired to claim inclusion and avoid criticism. These characters often reinforce negative stereotypes and are not given much character development or depth, preventing them from becoming an integral part of the narrative.
To make the attempts at cultural diversity more genuine, there has to be more authenticity in the filmmaking process. This means putting more people of colour behind the cameras so that the story they tell is more authentic. Similarly, POC characters should be better-developed and actually aid in the depiction of the narrative. Hollywood needs to let go of tokenism and work towards becoming more genuine when it comes to cultural diversity.
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Published February 3, 2021
Written by Lindsay Wong ~ Edited by Deeba Mehr ~ Graphics created by Samridhi Verma
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