Cabigao 1

Roberto Cabigao

English 113 A

Professor Lawson

April 26, 2017

1,846 Words

#OscarsSoWhite

It is no secret that there is still prejudice towards African Americans, but it is wild to

think that it is an issue inside the acting industry. The acting industry is always under media

spotlight which would lead one to believe that it would be one of the most progressive fields

around, but the truth is that many black actors and actresses are still victims of prejudice even in

Hollywood. If one was to google the word actor, one would be shocked to see that ninety-nine

percent of the pictures that load up are of white actors, with the sole exception of Will Smith. It

has been more than two years since the last black actor won an Oscar award, and black media

and entertainment has been pushed to be its own thing separate from what is already established.

For example, BET is solely for the black culture and was formed to try and reduce the prejudice

of Hollywood while still providing entertainment to the masses. Prejudice towards the black

community within entertainment and Hollywood industry is still an issue that seems to be swept

under the carpet because people fail to piece the evidence together.

To begin with, the Oscars is one of the biggest awards shows in the entertainment

industry. This is the place where the actors and directors are awarded for making the best film or

for playing the best role in their movie. However, the last two years, there actually has not been a
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winner in the African American community. There have been nominations for the movies they

starred in, however a nomination is basically a participation award. Once the Oscars were over

there was a trending hashtag (#) on twitter which was called, #OscarsSoWhite because, not a

single African American had won an Oscar. This caused an uproar throughout all types of social

media as the actions of the people in charge of the Oscars didnt go unnoticed. Since there were

many honorable movies and Black actors that truly deserved an Oscar award. The Oscars did

respond to the fact that there was a problem with how no Black actors had won anything in the

Oscars. However, did nothing to correct the situation. Tim Gray the senior vice president of

variety magazine, talks about how there has always been saying of fixing the problem but,

Awareness of the problem isnt new in the film industry; various solutions have been proposed,

only to fade away (Gray). There have been a few movies that have had Black leading roles that

deserved an Oscar, but the only reason some of these movies were nominated was because of

their screen play writers being white. Black actors live in a society, where their race will

determine their placement in Hollywood. This just doesnt apply to actors, as there are many

production companies that refuse to give funding to Black directors in order for them to make a

movie. For many years is seems that race plays one of the biggest factors in white America. That

people must be a white in order to make it in this world, that companies such as Warner Brothers

and 20th Century Fox dont like releasing movies thats cast has a majority of Black actors. In an

article written in the Washington Post by three writers, they talk about how Black directors

struggle in Hollywood to get their vision into a reality due to finical problems caused by

production companies. Cecilia Kang one of the authors states that, The films struggled to find

financing from the biggest movie studios, relying instead on independent producers, black

investors and even crowdfunding to get made. (Kang). While it is possible for the directors to
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get funding from the public and private investors. It lacks the publicity that major production

companies can give to these movies. Without the help from major companies these movies end

up only being showed in small movie theaters and are pulled from those slots within a matter of

days maybe weeks. Giving even the best of upcoming directors a handicap due to the financial

standings of the movie, it can either make or break the movie due to the lack in quality.

However, while people believe that Black actors should not play White roles, the same

thing goes for Black roles being played by other races. There are many cases where people do

not think it is right for a director to cast a Black actor to play a White character. This does not

only apply to Black actor but to other races that are affected as well. There have been many cases

where the character is White in script, or in a comic book, or book. But once the book turns into

a movie, and the White character is played by a different race and it causes a big uproar. The

Black community is not all in the clear either, Samuel Jackson one of the worlds biggest

producer and actors also has a saying in this topic, There are a lot of black British actors that

work in this country. All the time. I tend to wonder what would that movie have been with an

American brother who really understands that in a way. Because Daniel grew up in a country

where theyve been interracial dating for a hundred years. Britain, theres only about eight real

white people left in Britain So, what would a brother from America made of that role? Im

sure the director helped. Some things are universal, but everything aint. (Jackson ). The

reasoning behind this statement is that, Jackson feels that when people who are of color comes

from somewhere else, they dont understand the character they are playing. That there is

something the Black actors from America are faced with that other people of color that come

from different parts of the world have not even endured. So, when you cast a Black actor to play

a main role during the riots back in L.A and the person isnt from L.A but from Britain. It
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portrays a non-genuine feel to the movie that the people who actually went through the hard ship

can tell. Samuel Jackson isnt the only one who agrees that people should stay in their own lane

and play the roles they are made to play. The world isnt ready to have a change up in roles in

movies, that whites should play white roles and blacks should play black roles. In a article

produced in The Atlantic, Noah Berlatsky talks about how the color of the skin of a superhero

determines if the character is a real superhero, Fans often seem to believe that if a character is

changed from white to black, they will no longer be able to identify with that superhero

(Berlatsky). Some people may not even how a White actor is supposed to play a Black character

in a movie. However, there are also some situations where black people have played a white

character very well just like in the Marvels movies. And yet people the viewers still will have

something to complain about due to the actors skin color. Its plain racism, people still are not

comfortable with the skin color that doesnt add up to the character. At the end of the day it does

not matter to people how well the black actor played the white character. All that matters to them

is that the character should be played by the race they are accustomed to.

Lastly, there is a different amount of pay that shows how Black actors are being undercut

in the Hollywood industry. To the point where some actors can actually make even greater

movies than white actors but are still paid less just because they are African American. In

general, the minorities in show business get paid less compared to their White counter parts. In

an article that was published on Newsweek they reveal the different discrepancies on how

minority actors make significantly less compared to white actors. In the article, they actually

reveal how much money actors make, and Gina Rodriguez a 2015 Golden Globe winner actually

makes $190,000 less than her white counterpart Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Newsweek). And while

some might say that Julia is a multi Emmy winner it still doesnt justify the huge pay difference
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between the American actor versus the Latina actor with the same work ethic. The way that

Hollywood views their actors isnt on who good or who is not. They look at them based on their

color and what they should offer for the company. Debbie D'Oyley, a senior feature writer for

The British Blacklist talked to Tufayel Ahmed about how the minorities will forever be looked

down upon due to societies western values when she says, Non-white actors, whichever role

they are playing, will be seen through the same cultural lens, unless they have a proven track

record to be of high net worth at the box office. Then, miraculously, color becomes irrelevant

(DOyley). They try to mask the diversity between white and minority actors however not can be

kept a secret forever. And change needs to come soon. In addition, the number of Black actors in

Hollywood to date arent as high as one thinks. While there are a number of Black actors that are

extras in movies the main characters in that film are mostly White. With an exception of a Black,

Mexican, and Asian character in order for these directors to meet racial quota. African

Americans are at a bigger disadvantage because they do not have their own media source that

they can perform for. Latinos and Asians have their own T.V network which consists of many

different channels. While Blacks do have the T.V network B.E.T (Black Entertainment

Television), cable providers such as Time Warner Cable or DirecTV dont offer a African

American channel package. Giving Blacks a harder time to find a network that is in need of

Black actors. Cganemccalla, wrote on article as she talks about how Black actors arent as

popular in films as they should be, Seeking out roles, regardless of color, allows black

actors more opportunities and the chance to build a following among general

audiences. (Cganemccalla). Without their own source of a media outlet Blacks are forced to

intertwin with Whites actors which are then put as just an extra on a show. And making it a lot

harder for Blacks to find their own show and their own source of media.
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Regardless, Black actors are just as good as White actors, however because of the

western ideals that people have become so accosted to they view them as just a number on the set

of the show. There is a gap between Black and White actors, and that gap needs to be closed in

order for all minorities to gain an equal chance of making it in show business. In the long run,

without the minorities playing a part in T.V shows or movies, there wouldnt as much income for

these production companies to stay in business.

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Work Cited

Cganemccalla. "Where Are All the Black Actors?" News One. News One Media, 03 Mar. 2011. Web. 17

Apr. 2017.

Calvario, Liz. "Samuel L. Jackson Clarifies Comments About British Actors In African-American Roles

Update." Deadline. Deadline Hollywood Media, 09 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

Berlatsky, Noah. "The Incoherent Backlashes to Black Actors Playing 'White' Superheroes."The Atlantic.

Atlantic Media Company, 20 Feb. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2017

Nair, Chandran. "Hollywood's Problem Isn't Just Black and White -- It's a Lack of Global

Voices." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 29 Feb. 2016. Web. 12 Apr. 2017

Ahmed, Tufayel. "TV Star Salaries Show Pay Gap between White and Minority Actors."Newsweek.

Newsweek, 10 Oct. 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2017.

Kang, Cecilia, Krissah Thompson, and Drew Harwell. "Hollywood's Race Problem: An Insular

Industry Struggles to Change." The Washington Post. WP Company, 23 Dec. 2014. Web.

12 Apr. 2017.