How American Minorities Are Being Stereotyped in American Drama Series

Turning on a television at prime time, we may see Gotham, Two Broke Girls, Sons of Anarchy, Reign, or Once Upon A Time. Flipping through a magazine, we may see Taylor Swift, Liam Hemsworth, Jennifer Lawrence, Miley Cyrus, and more. Despite magazines and television shows both making up American media, they have another thing in common: both focus on white celebrities. No matter how diverse and ever changing American society seems to be, Hollywood stays stagnant. We have some movement towards more diversity, but overall most of what Americans see is white. American media lacks minority representation and cultural diversity.

Most American television shows and movies have an all white main cast. From Two and A Half Men, to Girls, to Seinfeld, and more, American television often has white washed its cast. A study by UCLA reported that, in the entertainment industry “minorities and women are represented at rates far below what would be expected given their percentage of the general population.” More specifically, the report showed, “the proportion of female and minority actors, writers, directors and producers in films and TV ranges from just one-twelfth to one-half of their actual population percentage.” Even more interestingly enough, the study also found that shows or films with greater diversity tended to attract more people, thus bringing more viewers, and ultimately resulting in a higher revenue.

When minorities are casted, they often fall into a stereotyped role. We see black men cast as thugs, Latino men cast a drug dealers, or Asian men cast as international drug ringleaders. Black and Latino women are casted as maids or nannies while Asian women are casted as meek and timid characters. For example, Viola Davis, a Tony awarded and Oscar nominated actress felt that she would never receive a role outside the stereotypes she was presented with. She is most known for her role in The Help playing a maid. However, recently she has been casted to play Annalise Keating on How to Get Away With Murder. Upon receiving the role, Davis said, “There is no way in the history of film or TV that you’ve seen a character like this played by a black woman who looks like me. This is progressive. This is a first.” Davis described her new character as being complex and multifaceted, whereas all her previous roles were not. It should be noted that How to Get Away With Murder is co-produced by Shonda Rhimes, who “is arguably the most successful black TV producer/creator/writer in history,” (Deggans).

Not only are minorities underrepresented on screen, but also behind the screen. The study done by UCLA also focused on behind-the-scene representation of minority groups. The study found that “as film directors, they were underrepresented by a factor of three-to-one. As film writers and creators of comedies and dramas on cable TV, there were underrepresented by a factor of five-to-one.” This is an interesting statistic because most of the time we are not exposed to who writes and creates what we consume, therefore, how could it be important? Minority writers have a responsibility to share their story and can better writer characters who are apart of the minority group. When a white writer attempts to write a black or Latino character, they may not be able to relate or properly represent them. This is also another reason why white characters appear more frequently than minority characters. With white writers and producers dominating the entertainment industry, it makes sense that often what they create is intended for white audiences.

Some argue that American media does have cultural diversity. Some television shows that have a culturally diverse cast include How to Get Away With Murder, Scandal, and Grey’s Anatomy. In addition, a popular, well-known movie with accurate racial and ethnic casting is The Night At the Museum. Furthermore, we have, actresses like Viola Davis, Lupita Nyong'o, Kerry Washington, and more who represent minorities. Although these facts are all very true, it is not true for the whole of American media. We cannot take a few shows that accurately cast and give various roles to people of color and call the entirety of Hollywood “culturally diverse.” We must aim to move to a media where the question of cultural diversity never arises again because it is already implemented. As touched on before, minority groups are not only underrepresented on-screen, but also off screen. To say that our media is diverse when we barely have a population of people of color on screen and even less off screen is an injustice to our present day America. We have many successful, hardworking people of color who are actors, actresses, screenwriters, producers, directors, and more. Our goal is to have even more of these people. With a more diversified Hollywood, the stories created and told can relate to the ever-changing ethnic population of the United States.

One might point out that a role is not given based on skin color, but to the person who best embodies the role. Therefore, cultural diversity should not matter as long as the actor or actress plays their role correctly. For example, Karla Souza, a Latina, plays Laurel Castillo on How to Get Away With Murder. The original character of Laurel was meant to be white, thus could have easily been given to any other white actress in Hollywood. Although, the casting directors felt Souza would be the best fit. However, despite the fact that Souza is a Latina, she is also white passing. Here we see a white actress casted for a white role, which makes perfect sense. However Souza insisted Laurel be made Latina to create a more diverse cast. Furthermore, another example is Taylor Swift playing the role of Rosalie in The Giver. Swift is known for her song writing and music creating abilities, not for her acting. In fact, she is often criticized for her acting, so why would she be offered a role? Swift’s name holds a lot of clout and she has many fans, which would generate more money for those involved in the making of The Giver. It is very obvious that this role did not go to the best actress, but to the person who could create the most buzz for the movie.

Overall, minority representation is a logical and positive next step for American media. First, it is logical for two reasons. The United States is a culturally diverse country with ethnic groups ranging from Native Americans, to Filipinos, to Spanish, to Mexican, to African-American, and everything in between. To have a media that is not as diverse as its country is a disservice and unrepresentative of real life. Furthermore, as previously addressed, culturally diverse films and television shows attract more viewers. In the way that white people want to watch a show with white characters, black, Mexican, and Vietnamese Americans want to watch a show with their own representation. With many characters of different heritages, more people will be motivated and inclined to watch which benefits studios and networks. Next, it is a positive step because representation is important, especially for children. In todays age, children grow up watching television and movies. When they are able to see people with the same skin color or same heritage, it allows them to see themselves. Lastly, and again, more representation of minority groups will create a more well-rounded and reflective view of actual American society.