The Underrepresentation of Women in Hollywood Cinema

The main objective of this essay is to learn deeply and better the biggest differences that exist in Hollywood Cinema between White and black people and the differences that exist between women and men. Nowadays, everything mentioned above, is not solved.

Introduction

In Hollywood Cinema there are many injustices. Every day that goes by, nothing changes. We are on the 21st century, and we still having many differences that should not exist. There are problems and very big differences between black people and White people. There are some directors in some movies that prefer to choose a White actor or actress just because he/she is white. This world is racist, is sexist. We all should change this.

Black Vs White

To start, the three authors of the report show a very interesting fact: while 44% of the public that goes to the movies in the US is black, Asian or Latino, the percentage of films whose protagonists are exclusively white rises up to 76%. More specifically, white men, since the representation of men on the big screen continues to win by beating the women without considering the color of the skin. A disproportion that, the scholars insist, 'is very far from what the census of the country reflects'. And that, although, they insist, 'the stories of the time or those set in certain places' justify these differences. A warned spectator, that yes, could refute this last argument: it is enough to remember films like Criadas and ladies or the most recent Butler, whose distributions are in their majority African-Americans precisely to be developed in the years of the racial segregation.

I would like to talk about the most racist Company in Hollywood, Disney. Analyzing the data of the hundred highest grossing films of the last ten years, only 5.1% have been directed by black people and none was Disney. Nor do they like women directors, while Warner Bros leads the list with ten. Disney is far from being that ideal world that Aladdin sang, despite his recent intention to modernize content and roles: it is not enough just to empower his princesses, turn the nuts and recognize that they can save the prince, or grant them the gift of sexual or racial diversity. It turns out that, according to a new report, Disney is the most racist of the sixty big Hollywood studios when it comes to hiring black directors. In the data of the hundred best films at the box office each year during the last decade, it is discovered that only 5.1% of the directors were black - and none of these films were made or distributed by Disney. Actor race doesn’t mean only rewarding black men in roles white men could never play. Instead, we’ll know when Hollywood casting directors and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences view people of color as deserving of equal opportunities to shine when a black man in the role of a fictional caring father, son, teacher, student, doctor, author or otherwise non-racially coded character is nominated for and wins Best Actor.

Women Vs Men

There is one female director for every 22 men. This is something true and also something very sad. Undoubtedly, one of the most talked claims was the one of the actress Patricia Arquette, who took advantage of the thanks speech of his Oscar to make his plea. After dedicating a few words to her family and the staff of 'BoyHood', the film for which she received the award, the actress spoke some words to criticize the salary difference that exists between men and women in Hollywood: 'To all women who have given birth, who pay their taxes and who are citizens of this nation, we have fought for the rights of all others. It is time that we have once and for all the same salary (as men) and the same rights to women in the United States of America. ' While Arquette made his speech, other colleagues in the industry agreed with the actress, such as Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lopez and Ethan Hawke.

This wage gap is evident in the data published by The Hollywood Reporter. This report details the salary of all the stars in the film industry. The best paid is Robert Downey Jr, who pocketed, between June 2013 and June of the following year, $75 million, while the highest-paid woman was Jennifer Lawrence, who earned less than half, $35 million. More patent is the fact with the Forbes list that includes the best paid actors in Hollywood. The lists are made according to gender distinctions, that is, in the male and female category, but if we were to join both, there would only be two women in the top ten, Jennifer Laurence with 46 million and Melissa McCarthy with 33, while the first Dwayne Johnson occupies that position with 64 million.

It has been precisely Jennifer Lawrence one of the most critical with this phenomenon. It all started when a cracker published data from Sony Pictures Entertainment, where it was revealed that Jennifer Lawrence earned much lower amounts than her mates for 'The Good Side of Things'. In an article for Lena Dunham's magazine, the actress showed great indignation at this fact and expressed her boredom by not being able to express herself freely due to the fear of being described as 'difficult': 'I'm tired of trying to find an adorable way' 'to say what I think and at the same time be taken into account (...) None of the men with whom I have worked worries about being' difficult 'or looking very' spoiled''.

Another of the most notorious complaints was the actress Mila Kunis, who through a letter told all the macho experiences she had experienced in Hollywood. Among them, she denounces that a producer came to threaten her with not returning to work in the cinema if she did not undress for the cover of a male magazine. The actress refused to promote the film in that way and states that 'the world is not over'. Only one Oscar was given to a female director. Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman in history to win the best director award at the Oscars. I would like to talk also about what Catherine Deneuve did some days ago.

Catherine Deneuve, positioning against the #MeToo movement and defending the right of men to 'insistent and clumsy seduction', among other allegations against part of current feminism. The controversy toured France, and reactions have not been slow to arrive: feminists against Deneuve, and with Louis Vuitton in between. A group of about thirty French feminist militants responded to the original manifesto through a text published in Francetvinfo, in which they begin with irony that 'every time we move towards equality, even half a millimeter, there is good souls who warn us immediately that we could fall into excess. 'The men have been punished summarily, forced to leave their jobs when all they did was touch someone's knee or try to steal a kiss,' they add. I do not remember anyone being fired for touching a knee but I think that if a person in power tries to 'steal a kiss' (what a beautiful way to describe it) it should be seen as inappropriate behavior. In Hollywod, in France and everywhere.

They seem to refer, in the case of Deneuve, to the defense he has repeatedly made of Roman Polanski, whom he once said that, simply, 'he has always liked young girls'. And it is the French actress who has become, probably for being the best-known face of the manifesto, the target of all criticism. While Hollywood applauds that the Golden Globes served as a platform against machismo and sexual harassment in the industry, in France there has been a striking rebellion. Nearly 100 French artists, including actress Catherine Deneuve or filmmaker Brigitte Sy, have signed an open letter denouncing a 'witch hunt' against men. All these problems mentioned in this final term, still not solved. From my point of view, these different problems should change the soon as possible. I can’t imagine how this keeps happening nowadays, in the 21st century. There should be equality in every aspect of our life. There should be no difference between black people and white people and neither difference between women and men. Not only in Hollywood, if not all around the world.