Diversity in cinema




Russians and Russian Americans are usually portrayed as brutal mobsters, ruthless agents and villains. According to Russian American professor Nina L. Khrushcheva, "You can’t even turn the TV on and go to the movies without reference to Russians as horrible." Italians and Italian Americans are usually associated with organized crime and the Mafia.

Though the classic era of American Cinema is dominated predominantly by Caucasian people in front of and behind the camera, minorities and people of color have managed to carve their own pathways to getting their films on the screen. African-American representation in Hollywood improved drastically towards the end of the 20th century after the fall of the studio system, as filmmakers like Spike Lee and John Singleton were able to represent the African American experience like none had on screen before, whilst actors like Eddie Murphy and Will Smith became massively successful box office draws. In the last few decades, minority filmmakers like Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay and F Gary Gray have been given the creative reigns to major tentpole productions.citation needed

In old Hollywood, when racial prejudices were socially acceptable, it was not uncommon for white actors to wear black face.

American cinema has often reflected and propagated negative stereotypes towards foreign nationals and ethnic minorities. For example, Hispanic and Latino Americans are largely depicted as sexualized figures such as the Latino macho or the Latina vixen, gang members, (illegal) immigrants, or entertainers. However representation in Hollywood has enhanced in latter times of which it gained noticeable momentum in the 1990s and does not emphasize oppression, exploitation, or resistance as central themes. According to Ramírez Berg, third wave films "do not accentuate Chicano oppression or resistance; ethnicity in these films exists as one fact of several that shape characters' lives and stamps their personalities." Filmmakers like Edward James Olmos and Robert Rodriguez were able to represent the Hispanic and Latino Americans experience like none had on screen before, and actors like Hilary Swank, Jordana Brewster, Michael Peña, Jessica Alba, Camilla Belle, Alexis Bledel and Penélope Cruz have became successful. In the last decade, minority filmmakers like Chris Weitz, Alfonso Gomez-Rejon and Patricia Riggen have been given applier narratives. Early portrayal in films of them include La Bamba (1987), Selena (1997), The Mask of Zorro (1998), Goal II (2007), Lowriders (2016) and Josefina López's Real Women Have Curves, originally a play which premiered in 1990 and was later released as a film in 2002.

According to Korean-American actor Daniel Dae Kim, Asian and Asian American men "have been portrayed as inscrutable villains and asexualized kind of eunuchs." Seen as exceedingly polite and sumbissive. Before 9/11, Arabs and Arab Americans were often portrayed as terrorists. The decision to hire Naomi Scott, in the Aladdin film, the daughter of an English father and a Gujarati Ugandan-Indian mother, to play the lead of Princess Jasmine, also drew criticism, as well as accusations of colorism, as some commentators expected the role to go to an actress of Arab or Middle Eastern origin. In January 2018, it was reported that white extras were being applied brown make-up during filming in order to "blend in," which caused an outcry and condemnation among fans and critics, branding the practice as "an insult to the whole industry" while accusing the producers of not recruiting people with Middle-Eastern or North African heritage. Disney responded to the controversy saying, "Diversity of our cast and background performers was a requirement and only in a handful of instances when it was a matter of specialty skills, safety and control (special effects rigs, stunt performers and handling of animals) were crew made up to blend in."

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