Pitch: The Lack of Women of Color in TV and Film

Gabrielle Mendoza

Convergence

Cacoilo

October 22, 2015

The Lack of Women of Color in TV and Film

Proposal for Semester Project

(Photo Credit: mic.com)

         Women of media, as well as in general, have been conquering obstacle after obstacle in the 21st century. They have been fighting, tooth and nail, to get the parts that have always been created for white males in the industry. With films such as Mad Max: Fury Road where the film focuses more on the female characters and even the new action film Sicario where the main character is a female, women have been debunking the old aged myths that women are not as good as men. Through these freshly created female representations, it can even be further argued that they can be just as good and maybe even better. These films as well as television shows like Orange is the New Black have shown these female successes in the media industry and how people are fighting for more films to pertain to this subject. Even though women still have a long way to go, the recognition for change has been noticed more than ever. This does not mean that the new era of feminism has no faults. With all this said, some questions still come to mind. What about the women of color in television and film? Where are they in this vastly succeeding era of feminism in the media industry?

(Graphic/Media, Diversity, & Social Change Initiative at USC Annenberg)

         Although women are being seen more and more on television and film, diversity is still considered an issue in the media. Award shows like the Academy Awards and the Emmys show how the industries still recognize mostly white men and women as opposed to having a more diversified spectrum of talents. In today’s world, even white feminists fail to see the issues of diversity and the scarce opportunities for women of color in media. Though an article in mic.com has evidently shown that “just 6 of the top 500 box office films of all-time feature a protagonist who is a woman of color” (Mercer), it is still not seen as a significant issue in the film and television industries. Other articles seem to also take notice in this issue. In the article “No diversity among 2014’s top-grossing films, new USC Anneberg report finds” the USC News states, “There were 17 films with no black or African-American characters and over 40 movies featured no Asian characters. Hollywood continues to marginalize or exclude certain members of society” (USC Annenberg staff). This shows that the characters of color in movies in 2014 have been rather bleak and that it is still an issue in today’s world.

(Photo Credit: Women's Media Center)

         My semester project will focus on the theme of “Women of Color in Film and Television”. Through a video, I will try to convey the progress of film and television in featuring women of color and how the lack of female diversity is still and issue today. I will be able to tell this story efficiently with gathered videos of interviews, examples, and other relevant archival footage. I will also provide a voice over that ties the footage in my video more coherently and with a ending connection. I want to break up my video project into three main stages. First, I want to focus on the stage of Awareness. This part of my film will enlighten my audience of the lack of women of color in the film and television industry through statistical evidence and video example. The second stage of the film project will be called Significance. This stage of the project will try to explain why this social issue is significant. The last stage of my film project will be called Action. The stage of Action will try to present ideas of how this social issue can be more recognized, what people have been doing to make this issue more recognized, and other closing comments. With all this said, I hope to bring awareness to this theme of Women of Color in Media as an achieving progression into a more equal future, but the still lack of is seen as a firm social issue in our society.

         The intended issue of my project is one that focuses on the issue in the lack of diverse female representations in film and television as well as the issue in the lack of women of colored behind the screen. My project will try to question why this is such an issue and why it is so important that women of color be represented appropriately. Furthermore, I would love my video project to reach a massively broad audience, but it is directed more specifically towards aspiring filmmakers and even film buffs of the like. I want to focus on these specified audiences because I want my project to inspire future filmmakers to understand that the film industry should change. In the end, I hope my project can have its affects in even inspiring future filmmakers to fight against the depressing statistics in this industry. Although my audiences are not able to participate as freely in my video project compared to if my project took the form of something similar to a forum or blog, my audiences can be more involved in my project by sharing it throughout the web. I would also like to start a hashtag that pertains to my video project so that the conversation on the subject of my video can continue.

Viola Davis during her Emmys speech
(Source: Mic/AP)

          In conclusion, I hope to do the subject of “Women of Color in Television and Film” some justice and give it my own voice on the issue. I also hope that my video can even start a bigger conversation of this issue among my audiences because I believe that this issue needs to be not only recognized, but acted upon. In the end, I hope that my video project does not scare away aspiring WOC filmmakers, but rather inspires them to reach for those characters and jobs that are not usually issued to women of color in the film and television industries. My last hope, in the end, is that my video can even inspire myself to follow my dreams of becoming a filmmaker  in the future.