Though the conversation on inequality in Hollywood is getting more attention than ever, a new report reveals that little has changed on screen or behind the camera.
Authored by Professor Stacy L. Smith and the Media, Diversity & Social Change (MDSC) Initiative at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, the study is the largest intersectional analysis of characters in motion picture content to date. The group examined the 800 top films from 2007 to 2015 (excluding 2011), analyzing 35,205 characters for gender, race/ethnicity, LGBT status and – for the first time – the presence of disability. The results reveal that Hollywood remains resistant to change.
Copyright USC Annenberg 2016
Just 31.4% of all speaking characters across the 100 top films from 2015 were female, a figure that has not changed since 2007. While race/ethnicity has been a major focus of advocacy in the wake of #OscarsSoWhite, characters from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups were 26.3% of all characters. LGBT-identified characters represented less than 1% of all speaking characters. The report includes data on characters with disabilities, who filled a mere 2.4% of all speaking roles.
The report also has extensive and disturbing data on the depictions of minorities, including people with disabilities, and on the sexualization of young woman.
Smithsonian’s New African-American History Museum: Virtual Tour
Posted on September 6, 2016 at 3:57 pm
The National Museum of African American History and Culture, the newest addition to the Smithsonian, is finally opening this month. Free tickets for the first few weeks are already gone, but everyone can take a virtual tour of exhibits like “Musical Crossroads” featuring artifacts like Chuck Berry’s Cadillac and Louis Armstrong’s trumpet, and an immersive visual presentation. Musical performances on the surrounding screens include artists as varied as Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin and Outkast. In the Sports Gallery, a life-size sculpture records the moment at the 1968 Olympics when Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists in the air on the medal podium and tributes to legends like Michael Jordan and the Williams sisters. The museum’s theater is named for major donor Oprah Winfrey.
Copyright Smithsonian 2016
As visitors wait for the elevator, they will view a wall of thought-provoking and inspiring quotes. And the casket of slain teenager Emmett Till, murdered in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman, will be on view, with a recording of his mother telling the story.
Museum director Lonnie Bunch wrote in Smithsonian Magazine:
I think the museum needs to be a place that finds the right tension between moments of pain and stories of resiliency and uplift. There will be moments where visitors could cry as they ponder the pains of the past, but they will also find much of the joy and hope that have been a cornerstone of the African-American experience. Ultimately, I trust that our visitors will draw sustenance, inspiration and a commitment from the lessons of history to make America better. At this time in our country, there is a great need for contextualization and the clarity that comes from understanding one’s history. I hope that the museum can play a small part in helping our nation grapple with its tortured racial past. And maybe even help us find a bit of reconciliation.
The museum pays tribute to the environment as well, seeking to become the first Gold LEED-certified building on the National Mall. Solar cells on the building’s roof produce electricity to heat water for the structure. Other sustainability-driven features include the green roof along Constitution Avenue and the water recycling and filtration system. The three-tiered trapezoid shape of the bronze corona that wraps around the outside of the glass building is inspired by a sculpture from the early 20th-century Yoruban artist Olowe of Ise of a woman wearing a three-tiered crown. Most of the building is underground, so that the structure does not overwhelm the nearby Washington Monument and other icons of the Mall.
Happy fall! Here’s some of the most intriguing and exciting of what’s coming to theaters.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
“Sully”
Tom Hanks plays “Sully” Sullenberger, the heroic pilot who saved all of his passengers when he made an emergency landing on the Hudson River. Clint Eastwood directed.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
“Snowden”
Who better than cinema-of-paranoia director Oliver Stone to tell the story of Edward Snowden? Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the NSA contractor-turned leaker, and Zachary Quinto plays journalist Glenn Greenwald.
“Bridget Jones’s Baby”
Renee Zellweger is back as the romantic comedy heroine, here not sure whether her ex (Colin Firth) or a possible new boyfriend (Patrick Dempsey) is the father of her baby.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
“Storks”
Jennifer Aniston, Andy Samberg, and Key and Peele provide voices for this animated story about storks who have to make sure a baby is delivered to the right home.
“The Dressmaker”
A woman returns to the town that treated her badly to show them how wrong they were. Kate Winslet and Liam Hemsworth star.
“Queen of Katwe” Director Mira Nair brings us the real-life story of a young African girl who became a chess champion. Lupita NYong’o plays her mother.
“The Magnificent Seven”
First it was “The Seven Samurai.” Then, “The Magnificent Seven” with Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen and an unforgettable Elmer Bernstein score. There was also a television series. This remake stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, and Ethan Hawke.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
“Deepwater Horizon”
Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, and John Malkovich star in the story of the explosion of a BP oil rig that led to the worst oil spill in US history.
“Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children”
A sort of “Avengers” crossed with “Harry Potter” and a bit of “X-Men,” this film based on the best-selling series of books is about a school for children with special powers.
Actor Nate Parker directed and stars in this powerful festival favorite about the slave rebellion led by Nat Turner.
“The Girl on the Train”
The Paula Hawkins best-seller about an alcoholic woman who becomes caught up in the disappearance of a young woman she watched from a commuter train stars Emily Blunt.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14
“The Accountant”
Ben Affleck stars in a thriller about a man on the autism spectrum who has been cooking the books for gangsters.
“Mr. Church”
Eddie Murphy takes on a serious role as a cook who cares for a dying woman and her daughter in a film from “Driving Miss Daisy” director Bruce Beresford.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21
“American Pastoral”
Philip Roth’s 1997 novel, set in the political upheavals of the 1960’s, is about a man who embraced and exemplified traditional notions of success only to have his daughter challenge everything he believes and trusts.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28
“Inferno”
Tom Hanks is back as Robert Langdon, once again off to save the world, this time teamed up with “Rogue One’s” Felicity Jones.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4
“Trolls”
Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, James Corden, John Cleese, Kunal Nayyar, and Gwen Stefani lend their voices to this colorful musical about those cute little creatures with the tufts of hair.
Exclusive Preview: Center Stage On Pointe, Released Sept 6, 2016
Posted on September 6, 2016 at 7:00 am
The newest entry in the Center Stage series about young dancers is “En Pointe,” available on DVD September 6, 2016, and we are delighted to present an exclusive sneak peek into the movie’s first ten minutes.
In this story, Jonathan Reeves (Peter Gallagher) has to find a way to infuse more contemporary styles and modernism into the American Ballet Academy. He enlists his top choreographers Charlie (Sascha Radetsky), Cooper (Ethan Stiefel) and Tommy (Kenny Wormald) to recruit dancers to compete at a camp where the winners will be selected to join the Academy. Bella Parker (Nicole Muñoz), who has always lived in the shadow of her hugely successful sister Kate, finally gets her chance to step into the limelight as one of the dancers recruited for the camp.
