The Wrap Raps Another ‘White Summer’ from Hollywood

The Wrap notes that despite the record-smashing opening weekend for “Fast Five,” the rest of the summer movie line-up does not feature much ethnic diversity.

“‘Fast Five’ is a great example of Hollywood getting it right,” Craig Detweiler, professor of film history at Pepperdine University, told TheWrap. “Its multi-racial cast matches the multi-racial audience. The Rock and Vin Diesel reflect the browning of America, that there is more blurring across races and cultures than ever before. The box office take reflects that.”

But after that auspicious start, the summer derails quicker than one of Diesel’s sports cars. A quick scan of the major films hitting theaters over the next few months shows that Hollywood is about to flood the marketplace — again! — with four-quadrant fare almost exclusively by and starring the ever-shrinking white plurality.

I was pleased to see one of my favorite actors, Idris Elba of “The Wire” and “Daddy’s Little Girls,” in “Thor” (playing a character who is white in the comic books).  But The Wrap has it right:

Don’t look for anybody ethnic to save the world or make it safe for democracy in “The Green Lantern” or “Cowboys and Aliens.” For that matter, “X-Men: First Class” may preach inclusion, but its cast isn’t exactly a rainbow coalition.