For decades the American film industry has discriminated against minorities. There has been some progress in the war for equality with the civil rights movement and the election of our first black president. However, perpetual prejudice and subtle racism has plagued our society and is still very much prevalent in today’s filming industry. According to my article source, the film industry is a specific reasons these ideologies are still around today. These ideologies are however very covert and hard to find, but are still shaping the way we think, talk, and act. This paper will discuss studies that analyze how the film industry utilizes race-based casting and how covert racism is being represented in the film industry. Racism is a very difficult
…show more content…
Latonja Sinckler, the author of this article, describes race as being a qualifying characteristic in a breakdown for auditions for actors (Sinckler 858). Casting an actor for a role is usually done by the casting director who views the actor and sees if they compare to the characteristics of the character. The author calls this a breakdown and also says that race is included in the breakdown (Sinckler 859). Since race is essentially a factor in casting for certain roles, some races have a better advantage in getting a job and being successful. The author uses a study that focused on IMDB from June 1st through August 31st of 2006. This study showed that 22.5% of the character breakdowns for casting directors were identified as white while 8.1% were black (Sinckler 859). From these statistics we obviously can see that there is a substantial gap between the hiring of minorities and white people. This statistic shows that white actors have a greater advantage than black actors in film employment simply because of the breakdown of character that casting directors go …show more content…
Latonja explains by stating: “Essentially, some individuals have had their ability to practice their craft curbed, because of their skin color” (Sinckler 859). Title VII of the Civil Right Act states that employers and industries were legally barred from disqualifying a qualified person from employment because of their race, color, religion, gender, or national origin (Sinckler 878 ). Ultimately race- based casting should be considered unlawful because of this law, but of course there are loop-holes which make this practice questionably lawful. The BFOQ exception counters the Title VII by saying that there are occupational qualifications to certain jobs (Sinckler 878 ). This makes it perfectly legal for some industries to hire individuals simply based on race. With the film industry being the exception, the author simply questions whether this idea of race- based casting is morally right and if this idea is an example of covert
Latonja Sinckler, the author of this article, describes race as being a qualifying characteristic in a breakdown for auditions for actors (Sinckler 858). Casting an actor for a role is usually done by the casting director who views the actor and sees if they compare to the characteristics of the character. The author calls this a breakdown and also says that race is included in the breakdown (Sinckler 859). Since race is essentially a factor in casting for certain roles, some races have a better advantage in getting a job and being successful. The author uses a study that focused on IMDB from June 1st through August 31st of 2006. This study showed that 22.5% of the character breakdowns for casting directors were identified as white while 8.1% were black (Sinckler 859). From these statistics we obviously can see that there is a substantial gap between the hiring of minorities and white people. This statistic shows that white actors have a greater advantage than black actors in film employment simply because of the breakdown of character that casting directors go …show more content…
Latonja explains by stating: “Essentially, some individuals have had their ability to practice their craft curbed, because of their skin color” (Sinckler 859). Title VII of the Civil Right Act states that employers and industries were legally barred from disqualifying a qualified person from employment because of their race, color, religion, gender, or national origin (Sinckler 878 ). Ultimately race- based casting should be considered unlawful because of this law, but of course there are loop-holes which make this practice questionably lawful. The BFOQ exception counters the Title VII by saying that there are occupational qualifications to certain jobs (Sinckler 878 ). This makes it perfectly legal for some industries to hire individuals simply based on race. With the film industry being the exception, the author simply questions whether this idea of race- based casting is morally right and if this idea is an example of covert