Think of some of your heroes—the characters and people that you look up to and admire for their strength, personality, determination or achievements. They probably look a little bit like you. Whether it is gender or ethnicity, your heroes probably share some similarity to you.
And this is why equal representation is so important.
According to a study from the University of Southern California, just over 25 percent of speaking characters in the top 100 films of 2013 were from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. 14 percent were black, 4.9 percent were Hispanic, 4.4 percent were Asian, and only 1 percent were Middle Eastern. A whopping 74.1 percent were White.
The study found that there were no black speaking characters in 17 percent of the films studied.
Representation was not much better for women. The study found that male characters from each racial demographic group outnumbered female characters, and female characters were frequently poorly represented. Hispanic females were more likely than females from other ethnicities to be shown partially or fully naked, for example.
According to a survey by Martha Lauzen from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, women only occupied 15 percent of protagonist roles in top grossing films from 2013. They represented only 29 percent of all major characters, and 30 percent of speaking roles. The study also found that female characters were less likely to have their own goals and ambitions and more likely to be identified by their marital status.
73 percent of female characters were white.
A report from GLAAD, which looked at the representation of LGBT characters in films from 2013, found that LGBT characters were overwhelmingly underrepresented and misrepresented in films. The study also found that LGBT characters were more likely to be solely defined by their sexuality.
Transgender characters had the least and most offensive representation. GLAAD counted only two transgender characters in the 2013 studio releases they studied.
This is a huge problem. As a white, straight male I can personally attest to the fact that it was incredibly easy for me and as kid to find characters to look up to and identify with. I could see myself being these big screen heroes because they looked like me.
People can look up to and idolize people and characters that aren’t like them, but at young ages kids can be incredibly cruel, insulting and bullying each other over the smallest differences. Having people of your gender or ethnicity prominently displayed on advertisements and popular TV and movies can be huge for kids who need that inspiration.
Movies, TV, video games and other media are not just mindless forms of entertainment that are consumed and forgotten about. From an early age these things become ingrained in our memories and personalities. These things bring us to tears, make us laugh uncontrollably and move us to think more about the world around us.
Good representation is important. Strong, well-defined and real characters inspire us to achieve great things. Everyone deserves to have that.
