Have you ever read an article that made you question the world we live in? I recently read an article about the upcoming historical action film ‘The Great Wall’. If you didn’t already know, the film is set in the Northern Song Dynasty era and focuses on the mysteries surrounding The Great Wall of China. A simple, yet effective plot. So why would I have an issue with it? The main star is Matt Damon.
It just baffles me to think why the geniuses behind this film would cast a white male as their lead character. Considering the Northern Song Dynasty was an era of Chinese history that lasted from the years 960 – 1279 (319 years), isn’t the minority here actually white males? Whitewashing much?
Not to mention ‘Ghost in the Shell’, the 2017 U.S. adaptation of the Japanese franchise, will feature several white actors in the roles of Japanese characters. Logic/10? Maybe it’s just me but this does not make sense at all. But think about this. Have you ever seen a POC actor cast as a white character?
I then started thinking about diversity in Hollywood films and how this is still an issue. Did you know that since 2007 almost 75 percent of characters were white? I expect to see this number maybe twenty years ago, but in this day and age it’s a disgrace.
And it isn’t just POC sharing the spotlight but also LGBTQ characters too. In 2015, a whopping less than 1 percent of speaking characters were LGBTQ. Disgusting. To quote The Black-Eyed Peas “where is the love” Hollywood? I’m just sick of the same old girl falls in love with boy cliche. It’s been done before, give us a female POC falling in love with a white girl. Because damn, that’d cause some controversy. I approve.
I’m also going to mention that in last year’s top films, 61.4 percent of all speaking characters were male. Out of 100 films, only 34 of them had featured a female lead. And generally, those females would all be dressed in something sexual to reach out to male audiences.
Our world is evolving at a rapid pace and it’s time Hollywood joins us on the right side of history. It’s time to make a change.
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