Stereotypes In Hollywood Movies

Hollywood is the home of flashing cameras, the famous red carpet, and glamorous celebrities. Hollywood is also the birthplace of extraordinary films which reach audiences across the world. The casting choices made by the film industry affects more than just the movie that is created. Hollywood directors and writers should have the social responsibility to avoid stereotyping ethnic characters because the stereotypes offer poor (and often inaccurate) insight into the culture, negatively impacts child viewers, and limits the amount of quality roles for actors/actresses with diverse ethnic backgrounds.

The choice of Hollywood directors and writers to represent ethnic characters with stereotypes misrepresents the authenticity of their actual cultures.

Frequently, the lead character of a film is Caucasian and according to Dr. Robert Entman (a professor from George Washington University), “[in] dramatic Hollywood movies…whites play the lead roles nine times more often than non-whites” (15). A female lead who is considered to be beautiful is often a blonde Caucasian woman (examples include Legally Blonde, The House Bunny, and The Amazing Spider-Man). Young girls who are not Caucasian may have a difficult time with their self-image while developing, because they are unable to relate to Hollywood’s very limited and unrealistic standard of beauty. Tracey Owens Patton, Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Wyoming states that, “[a girl’s] desire to change her outer appearance to meet a Eurocentric ideal may lead her to loathe her own physical appearance and [believe] ‘...that she can only be lovely by impersonating someone else (177)”. Hollywood directors and writers will often cast Caucasian male leads to play a strong, masculine hero character; this is the case for popular movies such as The Avengers, Man of Steel, and The Dark Knight. Sometimes, a Caucasian actor is intentionally chosen for a film whose plot centers around a hero who is historically not of European descent. According to reporter Adam Howard of MSNBC News, Director Ridley Scott of Exodus: Gods and Kings intentionally cast Caucasian actors to play

Some may argue that Hollywood directors and writers should not be burdened with the responsibility of avoiding the stereotyping of racial characters. However, these stereotypes poorly represent the traditions of ethnic groups, send out harmful messages to children (who are easily influenced by movies), and give very little opportunity to talented actors/actresses who are judged more on their race than their talent. By casting ethnically-accurate actors/actresses for characters, Hollywood directors and writers can help increase the racial diversity of actors/actresses in the movie industry. By casting different races in movies, a cycle can be created where Hollywood directors and writers can discover more talented and ethnically diverse actors/actresses to play future roles and increase the cultural accuracy in