According to a study conducted by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, Hollywood has failed to improve its diversity in casting and behind the scenes. Despite advocacy for better casting and solutions, the study concludes that films are stagnant in their inclusivity.
The study analyzed 1,600 top-grossing feature films from 2007 to 2022 and calculated how many marginalized communities (racial, gender, sexuality, etc.) were given speaking roles. While there was some improvement regarding women and racial groups with speaking roles, it remained relatively static, especially amongst the first group. With 34.6% of women in speaking roles in 2022 and 29.9% in 2007, there seems to be little change in the general makeup of Hollywood films despite the 44% increase of women in leading or co-leading roles. Only 15% of the top 100 movies had a gender-balanced cast, specifically those with 45-54.9% female speaking roles.
Even worse, most films fail to include intersectional identities between these two groups. Co-author Dr. Stacy L. Smith discusses how little to none of the features studied contained any solid diversity amongst women from marginalized races. “There were no films that included an American Indian/Alaska Native girl/woman, 99 were missing Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander girls/women, and 95 did not have even one Middle Eastern/North African female-identified character,” she despairs. In fact, “7 movies did not include any white girls/women on screen,“ showing a gap in inclusivity for different races.
Most communities, like the LGBTQIA+ and disabled community, barely saw any change, if at all. Only 2.1% of speaking characters in 2022 were LGBT-identifying, and about 1.9% of disabled characters were portrayed. There were some slight changes, but they were still not meaningful enough to make an impact.
Even behind-the-scenes statistics reveal a lack of diversity in above and below-the-line roles. Only 88 women directors had led top-grossing over the past sixteen years, a low number compared to 833 men. Only single-digit percentages for Black, Latino, and Asian directors existed in the 1,600 films, and 12.2% of casting directors were from underrepresented groups.
The study noted how some groups seem to have some improved diversity, such as Asian characters or women composers. Still, based on this information, Smith and her colleagues believe that more work must be done. “It’s clear that the industry is either not listening or not implementing the straightforward practices” offered by people like Smith to provide unique perspectives from different communities. “Until the industry takes meaningful action, not only will companies miss out on these perspectives and stories, so will audiences,” Smith declares.
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