At the 2015 Emmy Awards, Viola Davis became the first African-American woman to win the award for Best Actress in a Drama. She used her speech to acknowledge something bigger than herself and her role: She acknowledged the lack of diversity of leading roles in Hollywood. “You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.” Her speech created an uproar, and hope for change seemed to be in the distance.
Then came the Academy Award nominations for 2016. In a year of amazing acting in all genres and races, the Academy only nominated white actors for the second year in a row. "Creed," a movie written and directed by an African-American man, received a nomination for a white actor. "Straight Outta Compton," which featured all African-Americans in the cast, received a nomination for the two white men who wrote it. Hollywood was enraged by the nominations, with several celebrities boycotting the event altogether. However, while the African-American community was underrepresented at the awards, they weren’t the people of a different race or color who were snubbed at the big night.
Gina Rodriguez, star of the comedy show "Jane the Virgin" on the CW, is of Puerto Rican descent. She started a trend in social media, #MovementMondays. In a time where the acting community is in flames, Rodriguez has decided to find hope by highlighting the impeccable acting performances from the Latino community throughout the year. In the history of film, only one Latino actor has won an Oscar for a leading role, and that was Jose Ferrer, 66 years ago. Rodriguez hopes to get support so that Hollywood can finally see that the people do want to see Latinos in leading roles in movies and television.
The first week centered around actor Oscar Isaac, whom Gina acknowledged for his work in "Ex-Machina." 2015 was a remarkable year for Isaac: He won a Golden Globe for his role in "Show Me a Hero" for portraying the youngest mayor in New York, who wanted desegregation in public housing. Isaac also gained a large fan base for his role as Poe Dameron in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," which only proves one thing: If you can write a fun, relatable character, you can be of any color. You don't have to bring to light stereotypes or race to make a character relatable.
Their actions are what brings the appeal and interest to the character. Similar to Isaac, a Cuban-American actress, Rosa Salazar, gained fame through her performances in young-adult movies such as "The Divergent Series: Insurgent" and "Maze Runner: Scorch Trials." By appearing in movies targeted specifically towards younger audiences, she is building up enough momentum to appear in bigger roles and to skyrocket her way to the top of Hollywood.
On the third Monday, Rodriguez acknowledged the esteemed Mexican-American director, producer, screenwriter, film editor, cinematographer, and musician, who now runs his own television network: Robert Rodriguez. Robert is best known for his work on popular movies such as "Sin City," "Machete," and the "Spy Kids" series. Rodriguez specifically hires Latinos for both acting and behind the cameras.
By doing so, Rodriguez is giving people opportunities to enter the film industry as professionals. He is hiring Latino actors to play the roles that most Latino actors seldom get to play in their lifetime. Rodriguez hires these actors to show audiences internationally that Latin American actors can play bigger, funnier, more important roles than the ones they are usually given in any other production.
Last Monday, Rodriguez went on to acknowledge the Latinos in TV. She praised activists including America Ferrera and Eva Longoria, her cast in "Jane the Virgin," Karla Souza in "How to Get Away With Murder," and Jennifer Lopez in "Shades of Blue." She lauded them for not subjecting themselves to play small, stereotypical characters in their respective programs. Instead, they are portraying three-dimensional, relatable women who prove that they and all Latinos are so much more than just the color of their skin.
But the under-representation doesn't just end with the Latinos. The Asian and Native American communities continue to struggle to be represented accurately in both TV and film. Asian-Americans rarely have roles in the industry, and when they do, they usually appear for laughs or to embody harmful stereotypes, like all men are geeks and all women are exotic and the mispronouncing of “L” and “R.”
Why can’t TV shows write more characters like Mindy Lahiri in “The Mindy Project” or Cristina Yang in “Grey’s Anatomy,” who are strong, smart, ambitious women whose race is not the central focus of their characters? The Native American culture has also been represented stereotypically. They are either portrayed as proud, independent, and honorable peoples, or as blood-thirsty savages. The industry often ignores the depth there is within the Indian culture, and time and time again doesn’t show audiences a well-developed understanding of the Native American identity.
The problem isn't only with directors or writers. It's with the people who go watch the movies. The future Ginas, Oscars and Evas won't get a taste of a leading role if there is simply not a demand for them. The writers will keep writing stereotypical, one-dimensional characters. The casting directors won't hire a person of color for a leading role if the viewers don't show support or demand change.
But there is hope. With shows like "Black-ish," "Fresh Off the Boat," and "Jane the Virgin," minority actors are given an opportunity to expand their acting by playing relatable characters, throwing away harmful stereotypes, and getting the opportunity to have leading roles in television series. They are finally getting their once in a lifetime chance to educate audiences more about their culture and to bring to light how truly overshadowed they have been by white actors.
Viola called out the problem, the Oscar boycotters are taking a stand, and Gina is calling for support. Movies and TV shows represent what the world is today. The world is not 100 percent white. But what is presented to us on the silver screen and the small screen is quite the opposite. White people aren’t the only ones with a story worth telling; white people shouldn’t be the only ones getting the big roles. Roles should not be centered around the race of an actor.
Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote an entire musical around the history of Alexander Hamilton, where all the original people were white and are now played by Latinos, Asian-Americans and African-Americans. Actors should not be limited with roles by the color of their skin. If they can act it, then why shouldn’t they get a chance to play it? The sooner the industry realizes this, the better it will be for everyone.
