The Dark Knight Rises: Diversity Not Rising

Number seven on the list of highest grossing movies since President Obama took office is "The Dark Knight Rises" ("TDKR"), the 2012 release from Warner Bros., which earned $1.085 billion in worldwide box-office revenue.  TDKR is the latest in the highly successful "Batman" series, and the 3rd movie in the series to feature Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman.  TDKR is, of course, non-original work.  And, like the other non-original movies reviewed in this blog thus far, the casting department at Warner Bros. remained consistent to the level of diversity, or lack thereof, of the previous Batman movies.  Even Morgan Freeman, the most prominent non-white actor in the series, stayed at number 7 in the IMDB cast list, the same position he occupied in the last film: "The Dark Knight."  While there are other non-whites in the cast, they play very minor characters - most with names like "SWAT in Dive Bar" or "Analyst #2."

So why care about this issue?  After all, the point of business in a capitalist society is to return an investment to the shareholders.  TDKR certainly did that.  But could it have done better?  According to a study performed at UCLA's Bunche Center for African American Studies, television shows with diverse leading cast members and writers draw larger audiences than those with less diversity.  The Bunche Center analyzed 1,000 shows across 67 cable and broadcast networks from the 2011-2012 season.  According the Bunche Center Director, Darnell Hunt, the study is one of the first of its kind.

TDKR ended with a teaser that, despite retiring Christian Bale and his character Bruce Wayne, the Batman series will continue.  Hopefully Warner Bros. reads the Bunche Center study before they go into production with the next Batman installment.

Toy Story 3: Another Disney White-out

Number 8 on the list of highest grossing movies since President Barack Obama took office is "Toy Story 3" (TS3).  As the name suggests, TS3 is the 3rd installment in the very popular Pixar/Disney "Toy Story" series.  TS3 earned $1.063 billion in worldwide revenue.

Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and the whole toy gang face the crisis of their human Andy growing up and going off to college.  While they want to remain loyal, the toys are unhappy with the prospect of being packed into the attic.  When they are accidentally placed at the curb as trash, the toys decide (despite Woody's objections) to stow away in a donations box heading for a daycare center.  Instead of finding a play paradise, the daycare center turns out to be a dangerous place, ruled by an authoritarian stuffed bear.  The balance of the movie is an adventure for the toys to escape the daycare center and return to Andy's house.

As has been discussed previously, when it comes to bankrolling a blockbuster, Hollywood is more likely to bet on non-original material.  With respect to racial diversity, sequels tend to limit casting flexibility for the recurring characters.  Toy Story is no exception, bringing back almost all of the previous toys with their original voice actors.  The only new toys are a villain (Lotso), a Ken doll, and a bunch of very minor characters - virtually all voiced by white actors.  The only notable exception is Stretch, an octopus with almost no lines, who is voiced by Whoopi Goldberg.  Even a young human girl (Bonnie), who is clearly non-white, is voiced by a white actress.

As noted previously, Disney has enjoyed huge success with other movies featuring nearly all-white casts.  But with 61% of its revenue coming from international audiences, could it have done even better with a racially-diverse cast of characters? Apparently Disney thinks white equals green(backs).

Pirates - Stranger Tides: Are Spaniards White?

This week I am analyzing the 9th highest grossing movie since President Obama took office (boxofficemojo.com): Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" ("PCST").  PCST is the 4th and most recent movie in the highly successful Pirates of the Caribbean series.  PCST grossed $1.045 billion; an astonishing 76% of which came from international sales.  The international sales could be due to its international cast, though the cast is principally from the U.S., U.K., and Spain.

PCST marks the first of the Pirates movies without Keira Knightley or Orlando Bloom.  Captain Jack Sparrow, perennially played by Johnny Depp, is once again without his ship, the "Black Pearl."  This time his ship in the hands of the dread pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and his daughter (and past love interest of Sparrow's) Angelica Teach (Penelope Cruz).  Geoffrey Rush reprises his role as Captain Barbossa.

So, how do non-whites fare in PCST?  The answer lies with how you count Spaniards, as there are quite a few in PCST: are Spaniards white, or something else?  If you count them as white (there is support for this), PCST is almost as white as last week's number 10 movie: Disney's "Alice in Wonderland (2010)."  On IMDB's cast list, you have to go all the way to the 21st actor listed to find a non-white: Japanese actor Yuki Matsuzaki.  The next non-white on the list is 25th place English actor Deobia Oparei - the son of Nigerian parents.  The 3 or 4 other non-whites in PCST are essentially extras.

Since Disney created so many new characters with the movie, why didn't they strive for more diversity?  With more than 3/4 of the revenue coming from international sales, one might guess that diversity would be helpful to their bottom line.  I guess Disney didn't agree.

Disney holds 5 of the top 10 spots on our list, so hopefully they will show more racial diversity in their 3 movies still to be reviewed.

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Does racism in Hollywood blockbusters exist?  By Hollywood, I mean the industry that produces the world's highest grossing films, regardless of where they are actually made or funded.  Blockbuster films are distributed around the world, typically earning between 50% and 80% of their total revenue from international (non-U.S.) sales.  Since these films target the widest possible audience, one might assume they would strive to offend as few people as possible.

This week I examined number 10 on the list of highest grossing movies (Boxofficemojo.com) since President Obama took office: Alice in Wonderland (2010) - ("AW2010").  AW2010 is Disney's quasi-live action sequel to their animated version of Alice in Wonderland.  Alice, played by Mia Wasikowska, is now a grown-up 20 year-old, on the verge of betrothal to a wealthy, but otherwise undesirable nobleman.  Alice escapes the proposal party by once again chasing the white rabbit down a hole and begins a whole new set of adventures.

Directed by Tim Burton, the film has been a huge financial hit, earning $1.025 billion to date.  It features loads of star power: Johnny Depp plays the Madd Hatter; Anne Hathaway plays the White Queen; and Helena Bonham Carter plays the Red Queen.  Many of the film's characters are animated, voiced by well-known actors.  Yet, try as I might, I could not find a single non-white actor.  Not even for voicing some of the animated characters.  Perhaps I missed one, but if I did, he or she is so poorly known they didn't even rate an IMBD or Rotten Tomatoes photo.

Why would Disney do this?  Though AW2010 is non-original work, with the exception of Alice,  Disney couldn't legitimately claim they were stuck with previously casted characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines racism as "the belief that each race or ethnic group possesses specific characteristics, abilities or qualities that distinguish it as inferior or superior to another such group."  Does Disney really believe non-white people are inferior actors?  One thing is clear, Disney shied away from non-whites when it cast Alice in Wonderland (2010).

Racism in Hollywood Blockbusters: Has anything improved with Obama?

When Barack Obama ran for President in 2008, he made literally hundreds of campaign promises, such as, jumpstart the economy, end the Iraq war, and healthcare insurance for all Americans.  One unspoken promise was to end racism in pop-culture.  After all, if a Black American can attain the position of most powerful man in the world, surely pop-culture will follow with non-whites being more prominently featured.  According to the United States Census Bureau, the make-up of Americans is 63% White, 17% Hispanic or Latino, 13% Black, 5% Asian, and 1% Native American.  If Hollywood accurately reflects American demographics, one would expect to see lead roles parceled out in these same percentages.  Has this happened?  According to the actor Danny Glover, it is still very difficult to get films financed that feature non-whites in the lead roles: “Producers said, ‘It’s a nice project, a great project…where are the white heroes?’” (Atlanta Blackstar.com)

Counter-intuitively, it may now be more difficult for a non-white to be cast as a hero than it was before Obama took office.  According to NYTimes.com, Hollywood is making 30% fewer movies than they were 7 years ago.  Further, when it comes to blockbuster films ($100 million+ revenue), the industry is betting on non-original films (screenplays based on another film or media property) more than they are original films.  According to an article onVulture.com by Anita Eberse, Harvard Business School Professor, non-original films accounted for 64% of 2012 movie revenues.  Hollywood is being rewarded for following this model.  2013 saw record revenues (led by Iron Man 3 – white hero), beating the previous record set in 2012.  The trend of fewer movies, bigger budgets, and non-original material severely limits the opportunities and increases the perceived risks for non-whites to be featured as heroes.  When it comes to making big budget movies, Hollywood has shown itself to be risk averse.

Each of the next 10 weeks, I will analyze one of the top 10 grossing movies released since President Obama took office.  I will compile statistics by race for the prominent roles, and qualitatively assess the characters played by non-whites for stereotypes.