By: Joshua Choe, Staff Writer
The entertainment industry releases hundreds of films throughout the year to stimulate our constantly bored minds, in hopes of being a universal power of communication. Film is a vital art form, a source of common entertainment, and a “powerful medium for educating—or indoctrinating—citizens.” The entertainment industry is still majorly dominated by white men, but as the years progress, we see more on screen diversity in the casts and lead roles of digital entertainment.
2020 was the best year, to date, for the inclusion of diversity in entertainment. According to UCLA’s Newsroom, 41% of lead roles in different productions have gone to women and 26% to minorities. As for roles in the cast, 40% went to women and 30% to minorities. While these underrepresented groups are continuing to be integrated into modern media, the numbers still fall short of proportional representation for women and minorities. However, let’s celebrate our progress in the industry so far. Here’s a recap of the last decade’s top-grossing films and TV shows that mainly presented a cast containing minorities.
Kicking off the decade, The Karate Kid was released in 2010, featuring Jaden Smith. Reliving the original series from the 1980’s, the movie was well received by critics, amassing an average of a 7.8 star review. With the lead being of African American descent, the movie was able to depict the character in a non stereotypical way and give him a likable personality. The other main character, the Chinese martial arts specialist, was nobody other than Jackie Chan himself. The Karate Kid’s box office sales totaled 359.1 million dollars, worldwide showing its success in delivering to the world. Karate Kid kept true to its original movie and critics very much loved that (review courtesy of A.O Scott of Ny Times). Of course, the movie was also well received by the audience (me included).
Black Panther, released in 2018, is the true magnum opus in diversity in films. Featuring an all black and gender conscious cast, this movie took theaters by storm with its incredible plot and gripping action. Black Panther also took roots from Africa, further expanding upon including diversity in not only the cast, but the plot line as well. Many nods were given to traditions and other Africa related items found throughout the movie. The movie’s lead, Prince T’Challa, was portrayed by the late Chadwick Boseman, who passed in late August of 2020. Box office sales totalled in 1.34 billion dollars worldwide. Personally, this is one of my favorite movies, and I definitely recommend giving this movie a watch if you haven’t already.
Crazy Rich Asians, based off of the book written by Singaporean writer, Kevin Kwan, was also released in 2018, and it was an absolutely huge blast. The audience absolutely loved it and so did the critics, amassing a rating of 96% on critics’ website, Rotten Tomatoes. Following the comedic story of Rachel Chu (Constance Wu) and her boyfriend Nick (Henry Golding) taking a trip to China for his best friend’s wedding, Rachel finds out that Nick actually comes from one of the wealthiest families in China. Of course, this presents numerous problems all at once, and hilarious moments ensue. Not only did this movie star Asian leads in an Asian setting, the movie did so very accurately. This movie by itself changed Hollywood for the better, being the first successful movie featuring an all Asian cast since 1993’s The Joy Luck Club.
2019’s Aladdin was a huge success, including a wide variety in the cast. Including an Egyptian lead, a black lead, and casts from other descents, Aladdin was critically acclaimed for its choice in casting. Giving this timeless story a fresh look, the movie tells the adventure of a young man’s (Aladdin, who is portrayed by Mena Massoud, an Egyptian actor) caper to save Princess Jasmine’s kingdom from the evil sorcerer Jafar with the aid of a friendly genie (portrayed by Will Smith!). Box office sales totaled 1.051 billion dollars worldwide, placing Aladdin in 39th place of lifetime’s top grossing movies. Though the movie was well received by the audience, critics are not very impressed with Aladdin and its overall failure to deliver the same charm the original Aladdin had. Critic A.O Scott from the NY Times calls Aladdin, “A threadbare magic-carpet ride to nowhere special, with Will Smith as a blue genie.” Personally, this movie was alright and the comic relief of Will Smith was very appreciated.
With 2021, we hope to see more movies with increasingly diverse casts as time progresses and anticipate to see more representation in the media!
