Why aren’t Hollywood films more diverse in race and gender?

Denzel Washington in 'The Equalizer'

Denzel Washington in 'The Equalizer'

Published Jan 4, 2018

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In 2014 a hacker group leaked confidential information from Sony Pictures Entertainment, including a controversial e-mail written by an unnamed producer. 

In the e-mail, which went viral, the producer questioned the decision to cast Denzel Washington as the lead in The Equalizer: “I believe that the international motion-picture audience is racist – in general, pictures with an African-American lead don’t play well overseas… 

"But Sony sometimes seems to 
disregard that a picture must work well internationally to both maximise returns and reduce risk, especially pictures with decent-size budgets.”

Many actors, activists and newspapers have raised concerns related to diversity in Hollywood films. Several organisations, including blackfilm.com and the Geena Davis Institute, actively monitor and promote diversity in the media.

But was the Sony producer on to something about the biases of moviegoers abroad? 

Is it possible that the lack of non-white and female lead characters in Hollywood films is driven, in part, by economic concerns from studios? Our analysis of more than 800 films sampled between 2005 and 2012 suggests the answer is “yes”.

Research suggests films suffer from demographic disparities.

In one study, researchers at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism analysed the demographic characteristics of over 11 000 speaking characters in hundreds of films and TV series in 2014. About 75% of all actors were white, 12% black, 6% Asian, 5% Hispanic/Latino and 3% were identified as Middle Eastern or “other”.

We looked at the top-grossing films each year from 2005 to 2012, using information from Box Office Mojo, IMDB, The New York Times movie reviews and Rotten Tomatoes. Our data included the 150 top films each year distributed domestically and abroad, excluding G-rated and animated films.

Just 28% in our sample had a female first lead character. Only 19% had a non-white first lead character.

These figures are in stark contrast to the demographics of the US population. 

According to the US Census Bureau, about 51% of the US is female and 35% is non-white or Hispanic.

Recently, film studios have faced more intense competition from independent film-makers, increased globalisation and streaming video sources. 

In this environment, film studios may be inclined to supply movies with characteristics that appeal to more consumers and increase profits.

Since international box office revenue is now more than twice as large as domestic revenue, the economic incentive for studios to cater to the preferences of international audiences is larger than ever. 

The top five international box office markets are China, Japan, the UK, France and India. 

Does consumer discrimination in these markets explain the under-representation of female and non-white actors in Hollywood films?

We analysed the potential gender and racial biases from the consumer side through their influence on box office revenue, both domestically and internationally. 

We looked at the relationship between cast demographics and theatre audiences, controlling for other factors that may affect a movie’s success, such as production budgets and star power.

There is significant evidence that a film cast’s racial diversity negatively affects international box office performance. 

By our estimates, a 10 percentage point increase in racial cast diversity leads to 17% less international revenue, even 
after controlling for key film characteristics. This effect disappears in the domestic market.

Similarly, adding just one non-white lead actor led to a 40% decrease in international revenue. However, we did not find any link between gender diversity and movie revenue. 

Productions with a female lead character fared as well economically outside the US as those with a male lead.

The results provide convincing evidence that studio executives have legitimate concerns about the relationship between diversity and revenue.

The negative effects of non-white characters on profits could explain the racial disparity observed in Hollywood films. 

In that case, it could be argued that consumer prejudice leads to roles that favour white actors more, because the increased revenue is attractive to studio executives.

Most movies make a lot more foreign revenue than domestic revenue, but movies with diverse casts can struggle abroad. 

For example, The Help, a 2011 Academy Award-winning period drama, made $169.7million (R2.1 billion) in the domestic market compared with just $46.9m in the international market.

This doesn’t mean that preferences of studio executives are not at all responsible for the demographic disparity, but it does suggest that market forces are at least partly responsible.

Consumer tastes are a likely factor driving studios’ preference of non-white under-representation in movies. 

The revenue implications of international audience preferences are simply too large for studios to ignore. 

The Conversation

● Pedace is Professor of Economics, Scripps College

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