Hollywood Needs Even More Diversity, and More Black Female Biopics Would Be a Good Start
20th Century Fox
“Hidden Figures” is one of several films, nominated at this year’s Academy Awards, to finally turn the tide on the past two years’ whitewashed nominees. Unlike many films nominated in the past, “Hidden Figures” does not purely focus on the degradation of black people, but also their contributions to the world at large. The subjects of this film are black women, who are often seen as the most disenfranchised group of Americans, and aren’t generally the subjects of big profile films. The cast assembled were incredible, and Octavia Spencer obviously deserved her second Oscar nomination for the role of Dorothy Vaughan. (Though Taraji P. Henson was irredeemably snubbed for Best Actress for her role as Katherine Goble Johnson.) Other high profile film nominees include “Fences,” based on the August Wilson play of the same name, and “Moonlight,” which was nominated for an impressive eight Oscars. Not only do these nominations beg the question, “Why weren’t studios making these kinds of films before?” but “Why aren’t more African American centered biopics being produced?”
Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images, Mark Davis/Getty Images, Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images and Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
In recent years there has been a huge demand for films about African Americans, pushed in a large part because none of the major acting awards of the past two years have included minority nominees. The Bunche Center’s “2016 Hollywood Diversity Report” shows that whites outnumbered minorities 3 to 1 in lead parts, and similarly 3 to 1 among film directors. Academy Awards president Cheryl Boone Isaacs explained that the Academy was unable to nominate deserving minority actors if there weren’t films being made with more diverse casts, and called on Hollywood to mirror modern society. This sentiment seemed to be rescinded when she released a statement saying that the Academy was being reformulated to include a more diverse voting body, though the act itself was a good start towards inclusion. If there had been a more diverse voting body last year, it would be doubtless that people like Idris Elba, Will Smith, or anyone from “Straight Outta Compton,” would have slipped through the cracks.
So, with the obvious inclusion of so many more black voices in the industry and a huge push for more inclusive casting, why aren’t African American women having their stories told more often? Last year the life of Nina Simone was made the subject of the film “Nina,” which featured Zoe Saldana. The estate of the late singer denounced the film for casting Saldana, a lighter skinned black woman, as this choice conflicted with Simone’s plight as a darker skinned civil rights activist. The life of groundbreaking singer Lena Horne going to be put into production in 2004, with Janet Jackson in the titular role. The entire film was scrapped after Horne declined Jackson’s involvement following her Super Bowl nip slip. To say that films about black women aren’t made entirely would be untrue, but their stories are often relegated to TV movies, such as “Bessie,” “CrazySexyCool,” “Introducing Dorothy Dandridge,” “The Josephine Baker Story,” “Shirley,” “Betty and Coretta,” and “I Know Where the Caged Bird Sings,” among others.
TV biopics featuring black women. Courtesy of HBO, CBS, and VH1
There are a few critically acclaimed, theatrically released biopics centering on black women, but these are far and few between. The best known would be “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” which is one of many Angela Bassett helmed biopics. A more recent addition is the Gugu Mbatha-Raw helmed “Belle,” which was well received by critics, but given very little love from the awards circuit. “Hidden Figures,” may seem like a tried and true, formulaic biopic, but in reality it is subversive and highly unorthodox in its execution. Thanks to its impressive box office return and nominations for multiple awards, it could spike a needed trend in filmmaking and produce more stories of the black experience. Many upcoming films show a spike in female dominated stories, such as a Harriet Tubman biopic starring Viola Davis and a Dionne Warwick biopic starring Letoya Luckett, as well as many films featuring black women in supporting roles, such as Lupita Nyong'o in the upcoming "Black Panther" movie, and Zoë Kravitz in the comedy "Rock That Body."
Now, I want to make clear that inclusions of African American nominees in this year’s Oscars is not greatest feat of progress we are yet to see. Many other minorities are still underrepresented in film, and their stories are all but limited to indie filmmaking and ensemble television series. Stories about minority characters are being whitewashed to include white actors (“Doctor Strange,” “Ghost in the Shell,” recently) Many foreign filmmakers nominated for awards this year are being outright banned from the awards thanks to the xenophobic as well as Islamophobia induced travel ban enacted by the Trump administration. There is obviously more progress needed, and hopefully Hollywood takes heed for their own sake. The “2016 Hollywood Diversity Report,” stated that the highest median in box office returns went to more diverse casts, and minorities accounted for the majority of ticket sales in four of the top ten highest grossing films of the year. Hollywood must listen to its detractors if it wants to make the many millions of dollars it so covets.
