Film, TV and Real People

an article provided by Women in Film & Video, New England

This is a short take about a large opportunity–a chance to change the world through film and television. As members of a growing, talented, diverse group of filmmakers, we are creating a formidable new center for independent film here in New England. We now have an opportunity to choose whether we end up as participants in an East Coast Hollywood, or whether we create a nucleus for thoughtful, innovative projects truly representative of the broader spectrum of American people and culture.

We all know that the present reality of characters/roles presented in film and television is this: certain groups of human beings continue to be under-represented and over-stereotyped–women, minorities, and older people. Here are some statistics which have remained relatively unchanged for the past decade supporting this reality:

• In 1997, female members of the Screen Actors Guild received 33.7% of the total money earned under all SAG contracts while males received 66.3%
• Men out-earned women in each of SAG's age categories, from age 1 to 99.
• The largest disparity in earnings between the sexes came under SAG's film contract where males earned 73% of the total earnings.
• In 1996, Caucasians received 80% of all roles.
• In 1996, two out of every three jobs went to performers under the age of 40.

When we add to the above facts the importance placed on physical beauty, we get a picture of a media culture which seems to place excessive value on good looks, whiteness, maleness, and youth. In the quest for blockbusters, we seem to have lost our sense of truth and fairness. I don't believe that this is who we really are, or how we want to see ourselves as a society. This is not to say that there is not a place for a male-dominated potboiler or a "Breakfast Club" romance, but without a balance of the stories, lives, and experiences of mature women, minorities, the elderly, the handicapped, we lose the richness and texture of our diversity. For your enjoyment, as well as food for thought, a fictional role breakdown follows:

Characters: The Tried & True Characters: Crying Out to Be Tried Alice: 60's, arthritic, a nag Alice: 60's, athletic, computer-literate John: 65, retired, bitter, heart problems John: 65, "eternal optimist," runs day care center Bob: 45, powerful CEO of global company Barbara: 45, powerful CEO of global company Susan & Paul: 20's, beautiful, sexy Susan: 40's, beautiful, sexy Pamela: 50's, overweight, has drinking problem Pamela: 50's, jazz singer, lives with Paul Maureen: 25, a redhead, runs baby-sitter service Maureen: 45, black, running for president Julio: 20's, drug problem, gang member Julio: 40's, president of the Sierra Club

In the end, the old stereotypes not only discriminate in real, practical terms against a large segment of our own film community, but they also shut us off from the truth, knowledge, and adventure of experiencing the whole spectrum of life. Each of us needs to question why we create roles and characters-how much of it is truly plot-driven and necessary, and how much of it is simply repeating what we have been exposed to for years by our own industry. We are a new market and can set our own, new standards for quality and equality. Our futures and the future of filmmaking will depend on it.