Great Ideas Research Paper 2018

Minority Portrayal in Best Picture Nominations and Winners Since

the #OscarsSoWhite Campaign

By: Katie Conlin

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements in an undergraduate senior capstone course

in communications

1
I. Abstract

The purpose of this research paper is to gain a deeper understanding of societies

perceptions of minorities. To gain a deeper understanding, films from the three consecutive
years following the start of the Oscars So White campaign were analyzed. The analysis aimed to
investigate how minority actors are portrayed in films nominated for best picture since the
Oscars So White campaign. It also intended to explore how the roles that minority actors are
cast in, are larger indications of the role’s society expects of people in color. The basic design of
the study was to watch and conduct a qualitative content analysis of twenty-six films total from
2016-2018 nominated for the best picture category of the Oscars. Major findings from the
qualitative analysis were that the twenty-six films fell under one of three non-mutually exclusive
themes – level of minority representation, power structure between a minority and non-minority
character, and the types of roles that minority actors were cast in – noting that a film could fall
under multiple themes. Additional analysis of the roles in which minorities were case in led to
the conclusion that The Academy Awards have more progress to make in minority inclusivity for
best picture nominations. Out of the three years analyzed only one, 2017, had ample minority
representation. Furthermore, based on the findings of minorities depicted in stereotypical roles,
it can be interpreted that this is a larger indication that society still perceives minorities as less
than their Caucasian counter parts.

2
II. Introduction
For decades, America was a melting pot of the racial and ethnical diversity of its

population. The number of people of different ethnic groups in the United States has been

growing steadily over the last decade, as has the population in total.1 This begs the question of

why Hollywood is still primarily Caucasian, from the actors cast in films, to the administration

of the Academy and even the films that win Oscars for best picture2. Every aspect of the industry

screams a lack of diversity3. This lack of diversity in the industry prompted what came to be

known in 2015 as the #OscarsSoWhite campaign. This campaign started when one Twitter user

took issue with the all-white slate of Academy Award acting nominees for that year’s Oscars,

and the campaign took the Internet by storm.4

This paper aims to examine the films since the #OscarsSoWhite campaign to see how

racial minorities were represented in the Oscar films. For the purposes of this paper, the topic

will focus on minorities in the best picture nominees and winners for the years 2016, 2017, and

2018, the years following the campaign.

III. Literature Review

In order to gain a greater knowledge of the topic, it was important to review literature

about the history of diversity in Hollywood and the perceptions that authors like Yuen, Newitz

and Gray have on it. Their works among others analyzed discussed issues such as the lack of

representation of certain minority groups in Hollywood. Knowing this background information is

1
“U.S. Population.”
2
Yuen, “Hollywood's Whitest.”
3
Kalinec-Craig, “#OscarsSoWhite and Not So Right Problem.”
4
“Her #OscarsSoWhite Campaign Changed How Hollywood Deals with Race. Now She’s Taking on HBO.”

3
essential to understanding the #OscarsSoWhite campaign as it is part of the reason why the

campaign was created.

Hollywood’s History with Minorities

Each year The Academy Awards are scrutinized for their “whiteness”, and how

Hollywood has a lack of diversity overall. From media ownership down to the average working

actor, Caucasian’s saturate the ranks in Hollywood. While Caucasians represent 62.6 percent of

the U.S. population they make-up between 74 and 96 percent of Hollywood personnel.5 The

globe is constantly perceiving Caucasians as being in positions of power and being superior

because Hollywood propagates the idea of a white world where whites are seen as “raceless”6

and transmit ideologies that have very real effects. The perpetuation of racism is one major side

effect of the underrepresentation of people of color in film and television that has wider society

consequences,7 and not only racism but colorblind racism – treating individuals equally by

thinking that it is conducive to minorities to disregard their heritage and overlook the oppression

that occurred on their group.8 One statistic that emphasizes this effect is that, 80 percent of white

Americans deny that the role of race in job, income, and housing discrepancies between whites

and blacks.9

Although African Americans are the most represented minority in Hollywood, this by no

means Hollywood is diverse because this group is still seen as the main symbol of racism and

faces limitations of its own. African American actors make up a small percentage of high

5
Yuen, “Hollywood's Whitest,” 19.
6
Newitz, “Whites on Film,” 46.
7
Yuen, “Hollywood's Colorblind Racism,” 50.
8
Williams, “Colorblind Ideology Is a Form of Racism.”
9
Yuen, “HOLLYWOOD’S COLORBLIND RACISM,” 51.

4
grossing films and typically end up with all black films that are given low budgets and little to no

recognition.10 Additionally, it is very common for Hollywood to place blame on these three

colorblind factors -skills, life experiences and audience preferences – in order to justify their

casting. They will say that the talent doesn’t have the right skills and that is why the actor of

color didn’t get the part, or that the primarily white writers are basing the film off of their own

life and a person of color doesn’t fit into their life experiences, or that the market doesn’t call for

a film with people of color in it.11 These are dismal excuses for people of color to not be included

in major motion films, racial minorities have made more momentum in Hollywood than other

underrepresented groups such as the LGBTQIA community or those with physical or mental

disabilities.12

Other Issues of Representation in Entertainment Media

While racial minorities make up a large majority of diversity issues in Hollywood, there

are still several other underrepresented groups, including women, those with mental and physical

disabilities, and the LGBTQIA community to name a few. The Media, Diversity, and Social

Change (MDSC) Initiative at USC’s Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism

centers around the lack of media representation of females and people of color. Their

Comprehensive Annenberg Report on Diversity (CARD) sampled 109 motion pictures and 305

broadcast, cable and digital series with notable years of some media being from 2014 and 2015.13

The report ultimately found that females were less prevalent than males in all aspects of the films

analyzed, from speaking characters to portrayals in film, directors, writers and administration. In

10
Yuen, “Hollywood's Whitest,” 22–23.
11
Yuen, “Hollywood's Colorblind Racism,” 51.
12
Gray, “Precarious Diversity,” 245.
13
“MDSCI CARD Report FINAL Exec Summary.Pdf.”

5
addition to assessing the character’s gender, CARD also assessed the racial/ ethnic identity of the

character.14 The researchers also found that most stories failed to reflect or match the

demographic composition of the U.S. and that African American characters and Asian characters

had the least representation, Asian characters having less than African American. Though Asian

characters are greatly understated, the most underrepresented minority though was the LGBT

community. Only “two percent of all speaking characters across the 414 movies, television

shows, and digital series evaluated were coded LGB.”15 A separate measure assessed whether

characters were transgender. Only seven speaking or named characters identified as transgender

sample wide, which calculates to less than one percent.16 Essentially, a diverse workforce is

crucial for diverse media content.17 There has already been a shift in production companies from

those in Bangalore, Lagos and Hong Kong who are generating more content that is centralized

around ethnicity, race, language, and history. But while these types of works are increasing

diversity in the film industry – because they are made by non-U.S. production companies – they

simultaneously complicate how American viewers see diversity because it adds to the conflicting

ways that different production companies in film industry depict minority groups. More options

can lead to more confusion.18

#OscarsSoWhite Campaign

No actors from ethnic minorities were nominated for Oscars in 1995 or 1997, or in an

extraordinary streak between 1975 and 1980. Throughout the 20th century, 95 percent of Oscar

14
“MDSCI CARD Report FINAL Exec Summary.Pdf.”
15
“MDSCI CARD Report FINAL Exec Summary.Pdf.”
16
“MDSCI CARD Report FINAL Exec Summary.Pdf.”
17
Gray, “Precarious Diversity,” 246.
18
Gray, 247.

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nominations went to white film stars. It is not that minorities are underrepresented per se, but that

the roles that minorities get aren’t the ones that count for the Oscars. Additionally, it’s

noteworthy that 94 percent of the Academy (who vote on the Oscars) are Caucasian.19 In the

wake of what could be called Hollywood whitewashing came the #OscarsSoWhite campaign in

2015. A woman named April Reign tweeted with the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite in response to an

all-white slate of Academy Award acting nominees.20 One reason why the #OscarsSoWhite

campaign found such traction in 2015 – was that the Black Lives Matter movement had

highlighted systematic racial problems after the police killings of African Americans.21 These

movements and the perceptions behind them are important to acknowledge as the global

population is shifting, and a large majority of it will be made up by these marginalized and

under-represented groups.22

#OscarsSoWhite addresses excuses

The creator of the #OscarsSoWhite campaign hopes it lasts until the point is made clear

and notes that this is not a binary campaign, it is about all marginalized communities which

include sexual orientation, gender, disability, and Latinx. She emphasizes that it is up to the

media to disseminate diversity and encourages media outlets to hire and work with people from

marginalized communities.23 Also, while Hollywood and the Academy have argued that having

minority portrayals will not bring in a top-grossing film, Yuen thinks differently because of the

19
“How Racially Skewed Are the Oscars?”
20
“Her #OscarsSoWhite Campaign Changed How Hollywood Deals with Race. Now She’s Taking on HBO.”
21
Buckley, “Changes for Oscars Ripple Far and Wide.”
22
Frey, “The US Will Become ‘Minority White’ in 2045, Census Projects.”
23
“#OscarsSoWhite Creator April Reign on the 2018 Oscar Nominations and Why #BlackPressMatters - Los Angeles
Times.”

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changing times. Hollywood simply cannot afford to ignore an increasingly diverse domestic

audience base and growing international market.24

What’s next for the Oscars and the Future of Hollywood

Since the start of the #OscarsSoWhite campaign in 2015, there has been some movement

in casting more diverse actors, but this mainly only occurs in television with the premiere of

Scandal, Greys Anatomy, and Black-ish.25 Although the diversity in major Oscar-winning films

is still dismal, it has diversified slightly over the 87 years since its creation.26 The Academy

Awards of 2018 marks three years since the campaign started, and there are slow but steady steps

towards a more diverse best picture pool.27 While there may be more diversity in the plot and

types of characters in the nominated films racial/cast diversity is still slow to take larger strides.28

There is a change in the Academy but definitively not a transformation. In the years since

#OscarsSoWhite there have been more diverse nominees and winners, but this isn’t considered a

trend quite yet. Just because this issue is still relatively new.29

In 2016 the nominations for best picture were The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn

Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant, Room30and the winner Spotlight.31 2017

nominations were Arriva Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La

Land, Lion, Manchester by the Sea32and winner Moonlight.33 In 2018 the nominations were Call

24
Yuen, “Diversifying Hollywood,” 139.
25
Yuen, 142–44.
26
Kalinec-Craig, “#OscarsSoWhite and Not So Right Problem.”
27
Schulman, “Is the Era of #OscarsSoWhite Over?”
28
VanDerWerff, “2 Years after #OscarsSoWhite, the Academy’s Diversity Efforts Seem to Be Working — Slowly.”
29
Schulman, “Is the Era of #OscarsSoWhite Over?”
30
Donnelly, “Best Picture Nominations 2016 Oscars - Oscars 2016 News | 88th Academy Awards.”
31
Donnelly, “Oscar Winners 2016.”
32
Donnelly, “Best Picture Nominees! - Oscars 2017 News | 89th Academy Awards.”
33
Donnelly, “Oscar Winners 2017.”

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Me By Your Namee, Darkest Hour, Dunkirk, Get Out, Lady Bird, Phantom Thread, The Post,

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri34and the winner The Shape of Water.35

The extensive history of Hollywood and the list of current best picture Oscars are

indications that the issue of diversity is still present today.36 In order to change the perceptions of

race in the globe, Hollywood and The Academy Awards needs to start diversifying themselves in

every aspect. This study sought to answer the research questions below by analyzing all films

that are nominated and winners of the best picture title in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

RQ1: Since the Oscars So White campaign, how are minority actors portrayed in films
nominated for best picture?

RQ2: What can the roles in which minorities are case in these films tell us about the
expected roles of people in color?

IV. Methodology

This study aims to explore whether or not the Oscars are including more diverse casts

since the #OscarsSoWhite campaign. This will be done by reviewing literature that focuses on

the issues that Hollywood faces when it comes to diversity and by conducting a qualitative

content analysis of all films in the best picture category for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Paying close attention to the winners of each year Spotlight, Moonlight, and The Shape of Water.

Having knowledge on the issues that face the film industry, which will be analyzed, is important

so that a foundation can be set for the qualitative analysis of the films that will be conducted

later. A qualitative content analysis is an interaction with the documentary materials to analyze

34
“Oscar Nominations 90th.”
35
Donnelly, “Oscar Winners 2018.”
36
“Oscar Nominations 90th.”

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the content and better their meanings in context, with specific research questions in mind.37

requires the researcher to Take in to account the time period and pre-understandings of the film

to be analyzed.38 Having an all-encompassing understanding of the Oscars and Hollywood will

prove helpful as themes start to emerge from analyzing how minorities are being portrayed in the

films chosen. Other observations will also be noted, although the main focus will be on the

collective themes found throughout the analysis of films. The themes that develop will hopefully

give greater insight into what roles society believes that racial/ethnic minorities are participating

in.

V. Findings and Discussion

This section applies the knowledge from the literature review and the qualitative analysis

done on the best picture nominations and winners of the best picture category for three

consecutive years to the research questions.

Based on the content analysis, several themes emerged when analyzing the works for

how minorities were portrayed in films nominated for best picture post the Oscars So White

campaign. One theme was the level of representation that minorities got in each film, it varied as

some films had little to no minority representation while others had complete representation.

Another theme was power structures, where, more often than not minorities were portrayed as a

subordinate to a Caucasian superior. The third theme that arose from analysis was the role in

which minorities were portrayed. Most characters played by minorities were portrayed in a

working occupation or used for comedic relief. Each portrayal or role in which minorities were

37
Rosenberry and A. Vicker, Applied Mass Communication Theory 2nd Edition Citation.
38
“How to Plan and Perform a Qualitative Study Using Content Analysis - ScienceDirect.”

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depicted, is thought of as a larger indication of the way that society expects minorities to act. It is

also noteworthy to mention that the themes are not mutually exclusive, and that all films fell

within the scope of each theme.

Level of Representation

It was evident that all films examined had varying levels of minority representation, but

representation in this context was evaluated on the prominence of minorities that were in leading

roles. The films that had no leading or primary characters of minority status were, all of the

nominations for 2016 including winner Spotlight,39 Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge, Manchester by the

Sea, La La Land, and Hell or High Water of 201740 and Call Me By Your Name, Darkest Hour,

Dunkirk, Lady Bird, Phantom Thread, The Post, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and

The Shape of Water of 2018. This amounts to 21 out of the 26 total films analyzed portraying

minorities as background and supporting characters. But within this group there is a sizable

number of films – 8 out of 21 – that have a minority character in a supporting role. The films in

this group are The Big Short, Mad Max: Fury Road, and The Martian of 2016,41 Arrival, Hell or

High Water, and La La Land of 2017,42 and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The

Shape of Water which won the category in 2018.43 For example, Mad Max: Fury Road and The

Martian don’t have primary characters who identify as an ethnic/racial minority, they do have

apparent secondary characters who do.44 In Mad Max the character Toast the Knowing who is

39
Donnelly, “Best Picture Nominations 2016 Oscars - Oscars 2016 News | 88th Academy Awards.”
40
Villeneuve, Arrival; Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge; Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea; Chazelle, La La Land; Mackenzie,
Hell or High Water.
41
McKay, The Big Short; Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road; Scott, The Martian.
42
Villeneuve, Arrival; Mackenzie, Hell or High Water; Chazelle, La La Land.
43
McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; del Toro, The Shape of Water.
44
Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road; Scott, The Martian.

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played by Zoë Kravitz is the wife of an abusive warlord45 and in The Martian although there is

more monitory representation, the same theme holds true. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Peña,

Donald Glover, Benedict Wong and Nick Mohammed all get significant screen time, but are still

characterized as supporting characters to Matt Damon’s character who is the primary focus of the

film.

The only films analyzed that had complete minority representation – meaning one or

more primary actors identified as an ethnic or racial minority – were Lion, Hidden Figures,

Moonlight, Fences, and Get Out. All films except for Get Out were nominations for best picture

in 2017 with Moonlight winning the category.46 Lion follows the true story of Saroo (played by

Dev Patel) who lost his family when he was very young but has always wanted to find out where

he was from. Throughout the film he is portrayed as this truth-seeking individual on a quest to

find out his mother and past but riddled with the challenge of not letting his obsession consume

him.47 In Get Out the film centers around Chris’ (played by Daniel Kaluuya) experience with his

white girl friend’s (Allison Williams) family. He repeatedly experiences sly racist remarks like

referring to his good grip, strong body and if he thinks life better as an African American or not.

He receives these odd comments from his girlfriend’s Caucasian family during the annual

extended family and friends party. It is later found out that the family only targets African

Americans by having Allison Williams’ character seduce them and then invite them to meet her

parents who then abduct and sell them.48 It seems as though the film takes place in the twenty-

first century but has undertones of a more racist Jim Crow era, the film even goes as far a closely

resembling a slavery auction – when party guests are bidding on Chris at the family home.

45
Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road.
46
Davis, Lion; Melfi, Hidden Figures; Jenkins, Moonlight; Washington, Fences; Peele, Get Out.
47
Davis, Lion.
48
Peele, Get Out.

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Although there are fewer films that have minorities in supporting or lead roles, almost all films

had some level of minority representation, even if it was as small as having background

characters who identified as an ethnic/racial minority.

Power Structures

As previously mentioned the themes are not mutually exclusive and can be reflected in

the power structures minorities in supporting roles find themselves a part of. In several of the

films where there was a person of color in a leading or supporting role, that character – no matter

their position in the power hierarchy of the film – was never at the top, they always reported to a

Caucasian superior. Films that fell into this category were The Martian49 from 2016, Arrival and

Hell or High Water from 2017,50 and The Shape of Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing,

Missouri, and Hidden Figures from 2018.51

In The Martian, Ejiofor’s character holds a lot of power as the director of NASA’s mars

missions on earth, yet he still has to report to Jeff Daniels’ character who is the director of

NASA and happens to be Caucasian.52 This power dynamic is played on throughout the film as

Ejiofor and Daniels’ characters discuss the next steps to getting Mark Watney (played my Matt

Damon) safely back to earth, but Daniels character always has the final say. In Hidden Figures

Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monáe and Octavia Spencer’s characters fight for equal work

opportunities as they work for NASA during the civil rights era as “computers.” As “computers”

they do a lot of crucial computing for NASA’s different departments but as people of color in a

film that takes place in the civil rights era they have to report to a white superior. In this case

Henson’s character, Katherine Goble, has to report to both Jim Parsons and Kevin Costner’s

49
Scott, The Martian.
50
Villeneuve, Arrival; Mackenzie, Hell or High Water.
51
del Toro, The Shape of Water; McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; Melfi, Hidden Figures.
52
Scott, The Martian.

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characters and Spencer’s character, Dorothy Vaughan, has to report to Kirsten Dunst’s character.

In both cases the women have to continuously fight for basic entitlements such as a promotion

and authoring works that they contributed to. But no matter how hard they try they are always

met with resistance from their Caucasian superiors. 53 There were few films where a power

dynamic between a minority in a supporting or lead role and a Caucasian was not apparent, these

films were 2017 best picture winner Moonlight, Lion, and Fences.54 Although there is no clear

power structure, the minority characters in these films face other subtleties such as being placed

in stereotypical roles.

The Type of Roles Played by Minority Actors

As already stated, minority characters in 2017 best picture winner Moonlight and

Fences55 are depicted in working class or comedic roles. Other mentionable films in this

category are The Big Short, The Martian, Hell or High Water, The Shape of Water, Three

Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and Hidden Figures.56 Within this category films either

depicted minorities as a character who provided comedic relief or placed them in working class

roles. While there is some overlapping in the subcategories one theme always was more

prominent than the other.

Films that portrayed minority characters in comedic roles are The Big Short, The

Martian, and Hell or High Water.57 In The Big Short Selena Gomez is used to break the fourth

wall while Michael Peña and Nick Mohammed’s characters use sarcastic tone to interact with

53
Melfi, Hidden Figures.
54
Jenkins, Moonlight; Davis, Lion; Washington, Fences.
55
Jenkins, Moonlight; Washington, Fences.
56
McKay, The Big Short; Scott, The Martian; Mackenzie, Hell or High Water; del Toro, The Shape of Water;
McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; Melfi, Hidden Figures.
57
McKay, The Big Short; Scott, The Martian; Mackenzie, Hell or High Water.

14
superiors and friends.58 This theme is a little less apparent in Hell or High Water59 through Gil

Birmingham’s character, because it is the relationship between Birmingham and Jeff Bridges’

character is being used for comedic relief. Bridges’ character plays Birmingham’s white co-

sheriff who constantly makes racist comments and jokes, but Birmingham’s character is always

quick to fire back.

Films that depicted minorities in working roles such as police officers, TSA workers,

“computers” at NASA were Fences, Hidden Figures, The Shape of Water, Three Billboards

Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and to some extent Moonlight.60 Troy (played by Denzel Washington)

in Fences is portrayed as a garbage man in the 1950s who is frustrated by the system and blames

his lack of success on the effects of institutionalized racism, so much so that it tears his family

apart.61 The winner of the category for 2018, The Shape of Water is a different circumstance, as

it takes place in the midst of the space race. Octavia Spencer plays a cleaning lady in a high

security government laboratory. She is rarely seen outside of the accompaniment of a Caucasian

counterpart or hanging out with the other African American workers of the laboratory.62 The

same theme loosely applies to Three Billboards Outside Egging, Missouri. Except in this film the

secondary minority character doesn’t enter the plot until the second half of the film. When he

does enter, Clarke Peter’s character – the new chief of police – is asked to identify himself as the

other police officers don’t believe him and use profane language towards him.63 The winner of

best picture 2017, Moonlight follows main character Chiron and shows his life in three different

58
McKay, The Big Short.
59
Mackenzie, Hell or High Water.
60
Washington, Fences; Melfi, Hidden Figures; del Toro, The Shape of Water; McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside
Ebbing, Missouri; Jenkins, Moonlight.
61
Washington, Fences.
62
del Toro, The Shape of Water.
63
McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

15
parts Little, Chiron and Black. Each part tells a different coming of age story for him as he

navigates through life being from a poor family with a doped-up mother and bullied for being

perceived as homosexual. Chiron grows up to be a drug dealer which could be considered a

working-class job even though it may pay considerably better is not seen as a desirable

occupation.64 Whether the film was categorized under the theme of comedic relief or working

role, there are indications that these categories depict what roles society believes that minorities

should be in.

Discussion

Since the Oscars So White campaign, minorities are sparingly portrayed in lead roles and

while the number of films that depicted a minority in a supporting or lead role increased since

2016, the only year that had significant minority portrayal was 2017.65 This could be explained

by the idea that the Oscars So White campaign was still a new concept in Hollywood – since it

started in 2015 – and that The Academy was slow to acknowledge and apply it. But this idea

doesn’t quite explain the decrease in minority representation from 2017 to 2018. Besides a

fluctuation in minority representation since 2016, only two out of the three best picture winners

had strong minority representation. Spotlight winner of 2016 which is a film about the

investigations of the allegations of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church and

individuals who are covering it up, has no minority portrayal.66 Moonlight and The Shape of

Water have minority representation, but they depict minorities in stereotypical roles – a drug

dealer and a cleaning lady.67 These roles hint at the idea that society doesn’t full accept

64
Donnelly, “Oscar Winners 2017.”
65
Donnelly, “Best Picture Nominees! - Oscars 2017 News | 89th Academy Awards.”
66
McCarthy, Spotlight.
67
Jenkins, Moonlight; del Toro, The Shape of Water.

16
minorities as equals. In almost every film that had a strong minority presence, there was some

level of racism and stereotyping. This idea is reflected in the racist remarks said to Chris in Get

Out68 and police chief Abercrombie in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,69 and how

the colored characters in Hidden Figures70 have to run half a mile to use a colored bathroom.

These are just some instances where films since the start of the, Oscars So White campaign

reflect what roles society believes minorities should be in.

Big picture there is not a diverse minority presence since the Oscars So White campaign.

These all-encompassing themes are also a greater reflection of society itself. There is more

African American representation because of the rise in movements such as Black Lives Matter71

that occurred in the same time period as these films. While this is progression for one minority it

is not a greater progression of all as other minority groups were rarely represented. This reflects

that while society may be more accepting and aware of African Americans and their movements

for equality, there is still a long way to go for minority discrimination as a whole.

VI. Conclusion

In summary, this study sought to explore the how minorities were portrayed in

Hollywood, specifically The Academy Awards and what the portrayals or roles said about

society as a whole. This was conducted through a qualitative content analysis of 26 best picture

nominees and winners from the years 2016, 2017, and 2018. Conclusions drawn from this study

were that since the Oscars So White campaign, the Oscars are making minimal progress towards

68
Peele, Get Out.
69
McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
70
Melfi, Hidden Figures.
71
“Timeline of African-American History.”

17
minority inclusivity in films considered for the best picture category and that society still doesn’t

perceive minorities as equal to non-minorities. The greater implications of these findings as an

indication that the positive shift is slow and that the industry has a lot more room to grow. In

order to show greater diversity in best picture nominations and winners, there needs to not only

be a cultural shift in society, but also one in the industry. These two would supposedly coincide

as society dictates what movies are produced and directors/ The Academy set a standard or

precedence for what films the globe will see.

Limitations of this study were that it was not mixed methods and it was constrained to an

analysis of films post Oscars So White campaign (2016, 2017, and 2018). This limited the scope

in which the research could be compared as there was no data analyzed pre-campaign. In order to

see if the industry is truly making a positive shift in minority representation, more research

would need to be conducted. Ideally a comparison of pre and post Oscars So White campaign

minority representation in the best picture category would be analyzed to determine if there were

actually any changes. Based off of that the research also solely focused on a qualitative content

analysis on one category. Future research can expand by analyzing Oscar categories in addition

to the one analyzed in this study and also by incorporating a mixed methods analysis of the film.

A mixed method approach to content analysis would prove even more helpful in proving if there

is a real increase in minority representation.

18
VII. References
Buckley, Cara. “Changes for Oscars Ripple Far and Wide: [The Arts/Cultural Desk].” New York
Times, Late Edition (East Coast); New York, N.Y. January 28, 2016, sec. C.
Chazelle, Damien. La La Land. Drama/Romance, 2016.
Davis, Garth. Lion. Drama, 2016.
Donnelly, Jim. “Best Picture Nominations 2016 Oscars - Oscars 2016 News | 88th Academy
Awards.” Oscar.com. Accessed October 5, 2018.
http://oscar.go.com/news/nominations/best-picture-nominations-2016-oscars.
———. “Best Picture Nominees! - Oscars 2017 News | 89th Academy Awards.” Oscar.com.
Accessed October 5, 2018. http://oscar.go.com/news/nominations/best-picture-
nominations-2017-oscars.
———. “Oscar Winners 2016: See the Complete List! - Oscars 2016 News | 88th Academy
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