How Race and ethnicity in Uk film is represented?

Putting the black in Britain back on the BBC

“ reflecting on just how challenging the broadcast environment could be,

written just after Black Britain was ‘retired’, Simon Cottle noted how, ‘the
corporate context and programme-making environment of the BBC according
to ethnic minority producers is relatively exclusive, staid and unadventurous
and populated predominantly by white middle-class males”

“ It appears researchers have overlooked this unique programme as having an

impact on the News environment at the BBC, suggesting instead that diversity
of perspectives was rare and restricted to storylines which portrayed ethnic
minorities as problematic”

“ For example, during the 1981 inner-city riots across Britain there were
frequent references to the disturbances as ‘race riots’. This rankled with many
viewers in those communities worst affected because the television News
images seemed to them to be telling a different story. Images of police battling
with young people of all ethnicities, but particularly black and white, was not
the same as police separating factions divided along ‘race’ lines.”

Evaluation:
With this socurce that I found on the representation of ethnicity in UK cinema I
found a wide rang of different points that will help me with me going forward
with my dissertation. With the points that I have found from this reliable
source I noticed that big corporate companies such as the BBC have been a
reason for the lack of ethnic people working in exective roles such as
producers and directors as most people in these positions in the industry are
populated by white middle class males. By knowing this information it will help
me when I come to writing up my dissertation of the representation of ethnicity
in UK cinema as by researching this it has allowed me to gain a better
understanding of how these minorities are represented in the UK and how they
are mistreated compared to white people in the industry.

https://inclusivecinema.org

“Diverse audiences are also more likely to think it important that they can see
stories, characters and settings to which they can personally relate – for
example, 65% of the working class audience say it is important to see their
own stories authentically reflected in the films they watch”
“However, when asked about the amount of work needed to be more authentic:
19% of the general public perceived “a great deal” more work needs to be
done, comparing to 43% for the Asian audience and 58% of the Black
audience”

“The following are the proportions from diverse audiences who say they would
watch more films if people from diverse backgrounds were portrayed more
authentically: 59% of the Asian audience, 66% of the Black audience, 54% of
the Eastern European audience”

Evaluation:
With the information that I have gathered from this source I have found some
credible information that will help me moving forward when writing my
dissertation about how race and ethnicity is represented in UK cinema. With
the different points that I picked out from the source I found that there is a lack
of diversity throughout Uk cinema as from one of the points that I picked out I
found that 59% of the Asian audience, 66% of the Black audience, 54% of the
Eastern European audience would watch more films if the people from diverse
backgrounds were represented authentically. This is massively helpful to me
moving forward as this gives me more of an insight into the representation of
race and ethnicity and how this affects not only the audience’s watching but
how it also affects the companies itself as this could lower their viewership
through the misrepresentation.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize

“Citizen Khan has faced criticism for its represtation of Muslims

The writer and star of the show Adil Ray, himself a British Muslim, defended
the show saying:
‘Growing up in a Muslim family in the 1970’s and 80’s I rarely saw families like
ours on TV. So I’m pleased to be able to put that right and share a bit of my
culture with a wide audience....The biggest most important thing you can do is
laugh at yourself. You then negate anything anybody can ever do, it’s the
ultimate weapon. If you can laugh at yourself it doesn’t matter what anybody
says to you as you’re laughing already.’

“The media’s representation of ethnicity can prove very powerful as it could be

the only experience of other cultures that some audiences will encounter.
If all representation of ethnicity in the media were balanced this would not be a
problem. However many representations can rely on negative stereotypes
which may adversely affect the way others then perceive a particular ethnic
culture.”

Evaluation:
With this information that I have gathered from this source I have found
various different points which I think will massively help me moving forward
with my dissertation as this gives me more knowledge of how race and
ethnicity is represented in a positive or negative way in UK cinema. From the
points that I have gathered from I have read that I have seen that the medias
representation of these minorities can have powerful connotations to them but
representations can also rely on negative stereotypes which can affect the way
others perceive a particular ethnic culture. This information will help me
massively with my dissertation as by looking deeper into these articles I have
found key points which will help me moving forward when pointing out how
race and etnicity is represented.

https://www.screendaily.com

“A survey of the UK’s leading film companies reveals a remarkably white

workforce, particularly in the executive ranks.”

“In a rare interview, Foster spoke to Screen about his concerns for the film
industry, which he believes is suffering from a lack of action and
accountability. “Film in the UK is the preserve of the white middle class like no
other media sector,” says Foster.
Certainly, the film industry still suffers from a perception problem. “People
often look at the movies and see it as a Mecca on a hill,” director Steve
McQueen told Screen in a recent interview.”

“Black and Asian youth are barely employed in the film industry to develop
films. Why not? Because film companies do not make the effort,” claims
Foster. “These companies get public money. What are Channel 4, the BBC and
BFI doing giving money to white-only companies without any thought as to
what they are perpetuating?”

Evaluation:

From this information that I have gathered from the key points in this article
from the screendaily it will help me massively moving forward with my
dissertation on how race and ethnicity is represented in Uk cinema. This
article talks about how in UK cinema there is a lack of action when it comes to
putting people of different ethnicities and races in more executive ranks in the
Uk film industry and how this is making a misrepresentation in these different
communities. This article has helped me massively with my understanding of
the representation of race and ethnicity in UK cinema as shown in this article I
can see that there has been a misrepresentation of non white communities
which is something that is a problem and is something I will talk about in my
dissertation.

https://www.theguardian.com

“The fundamental issue is that we need to fast track training and access
for young talented kids, not just young talented white kids.”

“The culture of the industry has to change. It’s just not healthy. It’s
wrong. And yet, many people in the industry go along with it as if it is
normal.”

“Ultimately, British production companies, financiers and the US studios

working here need to make a decision about what side of history they
want to be on. They need to start reflecting the diversity of the UK, not
just in front of the camera, but behind it.”

Evaluation:

From this information that I have gathered about the misrepresentation

of race and ethnicity I have found that the industry of film is not as
diverse as it should be in some areas as the industry is seen as “fast
tracking and access for young talented kids, not just young untanlented
white kids.” This gives me a better understanding of the UK film industry
and how the diversity of the UK film industry both on and off camera is a
problem that needs to be solved.

https://filmtvcharity.org.uk

“A distinction should be drawn between diversity and anti-racism: diversity

can be understood as a remedial measure to address under-representation,
whereas antiracism tends to be more interventionist and structurally focused.
Whilst there is evidence for a recent shift towards describing the conditions
for ethnic minorities in the UKF&TV industry in terms of ‘structural racism’,
policies between 2000-2020 show little evidence of the language of anti-racism
and structural inequality. Since the public awareness of the Black Lives Matter
movement has increased following the murder of George Floyd in the US in
May 2020, there has been a resurgence in the language of racial injustice
within the sector, particularly within television.”

“For example, has often overlooked structural forms of racism (Malik, 2013).
Diversity policy between 2000-2020 was unwilling to interrogate and unsettle
the racially discriminatory industrial conditions that impacted the recruitment,
retention, Racial Diversity Initiatives in Film & TV 6 attrition and progression of
Black, Asian and minority ethnic talent off screen and within organisational
settings. This has been a major failing of the diversity agenda in the sector.”

“The inclusion of ethnic minorities within the industry’s dominant whiteness

does not necessarily produce a more racially harmonious industrial condition.
Black and minority ethnic creatives are often denied autonomy, editorial
control, and must exist within an unaltered institutional climate where they
remain subjected to various and habitual forms of racism. This suggests that
more off-screen diversity does not necessarily produce ‘better representation’
on screen or neatly unsettle industry norms. “

Evaluation:
From the information that I have gathered from this reliable source about the
misrepresentation of race and ethnicity, I am able to get a better understanding
of how people of colour or a different ethnic background are treated in the
industry. From this article, I have learnt that people from a different ethnic
background or different colour that is not white are “denied” more senior roles
in the film industry which can be subjected to racism as the UK film industry is
largely dominated by middle class white males.

https://stephenfollows.com/

“Origins which appear to be disproportionately under-represented (compared to UK

population) are:

​ Pakistan

​ White British (i.e. England, Wales, Scotland and the Irish Republic)

​ Poland
 ​ India : Hindi

​ Muslim (Other)”

“Before I talk about the method I should note that the research didn’t conclude that

the dataset we looked at was 37% “Non-white”. It was 37% non-White British,

meaning that there are many origins which would be included in the classification of

“white” which are included in that 37%, such as Americans, Europeans, Australians,

etc. But I know that wasn’t your main point so I shall move on to the system itself. In

an ideal world, I would love to have an all-seeing eye which could impartially and

perfectly deduce the race of all film professionals but sadly that’s not possible. So we

have to work with what is possible. It’s my personal opinion that the lack of methods

to track race has played a big part in keeping diversity back, and so we should grab

every method we can to study the topic.”

“The roles these different groups fulfil are very different. If a person had a black

Caribbean name or one typical of American Blacks, then there was hardly any chance

at all that that person would be anything other than a member of the cast. By contrast

the role of producer is particularly associated with people with Jewish or Armenian

names. For example 40% of the Jewish names on the database were producers but

fewer than 5% of the Nigerian names.”

Evaluation:

With this evaluation, I have looked at another very reliable resource that has
helped me massively in understanding the misrepresentation of race and
ethnicity in the UK film industry. From the information that I have gathered
from this article I have found out that there is more of a lack of diversity off the
screen (behind the camera) then on the screen with the misrepresentation of
race and ethnicity. This has allowed me to gain an understanding that off the
camera it is very hard for people of a different colour or ethnic background to
have more senior roles such as a producer or if they was on camera the
majoirty of people of an ethnic background were just another cast memeber.
https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Black_Film_British_Cinema_II

Evalutation:

With this final evaluation that I did where I looked at another reliable source
about the different misrepresentation of race and ethnicity throughout the UK
film industry. From this article of a previous director that is of a different
colour other then white I found that the people of colour had a harder time to
gain recognition for their work that they created and they feel like they are not
as cared and appreciated for then people of a white background. By gathering
this information it has allowed me to have a better understanding of the
misrepresentation of race and ethnicity