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Representation of Race in Digital Media

Katie M. Birchard

C&T 807: Multicultural Education

Dr. Cheryl Wright

December 10, 2021

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For my media analysis project, I will be focusing on race. More specifically, I will

be focusing on how race is portrayed in digital media, such as television shows and

movies. As I begin my media analysis project, there will be a few different questions that

drive my project. Questions such as: What race appears more in digital media? How

does the media portray different races? Is there a more privileged group represented

through our media? What stereotypes are embedded in digital media? Finally, how

does the media shape the way people view certain races? The reason I chose this issue

is because I do not feel that all races are accurately portrayed in our media. Nor do I

feel that all races are equally portrayed. It is my goal, with this media analysis project, to

better understand why and how race is portrayed in TV shows, movies, and books.

Over the course of eight weeks, I have had the opportunity to explore websites,

read articles, watch different videos, and collect data from different research. Aside from

our Banks and Banks (2013) textbook, I found resources outside of class that extend

my research. These sources provided me adequate information and substantial

evidence for my media analysis project; evidence that answered all my focus questions.

While looking for data, information, and resources, I looked for sources that were

research based, had good references, and provided ample information. As we all know,

not everything we find and read on the “web” is accurate, or even true.

The Hollywood Diversity Report 2021 provided me with most of my numerical

data. This research driven source provided me with a significant number of statistics,

charts, percentages, and insight into diversity and how it looks in Hollywood. According

to the Hollywood Diversity Report 2021,

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People of color accounted for 39.7 percent of the leads in top films for 2020, the

highest share on record. At 40.3 percent of the U.S. population in 2020, people of

color were for the first time just a hair short of proportionate representation

among film leads that year. Indeed, the group has made tremendous progress

among film leads over the course of this report series: its 2020 share was nearly

quadruple its 2011 share (10.5 percent) and more than a 12-percentage-point

increase over the 2019 share the group posted in the previous report (27.6

percent) (UCLA, 2021).

The same report also mentions that only “4 out of 10 lead actors in film are people of

color” (UCLA, 2021). As I continued to read the report, I found yet another statistic that

seemed significant. The following snippet from The Hollywood Diversity Report 2021

breaks down the different races portrayed in digital media; more specifically, lead roles

in films.

A breakdown of film leads by specific racial group shows that Black persons,

about 13.4 percent of the U.S. population in 2020, were overrepresented in this

important employment arena (19 percent). By contrast, Latinx (5.4 percent),

Asian (5.4 percent), Native (1.1 percent), and MENA (1.1 percent) persons were

all underrepresented among film leads (UCLA, 2021).

These statistics were shocking, but not surprising. As I reflected on these statistics, I

wondered what the overall cast diversity looked like. Were more races represented

equally? Or were the statistics similar? Below you will see that sadly, the races were not

equally represented, nor were they represented any more than the previous statistics.
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The White share of all top film roles dropped to 58 percent in 2020, down from

67.3 percent in 2019, thus continuing a downward trend for the group. As a

result, Whites were for the first time slightly underrepresented among featured

film roles in 2020. Meanwhile, the Black share of all top film roles increased to

19.4 percent in 2020, up from 15.7 percent a year earlier, and marking the third

year in a row for which the group was overrepresented among these roles. As in

earlier years, Latinx (5.7 percent), Asian (6.5 percent), and Native persons (.6

percent) remained underrepresented among all top film roles in 2020.

Collectively accounting for about 40.3 percent of the population in 2020, people

of color exceeded proportionate representation for the first time among all top

film roles (42 percent) (UCLA, 2021).

“Diversity isn't the industry's only problem—the way that people of color are persistently

stereotyped on screen remains a major concern" (Nittle, 2020). This leads me to my

second source, Persistent Racial Stereotypes in TV Shows and Movies.

This article presented information on stereotypes and how different races are

portrayed, or stereotyped. These stereotypes not only occur through digital media, but

they often occur in “real life.” Below I will summarize a few different stereotypes from

each race they discussed in the article.

● Arab Stereotypes in Film and Television

○ "Arabs were often depicted as belly dancers, harem girls, and oil sheiks"

(Nittle, 2020).

○ "Arabs have been depicted as anti-American villains well before the 9/11

terrorist attacks" (Nittle, 2020).

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○ Disney portrayed Arabs as "barbaric and backward" in the 1992 hit

"Aladdin" (Nittle, 2020).

● Native American Stereotypes in Hollywood

○ "Bloodthirsty warriors who are violent toward White people" (Nittle, 2020).

○ "When Indigenous people are characterized more favorably, it's still

through a stereotypical lens, such as medicine men who guide White

people through difficulties" (Nittle, 2020).

○ "Indigenous women are depicted as beautiful maidens, princesses, or

"squaws." These narrow Hollywood stereotypes have made Indigenous

women vulnerable to sexual harassment and sexual assault in real life"

(Nittle, 2020).

● Black (African American) Stereotypes in Hollywood

○ "Wise Black men with no concerns of their own or desire to improve their

status in life. Instead, these characters function to help White characters

overcome adversity" (Nittle, 2020).

○ "Mostly function to help their White friend, normally the protagonist of the

show, transcend difficult circumstances. These stereotypes are arguably

as positive as it gets for Black characters in Hollywood" (Nittle, 2020).

○ "Thugs, victims of racial violence, or women with attitude problems" (Nittle,

2020).

● Hispanic Stereotypes in Hollywood

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○ "Latinos may be the largest minority group in the United States, but

Hollywood has consistently portrayed Hispanics very narrowly" (Nittle,

2020).

○ “Often seen as the maids or gardeners” (Nittle, 2020).

○ "Men have long been stereotyped as "Latin Lovers," while Latinas have

been characterized as exotic, sensual vamps" (Nittle, 2020).

○ Fiery tempers

○ "Hispanics are portrayed as recent immigrants, gang-bangers, and

criminals" (Nittle, 2020).

● Asian Americans Stereotypes in Film and Television

○ "Asian women are often portrayed as "dragon ladies," domineering women

who are sexually attractive but bad news for the White men who fall for

them" (Nittle, 2020).

○ "Asian men are consistently depicted as geeks, math whizzes, techies,

and a host of other characters viewed as non-masculine" (Nittle, 2020).

○ Martial arts / Kung fu

Taking the information and statistics collected from these two sources, I think about how

this information affects us as viewers: as humans in general. Reflecting back to one of

my main focus questions: How does the media shape the way people view certain

races? How do these stereotypes and statistics influence us, our behaviors, and our

beliefs? In the last source I used, Lights, cameras, representation! TV, Movies, and

Children's Thinking About Race, it says "According to Common Sense Media, 2-8-year-

old children in the US spent an average of nearly three hours every day on screen
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media alone in 2017" (2021). So not only do we need to be concerned about how digital

media affects us as adults, but we also need to be concerned about how digital media

affects our children and students.

Because for a kid, this is their window to the world of understanding our roles in

society, how we're expected to act. So, if there's any type of stereotyping, racism,

direct nuanced on a screen, a kid already understands the hierarchy that they're

seeing (2021).

If kids are watching television, movies, etc. and that is their “window to the world”, we

must acknowledge that and consider the consequences; how will this affect their outlook

on life, people, and different races in general.

As adults we must do better for our children; for our students. We need to

implement strategies, teach lessons, and have meaningful conversations with our

students. We need to guide them in the right direction and help them understand that

not everything they hear or see in digital media is accurate. Better yet, we as educators

need to implement strategies, teach lessons, and have meaningful conversations with

our students about the things that are missing or inaccurately represented in digital

media. Moving forward, I think it’s important to really dig deep and take the time when

searching for books, movies, lessons, phrases, etc. Simple things such as expanding

one’s library and implementing more diverse books, songs, read alouds, movies, etc.

into the classroom. Just by doing that, teachers can expand students’ knowledge and

expose them to things they may be unaware of. Teachers can also monitor any biases

and/or stereotypes they may have themself. Simple things such as no longer saying “sit
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Indian style” (criss cross applesauce) to students or only reading books that have white

characters. The littlest changes can make the most significant impact on our students

and their outlook on different races.

To summarize, all races are not portrayed accurately in our media. Nor do they

equally get portrayed. White people are often dominant in media, especially in regard to

lead roles in movies or television shows. Stereotypes do occur and they occur often;

frequently portraying different races in offensive, inaccurate ways. As viewers of the

media, we often become biased without even knowing. We see something on

mainstream media repeatedly and eventually start to believe it. We must acknowledge

this and learn how to avoid doing it. In the past few years, the media has made

significant strides in increasing the diversity represented through their cast. However,

our media has a long way to go before it can be described as equal for all races.
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References

Banks, J. A., & Banks, C. A. (2013). Multicultural education: issues and perspectives.

Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.  

E. (2021, June 17). Lights, cameras, representation! TV, movies, and children’s thinking

about

race. EmbraceRace. https://www.embracerace.org/resources/lights-camera-

representation-tv-movies-and-childrens-thinking-about-race#resources

Nittle, N. (2020, December 14). Persistent Racial Stereotypes in TV Shows and Movies.

ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/common-racial-stereotypes-

In-movies-television-2834718

UCLA. (2021). Hollywood Diversity Report 2021. Hollywood Diversity Report 2021,

1–52. https://socialsciences.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/

2021/04/UCLA-Hollywood-Diversity-Report-2021-Film-4-22-2021.pdf
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