There are at least, a few glimmers of hope.
A study conducted by the, involving 1300 popular films released between 2007 and 2019, has shown that the number of non-male or non-white protagonists has slowly risen. In that regard, last year was the strongest on record.
In 2019, 43% of the top 100 films that hit cinemas featured a women lead or co-lead; a figure that’s more than doubled from 20% in 2007. Of those women, 16% were from underrepresented racial or ethnic backgrounds. When it comes to people of colour as a whole, 31% of the highest grossing films in 2019 featured a protagonist from an underrepresented racial or ethnic background; a figure that’s almost tripled in the past 13 years.
What’s more, the myth that films with so-called ‘niche’ lead characters don’t make money at the box office can officially be quashed too. Films with women protagonists raked in $7.8 billion in the US last year, while films with POC protagonists earned $6.9 billion overall. The studio doing the most? Numbers-wise, Universal Pictures released nine women-helmed films and eight with underrepresented racial or ethnic leads or co-leads.
Dr Stacy L. Smith, one of the researchers who conducted the report, said that “the continued progress toward greater inclusion is important to celebrate,” but work, as always, still needs to be done. “Even as we urge ongoing change—particularly for women aged 45 and over, and for individuals from racial/ethnic groups who are routinely erased in popular film.”
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