Contemporary Challenges of Black Portrayals in Film

On and Off-Screen Black Representation in Film

Off-screen talent is even less than on-screen.

McKinsey & Company https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/black-representation-in-film-and-tv-the-challenges-and-impact-of-increasing-diversity.

Black Female Leads Research Findings 

The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media

https://seejane.org/wp-content/uploads/rep-of-black-women-in-hollywood-report.pdf

Black representation in film has changed since the beginning of cinema, but there is still progress to be made. As seen in the first data chart in this exhibit with Black representation being low both on and off-screen in the film industry, it is  especially low for writers, directors, and producers. In order to improve upon the representation of Black people in film and to create more diverse stories that do not lean into stereotypes, it is necessary that there is Black talent both behind and in front of the camera. This is especially important for Black female leads as they are still underepresented and stereotyped in film. They are rarely leading ladies in top-grossing films, especially Black women who have darker complexions because of colorism that favors lighter skin. They are also held back my eurocentric beauty standards because of texturism. "When it comes to skin tone, as shown in Figure 2, only one-in-five (19.0%) Black leading ladies have a darker skin tone" (McTaggart et al, 2021). This shows how there is a bias toward Black women who have lighter skin and wear European hairstyles because they are closer to conforming with eurocentric beauty standards. There is also the issue of hyper-sexualization for Black women still in cinema which reinforces stereotypes of Black women being viewed as oversexual that has existed since the beginning of cinema. 

Actress, writer, and producer Issa Rae known for her positive representation of Black women.

Photographed by Adrienne Raquel https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/05/issa-rae-on-ending-insecure-rebooting-project-greenlight

Issa Rae's work as a writer in the film & tv industry has been praised for how she has created progress in how Black women are represented in Hollywood especially for darker-skinned Black women and natural hair textures. America's history of misogynoir and respectability politics for Black people to be seen as respectable to White people have influenced how Black women have been written in film. Black women in film have been depicted as sassy and angry or traditonal respectability. Black women writers such as Issa Rae have worked to write Black women as diverse people in their stories who go beyond the stereotypes that have existed in media. "She does not exclude the hustling mom, the sex worker, the aspiring rapper, the youth worker, the awkward girl, or all the other beatifully complex forms a Black woman can come in which are oftentimes disregarded by television writers. Instead, Issa Rae reimagines representation and writes a world where Black women are free from the restraints of respectability" (Kishoiyian, 2022). Black women as writers involved in the portrayals of Black women in films brings down the percentage describe in the studies. Having more Black people in the creative space of filmmaking allows for more diverse representation such as lessening colorism and texturism. Black creators also help to remove racialized stereotypes and better depictions of Black people in film as a whole.