Plurality Thinks There Are Enough Diverse Roles in Hollywood

Diversity has been a favorite buzzword for Hollywood over the past few years, in relation to both recent films with a majority nonwhite cast (“Crazy Rich Asians,” “Black Panther”) and efforts to hold the industry accountable for its perceived lack of racial inclusivity (#OscarsSoWhite, #LatinosLeftOut) -- and a new poll shows that a plurality of Americans think there’s enough opportunity for diversity in the entertainment industry.

A Jan. 10-13 Morning Consult/The Hollywood Reporter survey of 2,201 U.S. adults finds that 42 percent of adults say there are a sufficient number of acting roles for racially diverse people while one-third of adults disagree.

The Inclusion in the Director’s Chair report from University of Southern California Annenberg that came out this month shows that from 2007 to 2018, out of 1,335 directors studied, 80 were black. But inclusion has increased: Sixteen black directors worked on the top 100 highest-grossing films in 2018, compared to 6 in 2017.

Worries about diversity in content also seem more prominent among African-Americans in the recent poll, with majorities of that group concerned about diversity in movies (57 percent) and television shows (58 percent) compared to 32 percent of the general population overall. Fifty-one percent of all adults said they were not concerned about diversity in either movies or television shows.

A 38 percent plurality said there are a sufficient number of acting roles for members of the LGBTQ community. And, according to recent reports, LGBT individuals actually have disproportionately high representation on the small screen: The number of LGBTQ series regular characters on primetime scripted broadcast shows has increased to a record high 8.8 percent in the 2018-2019 television season, according to GLAAD’s annual “Where We Are on TV” report -- nearly twice the share of adults who identified as LGBT in 2017, according to a Gallup survey.

Numbers of LGBTQ characters on cable and streaming services are also increasing thanks in part to shows such as FX Networks’ “Pose,” which received two Golden Globe nominations and according to producer Ryan Murphy featured the largest cast of regular trans actors in a U.S. television series.

“I have not seen any industry change its diversity practices simply on a hope and a wish,” Robinson says. “They have to put the same type of rigor that they put into making money, into everything else.”

To push for more diversity in Hollywood, Robinson suggests setting benchmarks for diversity, as well as providing tax credits with diversity clauses and inclusion riders, as potential improvements.  

Inclusion riders, or clauses in contracts that require certain levels of diversity on a project, have been promoted at awards shows by actresses including Frances McDormand and Regina King. A 43 percent plurality of white Americans, along with half of African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans, support inclusion riders.