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jezebel.com: SAG-AFTRA, in a survey of its members, found that over 50% of LGBTQ performers believe that Hollywood directors and producers are biased against them because of their orientation and/or gender identity.
6 comments:
Jason Cohen
said...
I find this article very interesting! Many times people like to believe that because we are in the arts that everyone is LGBTQ friendly. However, it doesn't surprise me that this homophobia is occurring. As much as it kills me as a gay man there are homophobic people in the world. Unfortunately, some of them are in our profession. Many times have I had to put my personal views aside in order to get my work accomplish. That being said, my true feeling is that this is stupid. One actor shouldn't be considered over another just because of who they love. That is wrong. America is making amazing progress with gay rights. I can only hope that in time we will no longer have to worry about homophobia.
It's disappointing that an art industry such as film would still be so discriminatory. However, in the scope of art industries, film is one of the more commercial. I am curious if this same sentiment is felt among LGBTQ theatre professionals and if there is a difference between directors, actors, designers, technicians, and managers. Discrimination in any sense can create a double-standard, hurt feelings, and breakdown a safe work environment. The challenge with discrimination is that explicit discrimination can be prohibited by institutions but implicit discrimination is person to person. One bad seed can spoil the batch. As more people with inclusive beliefs rise to power, hopefully overtime these implicit discriminations will expire.
I am not at all surprised by this article, I think that this entire country has a VERY long way to go in terms of tolerance and open-mindedness. I do not expect Hollywood to be any exception to that. There are homophobs everywhere, in every business, polluting our country. It is a shame that the business that partly thrives from the LGBTQ fan base still discriminates against it. The only line in this article that could surprise me was that men were loosing their jobs because of their sexuality. I can see people not being casted in roles (which of course is still discrimination), but actually loosing a job is really disgusting. The article says that it was about 4% of bisexuals, I wonder how many people that actually is and what jobs they were released from. That would be an interesting article, if it had more information about the type of work people were being denied due to their sexual orientation.
I was honestly surprised by this article due to the fact that most art industries are more open to equal treatment of people no matter their sexual preference, skin color, race, etc. That being said, Hollywood has never treated people well in the first place. Women are degraded to a point where its odd to most viewers when a woman is not portrayed as a slut. Stereotypes and stock characters run the movie industry. Maybe one day people will be more accepting of LGBTQ performers and people in general. Hopefully that day comes soon.
A new interesting form of discrimination in Hollywood against the LGBTQ community is the stereotypical roles. The LGBTQ roles used to be solely comedic or solely evil (cue the evil villain with the questionable sexuality). Now they're the best friend, or the one with perfect, sage advice (much like the wise old black man with all the answers). Hollywood is so fixated on not being offensive that they are doubly offensive, and how they treat these actors off screen only intensifies that.
Hollywood isn't liberal. Not really. Well, politically yes, but they still adhere to the same conservative standards that will generate more profit. Women are sexual objects. Fat men are funny. Fat women are masculine and funny. Black characters are killed off first in a horror movie. Gay characters are sassy. Black women are sassy.
Hollywood is a machine trying to create a similar output to the money-making one it has been for years.
Saddening yes, but surprising? Not really. As liberal as Hollywood pretends to be, it’s really not. It’s still just a bunch of big name corporations making movies for a profit. There’s a formula for what’s right, what’s been done before, and if you don’t fit within that formula, it will be made clear to you that you don’t belong. I completely agree with Zoe that the stereotypes perpetrated by Hollywood show how close-minded and non-accepting that industry can actually be. I think that those stereotypes definitely foster prejudices that make their way into the audition room. The fact that the huge blockbusters that keep coming out still feature prominently white men even though many parts could easily be filled by anyone, regardless of race, sexual orientation or gender identification, goes to show that there is a lot of progress to be made. There’s also the fact that people suck and that discrimination is real and alive, regardless of where they’re from or what industry they work in.
6 comments:
I find this article very interesting! Many times people like to believe that because we are in the arts that everyone is LGBTQ friendly. However, it doesn't surprise me that this homophobia is occurring. As much as it kills me as a gay man there are homophobic people in the world. Unfortunately, some of them are in our profession. Many times have I had to put my personal views aside in order to get my work accomplish. That being said, my true feeling is that this is stupid. One actor shouldn't be considered over another just because of who they love. That is wrong. America is making amazing progress with gay rights. I can only hope that in time we will no longer have to worry about homophobia.
It's disappointing that an art industry such as film would still be so discriminatory. However, in the scope of art industries, film is one of the more commercial. I am curious if this same sentiment is felt among LGBTQ theatre professionals and if there is a difference between directors, actors, designers, technicians, and managers. Discrimination in any sense can create a double-standard, hurt feelings, and breakdown a safe work environment. The challenge with discrimination is that explicit discrimination can be prohibited by institutions but implicit discrimination is person to person. One bad seed can spoil the batch. As more people with inclusive beliefs rise to power, hopefully overtime these implicit discriminations will expire.
I am not at all surprised by this article, I think that this entire country has a VERY long way to go in terms of tolerance and open-mindedness. I do not expect Hollywood to be any exception to that. There are homophobs everywhere, in every business, polluting our country. It is a shame that the business that partly thrives from the LGBTQ fan base still discriminates against it. The only line in this article that could surprise me was that men were loosing their jobs because of their sexuality. I can see people not being casted in roles (which of course is still discrimination), but actually loosing a job is really disgusting. The article says that it was about 4% of bisexuals, I wonder how many people that actually is and what jobs they were released from. That would be an interesting article, if it had more information about the type of work people were being denied due to their sexual orientation.
I was honestly surprised by this article due to the fact that most art industries are more open to equal treatment of people no matter their sexual preference, skin color, race, etc. That being said, Hollywood has never treated people well in the first place. Women are degraded to a point where its odd to most viewers when a woman is not portrayed as a slut. Stereotypes and stock characters run the movie industry. Maybe one day people will be more accepting of LGBTQ performers and people in general. Hopefully that day comes soon.
A new interesting form of discrimination in Hollywood against the LGBTQ community is the stereotypical roles. The LGBTQ roles used to be solely comedic or solely evil (cue the evil villain with the questionable sexuality). Now they're the best friend, or the one with perfect, sage advice (much like the wise old black man with all the answers). Hollywood is so fixated on not being offensive that they are doubly offensive, and how they treat these actors off screen only intensifies that.
Hollywood isn't liberal. Not really. Well, politically yes, but they still adhere to the same conservative standards that will generate more profit. Women are sexual objects. Fat men are funny. Fat women are masculine and funny. Black characters are killed off first in a horror movie. Gay characters are sassy. Black women are sassy.
Hollywood is a machine trying to create a similar output to the money-making one it has been for years.
How do we change that?
Saddening yes, but surprising? Not really. As liberal as Hollywood pretends to be, it’s really not. It’s still just a bunch of big name corporations making movies for a profit. There’s a formula for what’s right, what’s been done before, and if you don’t fit within that formula, it will be made clear to you that you don’t belong.
I completely agree with Zoe that the stereotypes perpetrated by Hollywood show how close-minded and non-accepting that industry can actually be. I think that those stereotypes definitely foster prejudices that make their way into the audition room. The fact that the huge blockbusters that keep coming out still feature prominently white men even though many parts could easily be filled by anyone, regardless of race, sexual orientation or gender identification, goes to show that there is a lot of progress to be made.
There’s also the fact that people suck and that discrimination is real and alive, regardless of where they’re from or what industry they work in.
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