I have chosen to discuss the representation of minorities in the media. I wanted to write about this because I've noticed there's quite a shortage of non-white actors in the media. With this in mind, the questions I want to address are: What impact does not seeing themselves in movies or on television have on minorities? And can individuals develop a negative self-image due to lack of representation? I will address each of these questions by focusing on how beneficial it is for people to see their race represented, the lack of minorities in the media, and why it is important to show all races in film or television. As I research this topic, I hope to further explain these issues and develop an understanding of why they are still present. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first article I want to look at would be “Why On-Screen Representation Actually Matters” (Boboltz and Yam). In this source it is explained that there are negative psychological impacts resulting from people not seeing themselves in films. This article supports the idea of ​​how crucial it is for minorities to be represented on screen. This quote from the source delves into how people who have studied minority representation have come up with terms to explain the feelings involved: ""There's this body of research and a term known as 'symbolic annihilation,' which is the idea that if you don't If you don't see people like you in the media you consume,” he explained, “you must be somehow unimportant”” (Boboltz and Yam). I was surprised to learn that the term symbolic annihilation even exists, the fact that there even is a term for it shows how much of a problem it has become. This article also mentions that minorities are often portrayed with overused and stereotypical offensive clichés. While it is good that minorities are represented, nothing is achieved if they simply act in a stereotypical way (Boboltz and Yam). Television and movies often offer an escape from the real world, however they can put someone at a disadvantage if they translate what they see in the media into reality. Watching a show with minority actors playing stereotypical roles or only white actors is not reality, it is important to see people who are different from you in film or television represented without prejudice. From this article, I learned how inadequate representation of minorities can make them feel like they don't matter to society. The next article I'll talk about is "Out of 30,000 Hollywood Movie Characters, Here's How Many Weren't White." " (Crigger and Santhanam). This article explains how over 10 years the percentage of minorities in cinema has remained low; if we look at the period from 2007 to 2014, the percentage of black, Hispanic, Asian and other actors has remained at below twenty (Crigger and Santhanam ) This was shocking to me because the world has changed significantly since 2007, but the percentage of minorities on screen has remained the same While just being represented in film is important even the way non-white characters are portrayed The stereotypes presented can cause the majority to have a distorted view of minorities (Crigger and Santhanam) It is strange that someone can only see someone based on what they see on screen, however for some it may be all they know about that person's race. The following source I will analyze will be “Hollywood Stereotypes” (Mastropolo and Stossel). This article explains how the media caninfluencing how people view minorities and also how actors don't like being cast in a role simply because of their race. Actors like BD Wong, who wished he were a white actor just so he could be offered other roles: "I wanted to be Matthew Broderick," Wong says. “If you could have given me $150,000 and told me it was possible, I would have done that surgery.”” (Mastropolo eStossel). An actor's race should not disqualify him from roles. Another part of the article that I thought was interesting would have been : “The popularity of a stereotype does not justify it… Cowboy and Indian films have been very popular for generations. But that doesn't make the stereotype right." (Mastropolo and Stossel) This excerpt goes hand in hand with the previous one, which states that minority actors are confined due to prejudice and although the aforementioned prejudice may be widely accepted, is still not an accurate portrayal of minorities. Non-white actors are currently limited to the roles available to them. Next article “Hollywood Has A Major Diversity Problem, USC Study Finds/USC study: Minorities still underrepresented in popular films” (Keegan). ) delves into how the actors we see in the movie can extend beyond and into our everyday lives. The article's consecutive quote touches on how the people we see in the movies can translate into what we think is important: “Who we see. in films sends a powerful message about who is important and whose stories are valuable, both to international audiences and to younger viewers in our country... Do films communicate to audiences that only certain stories are worth telling?" (Keegan) . I thought this footage was intriguing because it highlights how essential it is to see films with actors of all types of races, so we're not saying that only one specific race, mainly Caucasian, has stories that matter. The article also examines which races see movies versus which races star in movies. This excerpt from the article mentions how Hispanic moviegoers are particularly disadvantaged: “Hispanics buy about 26% of movie tickets, get only 4.2% of speaking roles.” (Keegan). I was surprised when I first read this because, although Hispanics make up nearly a third of movie audiences, this percentage is poorly translated onto the screen of the movie they're watching. What I took away from the article is that movies don't take minority ticket buyers into account, so the amount of minorities in movies is insufficient. The last source I'll mention is "Why Minority Representation in Film, Comics, and TV Matters" (Tasker). This article discusses the positive effects of seeing yourself translated onto the screen. In the following excerpt, we notice that we connect more with characters who are similar to us: "The more a character is like us, or dealing with the same problems as us, the more we worry." (Tasker). While I found this interesting, it's also a shame that people can't connect with characters that don't exist. Therefore, it is surprising that we have shows/movies like Luke Cage, starring an African American who has superhuman strength in the show, and Rogue One, starring Diego Luna and Riz Ahmed (Tasker). Luke Cage and Rogue One both star minority actors and are led by a major company, Disney. Having media like this available, which positively shows minorities as heroes or protagonists of action, is a huge step forward. It would be amazing if shows or films like the ones mentioned above became the standard rather than a rarity, so minorities could experience having themselves shown favorably in the media. Now I will analyze how..