Coming off the heels of an overall push for diversity within Hollywood, arguably the impetus being the #OscarsSoWhite reaction in 2015, there has been a call to action from several within the industry that this same sense of inclusion be extended to film criticism. Most recently, acclaimed actress Brie Larson (Room and the upcoming Captain Marvel), upon receiving her Crystal + Lucy Award, echoed a similar sentiment when she stated “I don’t need a 40-year-old white dude to tell me what didn’t work for him about [A] Wrinkle in Time. It wasn’t made for him.” Additionally, as reported by The Guardian, a recent report from the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism uncovered that of all the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes for the 100 top-grossing films in 2017, 77.8% were written by men and 22% by women, with 82% of reviewers being white and only 18% from “under-represented racial groups.”
Larson’s statement coupled with this recent report raises the question of whether films focused on diverse ages, genders, and nationalities, such as A Wrinkle in Time, are being inadequately assessed, and if the bulk of critics being white males could lead to a prejudice, whereby film evaluations are reflecting a bias against diversity. While the push for different perspectives in film criticism is the natural and long overdue next step to better reflect the opinions of society as a whole, psychological research on stereotyping and prejudice indicates that such a measure for inclusion may not have the effect many are anticipating.
Continue reading “Lack of Diversity is Impacting Film Reviews, Only Not in the Way You Might Think”