The Politics Of Ethnicity In Film
May 17th, 2009 by Alan Yu
Today I saw that documentary called The Slanted Screen that dealt with Asians in the film business and the type of struggles and stereotypes one has to go through. I saw it on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJwAwH93Yhg
While obviously this one focused on Asian talent, it was so interesting to see the type of real politics that happen behind the scene. Example, certain films that wanted to replace actors simply because of their ethnicity to help draw in more acceptability. The comment towards the end too was pretty true where the bottom line it comes down to the money in terms of getting acceptance and more opportunities.
I mentioned before that my experiences have been pretty good so far when it comes to the independent circuit. I believe a big reason for this is that a lot of the younger generation of actors and filmmakers are used to growing up in a multicultural environment. Therefore, it’s more about who has the right skill and look.
Although, I will admit that for bigger budget items it is still hard. But realistically, it’s tough for everyone. Just like a business, the person funding the project wants a return on investment and so that’s just a challenge that you need to adapt with as they simply want to go with what is more likely to generate a return.