It’s no secret that Hollywood has been criticized for its lack of diversity, initially with the poor minority representation at this year’s Oscars, and now again with the list of the highest grossing actors and actresses to date.
Scarlett Johansson has received very deserved praise for her spot as the highest grossing actress of all time, but there’s just one issue here: she’s only number 10 on the list of 50. Clearly the film industry is still dominated by male stars because out of all 50 people listed, only nine of them are women. Did we mention that all of the women are white? Yep.
While there is somewhat (key word: somewhat) decent representation of African American actors (Samuel L. Jackson, Morgan Freeman and Eddie Murphy are all in the top ten) there are no Latino or Asian actors of any gender. Sadly, we’re not really surprised by this disappointing news, but we do know that something needs to change. Scarlett’s on the same page.
“There’s something icky about me having that conversation unless it applies to a greater whole,” Scar Jo told Cosmopolitan. “I am very fortunate, I make a really good living, and I’m proud to be an actress who’s making as much as many of my male peers at this stage… I think every woman has [been underpaid], but unless I’m addressing it as a larger problem, for me to talk about my own personal experience with it feels a little obnoxious. It’s part of a larger conversation about feminism in general.”
Not only does the gendered wage gap need to end, but we need to start seeing some cultural representation in Hollywood that’s different than the typical middle-aged white male. Whether it’s through race, gender or sexuality we are ready to see change happen on the big screen.