Race and Gender in Hollywood; White Washing

          I have recently watched a youtube video, which I have posted at the end of the blog, depicting Hollywood's past and current aims to "white wash" their cast.  White washing is a term used to define a person's actions to take lead roles in a movie and assign them to mostly white male actors.  Often times these roles are written for minorities or women to play but become white and male by default.

          Hollywood has traditionally casted white males to portray these minority roles to strengthen its existing gender and race roles.  Most of the time we don't even realize that a person of another race or sex has been replaced by a white male according to the original story, script, or book.  The idea that a minority role must be re-casted by a "universal" star in itself reveals Hollywood's attempts as a means of economics and racism.

Above is an example of white washing 

          On the whole, Hollywood acts as just another institution aimed to strengthen and perpetuate the current system designed to keep minorities and women in less important roles.  White washing is just one of the many techniques used by Hollywood and other institutions to get these same effects.  The truth is far from what we are being fed on a daily basis.

          Until institutions like Hollywood are willing to put past personal gain, economics, and racism/sexism, to cast movies in "real" diversified light, it is going to remain a constant struggle for society to see it this way.  A greater portrayal and outreach of these wrongdoings is necessary for our culture to begin to see the world as it truly is.  The more we become aware of how our growth as a nation and world has been stunted by a misguided few, the more we will be able regroup and believe for ourselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAK0gVeMsfY