Television shows still lack diverse actors


The Deadline article “Pilots 2015: The Year of Ethnic Castings” by Nellie Andreeva examines the increasing castings of minorities last television season. Andreeva’s doubt of the increasing “ethnic” presence in television sparked public debates. Though the effort to organize and analyze the progression in minority castings is worth applauding, many of Andreeva’s arguments contain assumptions that are too simplistic for such a complex topic.

Andreeva starts off by describing the recent success of freshmen series that feature minorities in lead roles and the increased opportunities for them to be considered for roles that are originally written for Caucasian actors. She then reports a series of shows that focus, at least partially, on minority representations. Finally, Andreeva wonders whether this phenomenon is a positive change in the industry, or if it has gone a bit too far.

Firstly, the article was originally titled “TV Pilots 2015: The Year of Ethnic Castings — About Time or Too Much of a Good Thing,” and was later renamed “TV Pilots 2015: Ethnic Casting Trend Hits Peak.” The edit of the headline was perhaps a response to the backlash against the article. Additionally, the language of the article was extremely outdated. Salon writes that  the use of “ethnic” suggests the actors aren’t “white-passing.” Calling “ethnic” castings “too much of a good thing” is inherently problematic. It seems to suggest that the rising non-Caucasian lead roles in television can cause damage. Whether Andreeva is worried about white actors losing opportunities to minority actors, or she feels like these new pilots misrepresent the makeup of the population in the United States, her original article title aimed to call attention to possible problems that could arise with more minority actors partaking in television series. Andreeva then goes on to describe the growing number of non-Caucasian actors taking up leading roles in the pilot casting season a “big trend.” Such use of language might unintentionally diminish the significance of the improved representation of ethnic groups on television. By calling this improvement a “big trend,” the article objectifies ethnicity, making them sound like commodities that are useful for attracting audiences, rather than skilled professionals who help better represent the real demographic.

Secondly, Andreeva points out numerous examples of lead television roles that were originally written for white actors ending up being taken and performed by minority actors. Shows Andreeva bring up include roles in Extent and How to Get Away with Murder, among others. Though it is an improvement to see that showmakers are more accepting and flexible when it comes to casting ethnic actors, one fundamental problem that is still left unresolved is the limited number of intended non-Caucasian lead roles in scripted television. Looking at the number of examples Andreeva lists in her article, one can see that minority actors have to stand out much more than their Caucasian counterparts in order to be considered for many major roles. The disproportionate distribution of roles might be a result of the lack of minority writers for television shows. According to a study done by the Bunche Center at UCLA, during the 2011-2012 season, “62.5 [percent] of the writing staffs were 10 [percent] minority or less” for broadcast comedies and dramas, and “68.6 percent of the cable comedies and dramas for the 2011-12 season had writing staffs that were 10 percent minority or less.” For the playing field to be more fair for actors, the playing field for writers and showmakers needs to be even first.

Furthermore, Andreeva moves on to raise concern for white actors’ competitiveness, since she said, “there has been a significant number of parts designated as ethnic this year, making them off-limits for Caucasian actors.” She then talks about how one talent representative said that “50 [percent] of the roles in a pilot have to be ethnic” and how this “ethnic quota” results in biases against white actors. How rigid and common this particular quota is in the television industry is quite ambiguous. According to a study conducted by GLAAD, a non-governmental media monitoring organization, however, for the primetime 2014 to 2015 season, around 13 percent of characters were black, 8 percent were Latino and 4 percent were Asian. Judging from this research, actors of minority groups have not threatened the white-dominated industry or overrepresented minorities in the United States. Plus, even if the percentage of minority actors casted in new pilots is indeed larger than the percentage of said ethnicities in the actual demographic, this would still not lead to a disappearance of white actors on television.

The entertainment industry has long been favoring Caucasians and underrepresenting ethnic groups that make up a significant population in the United States. There are still only a handful of minority actors that have become household names for taking lead roles in television shows. The new pilots for last season demonstrate a more accurate representation and drastic improvement and progress for a more equal playing field for actors of diverse ethnicities. That being said, neither society nor the entertainment industry have entered a post-race era where opportunities are equally given to all races. Hopefully, as the industry attempts to diversify its actors, it also diversifies showrunners, writers and creators.