Radio Recap: The Entertainment Gap

Earlier this year, Academy Award Best Actress-winner, Frances McDormand, said two words that shook up Hollywood: “INCLUSION RIDER.” To further highlight Hollywood’s inequality problem, two studies from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Journalism came out this year, both re-confirming the fact that Tinseltown is still predominantly “pale and male.”

But the problem doesn’t end onscreen or behind the camera— thesame “pale and male” domination is true of film critics. One study revealed that over 77% of all reviews for the top 100 movies of 2017 were written by men. While, in contrast, 22% of reviews were written by women.  The other study found that 30 movies featured a male 45 years of age or older whereas only 5 films depicted a female in the same age bracket. And only one movie across the 100 top films of 2017 was led by a woman of color 45 years of age or older.

Also lacking from the top-grossing movies of 2017 was ANY portrayal of a woman in a top-level business, financial, legal or journalism job—zero lady bosses represented. Is Hollywood hurting working women across all sectors?

Here to discuss the Entertainment Gap is the originator of the inclusion rider, Founder and Director of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, Dr. Stacy L. Smith, along with Annie Yu, the Director of Training & Enablement; Diversity & Inclusion Champion at Vox Media.