Barriers to Diversity in Film – A Research Review – Aug 07

In a major report on the black and Asian experience, many minority
ethnic groups said that they felt under-represented in British films and
wanted to see films more closely related to the day-to-day lives of
ordinary African Caribbeans and South Asians in Britain (BFI 2000).
The same report criticises East is East (1999), as does another author
(Aftab 2004). The move of this story from theatre saw white
characters added to the film, and a bad guy was built up to vilify (Aftab
2004). The Asian father is represented as a brutal hypocrite, who
insists his children must respect his cultural beliefs (compare the
‘cricket test’ by Norman Tebbit 5 ). This film was clearly an attempt at
gaining a white audience, but Monsoon Wedding (2001) did not add
white characters in this way and still attracted a large audience (Aftab
2004).
Even in the USA, where there are strong black and other actors from
minority groups, the number of films on racial and ethnic issues is
limited (Robson 2002). In Britain it is even more restricted,
notwithstanding the growth of the UK-born minority ethnic group
population (for example, 90% of under 14s from minority ethnic
groups have been born in the UK.)
A study on minority-led companies found that minority ethnic groups
argued negative stereotypes were often discernible in film (IES 2004).
5 Norman Tebbitt asked South Asian and Caribbean-origin people to seriously consider who they supported in national cricket
teams. He argued that the ‘cricket test’ could be applied to determine allegiance to England. By this he meant that people could
not support England and the West Indies. People had to support England to be truly English (Brah 1992).
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