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

7.3 Portrayal
There is very little research on portrayal in the UK and many studies
cited in this report are from the USA. According to research in the US,
if women and minority ethnic groups are employed in production roles
in the film industry, they are more likely to recruit women and minority
ethnic groups for film roles.
Groups are not yet seen in their variety on television. Disabled and
ethnic minority characters are discarded easily in roles on television
and characters from ethnic minorities are often mistakenly identified.
Since the 1990s, portrayal of lesbians and gay men has improved,
given a history of being silenced and marginalised, but most films are
still designed to appeal to the mainstream audience and to potential
investors, making producers cautious. On the other hand, it is also
argued that a recent proliferation of Hollywood films with gay and
lesbian characters portray them in a negative light.
Stereotypes of women include femme fatale, super mom, sex kitten
and nasty corporate climber according to a teachers’ pack on media
representations. Men are more likely than women to be shown ’on the
job’ in Canadian films and television, while female characters are more
likely to be seen dating, or talking about romance. Most women
represented in scientific roles are either single or married later and few
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