Photo by Bill Ingalls, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
By Maria Luiza Montejano Pedrosa
Inclusion is crucial to depict the reality of society in films, to create awareness for a particular group or community, and to keep prejudice out of cinema. Though much progress has been made over the years, is the film industry today truly diverse?
Diversity through cinema history 🎞️🕰️
In the early years of Hollywood, actors of colour took on supporting roles in films, that were many times racist depictions of them. This was a mirror of the racist, and in many countries segregated, society. These roles were most times of maids, slaves, criminals and other violent stereotypes, and was an issue that persisted throughout the years and is still seen often.
The first Black person to win an academy award was Hattie McDaniel, who won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy in Gone With the Wind (1939. Ironically, she was not even allowed to attend the premiere in Atlanta, because of the the Jim Crow laws in that era. Since then, only 10 Black actresses have won an Oscar for a supporting role.
Whoopi Goldberg is one of them, who constantly voices her discontent with the lack of diversity in the industry. “I don’t think the industry really sees us as leads, you know?” she says in the Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Leading Women in Hollywood (2025) documentary.
“They give us supporting [actress awards] like they give out candy canes. That’s just — I don’t know what to do with that,” she said.
Significant changes were made, however, towards the late 20th century as the civil rights and women’s rights’ movements revolution took off in the 1960’s, when racial prejudice issues were protested against everywhere. Respected names like Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr and Sidney Poitier rose to fight for equality, in a society that was eager to see their blood.
In 2002, Halle Berry was the first Black woman to win the first Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading role for Monster’s Ball (2001). Recently, she opened up about the importance of that win for her community in a documentary.
“It’s forced me to ask myself, did it matter?” Berry asks. “Did it really change anything for women of color? For my sisters? For our journey?” she reflects.
Why representation matters 🫱🏻🫲🏿
To embrace diversity is to understand and depict the truth about communities that many times are marginalised, misunderstood and harmed by unsolicited prejudice. Michelle Yeoh, the first Asian woman to win a Best Actress Academy Award, said in her acceptance speech: “For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is the beacon of hope and possibilities. This is proof that dreams do come true.”
Fahmida Yesmin, a 25 year-old student, urges the importance of embracing different cultures.
“Yes, I see diversity. I think it is important because you get to know other cultures, diverse backgrounds, you can get to know different people from different cultures,” she says.
There are kids everywhere who are told to bow down, straighten their curly hair, lower their voice and change their mannerisms who become women that suffer from lack of acceptance, that never had the chance of seeing someone like them on TV.
In 2023, hair cosmetics brand Seda launched a campaign about embracing curly hair that went viral worldwide. In the video, a woman sees a commercial where Princess Tiana, from Disney’s Princess and the Frog (2010), wears her hair down – and so the woman decides to do the same. In the streets, a little girl says that the woman has hair like hers and smiles.
The commercial started a trend of posts on social media, where little girls acted like Tiana and wore their hair down like princesses. This took an unexpected turn when women started posting videos acting the same, telling emotional stories of a life of repressing their hair before embracing their true curly self.
Sujita Shrestha, a 19-year-old student from London Metropolitan University, says that though she does not watch many films she does see a lot of diversity.
“In my country there is a lot of diversity, In Nepal many films have Indian people, Nepalis, people from all colours. There is huge diversity in the movies there,” she says.
“We all have the right to watch movies, all people have the right to play in the movies so we should give a chance to all people from all over the world to be a part of it. If they gave me a chance even I would love to be in a movie,” she adds.
Representation means accepting all people from every culture, background and colour. Diversity is important “because you need to see a physical representation of your dream,” as Viola Davis said to The View.
As an example, little girls everywhere reacted emotionally about the release of The Little Mermaid (2023) on social media, after seeing the Black lead actress Halle Bailey looks like them.
Our diverse film recommendations 👏🏽
Fences (2016)
Based on the play by August Wilson, the film depicts the tragic life of Troy, an African American man who once longed to be a baseball player, who misses the opportunity due to racism. As time passes, he takes out his frustration on his loved ones and ruins his son’s future. The emotional performance by Viola Davis awarded her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
Hidden Figures (2016)
The film is based on the real stories of Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan.
Three female African-American mathematicians play a pivotal role in astronaut John Glenn’s launch into orbit. Meanwhile, they also have to deal with racial and gender discrimination at work.
Yuni (2021)
Yuni, a teenage girl with dreams of attending university, rejects two proposals from men she barely knows, sparking gossip that she’ll never wed. When a third man asks for her hand, Yuni must choose between cultural expectations and her dreams.
Little Forest (2018)
A young woman grows tired of life in the city and returns to her hometown in the countryside.
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
A Chinese immigrant gets unwillingly embroiled in an epic adventure where she must connect different versions of herself in the parallel universe to stop someone who intends to harm the multiverse.
Joko Anwar’s Nightmares and Daydreams (2024)
Tales of supernatural sci-fi phenomena unfold in this collection of seven mind-bending stories imagined by writer-director Joko Anwar.
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