The Under-Representation Of African Americans In Hollywood Film Industry

The development of African Americans in the Hollywood film industry for nearly a century epitomizes its long and winding road to equal rights.African American movies and images have grown from almost zero to significant presence.At the 89 th Academy Awards in 2017,black films once again attracted people's attention and heated discussion.However,this has not changed the long-standing underrepresentation of blacks in the Hollywood film industry in the United States.Based on Stuart Hall's theory of representation,this article demonstrates the history and current status of blacks who are discriminated against and underrepresented in the Hollywood film industry by presenting the distorted,misleading,and stereotyped black imagery,the marginalization of black actors,and the voiceless black directors in sci-fi blockbusters and franchise movies in the United States since the early 20 th century.The African-American road to equal rights in the Hollywood film industry still has a long way to go.Based on these problems,this thesis makes the following arguments: First,Race is still a sensitive topic in American society,not the least in current Hollywood.It is far from entering a �post-racial� epoch even in the American cultural industry,though time has witnessed some progress African Americans have made in American socio-cultural industries including Hollywood film industry.Second,African Americans have long been discriminated and are still under-represented,sometimes even misrepresented,in the current Hollywood film industry.Third,African Americans and their movies have been changing and trying different approaches to be appropriately represented and the Oscars' recognition in recent years have proved the limited success they have made.Fourth,The Hollywood film industry in the 21 st century,as a global disseminator of American mainstream ideologies and popular culture,is still a significant barometer to measure American society's attitude towards racial issues in the culture industries.African Americans' equal rights in the Hollywood film industry are reflected not only in their proportion,but also in the type of jobs they do and the type of roles they play.