Cinema has shaped the racial stereotypes we see in mass media since the beginning of the concept. Most people who have never seen or interacted with those of another race will tell you what they know by quoting or citing a specific film that features the race they may be talking about. More often than not, these things they "know" are usually just cinematic stereotypes that reflect all of America's natural prejudices. In recent years, there has been more focus on the portrayals of marginalized groups in media, as certain stereotypes can give the wrong perceptions to many. Hollywood has done a "stellar" job of providing our society with racist caricatures from the last century, where racism starts to feel like a box that needs to be ticked for a film to be greenlit. For Black people, Hollywood had their love for Blackface as a way to showcase stereotypes of Black Americans, making them look either low IQ or evil, with no in-between. Flash forward to today, and Blackface has taken another form that some won't notice if they don't look for it. Hollywood wanted to change the game, and they did so by hiring actual Black men to play the scary or angry role while casting Black women to play loudmouthed characters. For the film industry, they see no problem with that.
What do you think? Is Hollywood becoming as progressive as we need it to be, or are there still instances where you feel as though certain characters were used just to fulfill a stereotypical quota?
Sources:
https://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/links/essays/vcu.htm
https://www.dw.com/en/hollywood-movies-stereotypes-prejudice-data-analysis/a-47561660
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