By Dylan Lepre ’19

Vicious harassment, 24/7 news coverage, talks of boycotts. Is this some global crisis? No; It’s simply what the new “Ghostbusters” movie went through from the beginning of its production to its eventual release last July. This is just the latest example of how criticism over the racial composition of actors and actresses in the film industry has entered the mainstream.

It seems to cut both ways: films are criticized for all-white casts and whitewashing, the changing of nonwhite fictional characters to white men or women, but they also recieve backlash for a lack of gender representation.

The question still remains: If having all-white casts is really an issue, should films be forced to have diverse casts? To some at West Essex, it shouldn’t matter. It should be about the talent of the cast.

“I don’t think the fact that the characters in ‘Ghostbusters’ were women had anything to do with the movie being bad,” said sophomore Sam Chuzhin.

West Essex students have commended the production for being very progressive and also sending a good message for young girls who may not have many film heroes to look up to.
“I think it’s great,” sophomore Jessica Wiederhorn said. “We need more female role models and more diversity in movies.”

This progressive sentiment has been echoed by many. Yet, should politics be the sole focus of movies?
The movie version of the Stephen King series, “The Dark Tower,” is a widely anticipated film, but there is criticism surrounding its casting. The film stars African American actor Idris Elba as the main character, Roland Deschain, even though the book portrays him as white.

Many have theorized that this choice for the film rendition of “The Dark Tower” was to push a politically correct agenda and those involved failed to stay true to the character from the novel.

The diversity issue in Hollywood stretches as far back to the disputes regarding John Wayne’s role as Genghis Khan in the film, “The Conquerors.” People objected to the idea of a white actor playing a black character. While over 40 years old, “The Conquerors” still resonates as showing Hollywood’s reluctance to cast non-white actors and actresses.

“Directors have to make a choice about how to appeal to a wide audience,” English teacher Mr. Myerson said. “It sounds horrible but it’s what they have to do.”

A recent study done by USC showed that just 3.4 percent of directors were females and only 7 percent of films had a cast with a balance between race and gender. This study suggests that the movie industry itself has a problem with diversity. With the #OscarsSoWhite campaign during last year’s Academy Awards, it seems that many actors and actresses also have a problem with the lack of representation in Hollywood.

In the end, representation in films is important as long as it does not hinder its quality. Casting people for the sake of diversity is as wrong as under-representation.

“People are going to complain about things to be offended by. Who do you take seriously?” Mr. Myerson said. “Listen to people and think about what works critically.”