About
Since the birth of the motion picture industry, the accurate and proportionate representation of minorities living in the United States has been an issue. Only recently have films begun incorporating characters that have non-binary identities on a grander scale, but the way that non-binary identities are represented should also be discussed. The genesis of this project was to create a place where members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community could discuss the amount of representation in cinema with accurate data on the total box office gross between 12 motion picture studios and case studies that dive deeper into topics that are either represented in cinema or surround cinema itself. These topics range from LGTBQ+ identities among people of color to authenticity when representing LGBTQ+ characters in cinema.
As of 2016 roughly 4% of the US population identifies as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. According to GLAAD's 2017 Studio Responsibility Index which gather's films released by major production studios and the amount of LGBTQ+ representation and the type of representation in each film if there is any. They found that out of 125 films released in 2016 by the seven highest grossing major production studios only 23 featured a character who identified as either lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer. That is 18.4 percent of the highest grossing films in America. One of the questions being asked is if that's enough? Once that question is answered the type of representation featured in the film. GLAAD developed the "Vito Russo Test" which looks at: 1. If there is any representation of LGBTQ+ at all, 2. If the character is entirely defined by their sexuality and doesn't have other character traits, and 3. If the character actually matters to the plot. Only 9 out of the 23 films passed this test.
Due to the size of the film industry a scope had to be made for how many films would be included in the site. It was narrowed down to 12 studios: 6 major and 6 independent studios. This scope was still too large however. It was further narrowed down to films that were released between 2011 and 2016. After narrowing the scope down almost 1,800 films are still included in this site. This site is still in development as studios are still being analyzed for their LGBTQ+ representation with case studies being conducted on specific films. The hope for this project is eventually include all films before 2011 released by the 12 studios that were mentioned above while adding films to the data as they continue to be released. This way the changes in cinematic representation can be analyzed over time.
As an audience, we have power over the media presented to us and it's important that this media is accurately representing the country we live in both quantitatively and qualitatively. Whether it's in the independent part of the industry or the major and more widely received part of the industry we have a say in the types of films that are made and how they are made, so that awareness about underrepresented or oppressed communities can spread ultimately playing a role in how people actually interact with each other. Cinema has a very powerful and influential social presence and can play it's role in aiding underrepresented communities and constructive discussion.
For more information on the creation of the project or on the Digital Scholarship Summer Research Fellowship, click here.
