Dr Who is racist, Star wars is
Posted: Tue May 03, 2016 2:50 am
homophobic...
Star Wars needs gay characters, and three of the biggest studios are failing badly in the sexuality department, according to a new report on Hollywood diversity.
In its annual report released today, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation report card on how gay and transgender people fare on screen said Hollywood was falling behind other media in its portrayal of diversity, and it cited the Kevin Hart comedy Get Hard as particularly offensive.
Coming on the heels of recent fiery controversies around the representation of women and people of colour in Hollywood, the report calls on the Star Wars franchise to show more diversity. The report found that Disney and Paramount in particular did not have one gay character in their films last year
"Hollywood's films lag far behind any other form of media when it comes to portrayals of LGBT characters," GLAAD's president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis told The Hollywood Reporter. "Too often, the few LGBT characters that make it to the big screen are the target of a punchline or token characters. The film industry must embrace new and inclusive stories if it wants to remain competitive and relevant."
GLAAD was founded in 1985 to fight homophobic reporting on HIV/AIDS but has since worked to influence media narratives on anti-gay violence, gay celebrities, homophobic slurs in music and sport and, more recently, to address marriage equality and transgender issues.
Its fourth-annual survey of gay and transgender representation in film found that in 2015 only 17.5 per cent of movies contained LGBT characters. No major studio received a "Good" rating. Lionsgate was seen as the most inclusive studio, while Paramount, Disney, and Warner Brothers all flunked.
Seen as one of Warners' most disappointing films was Get Hard, starring Hart and Will Ferrell, which the report described as "one of the most problematic films in several years," likening it to "a nearly two-hour prison rape joke." The film was described by one Variety critic as "some of the ugliest gay-panic humour to befoul a studio release in recent memory".
Lionsgate had the highest rate of representation (33 per cent), and the report praised Freeheld, which it called "one of the year's LGBT film highlights," and American Ultra, which incorporated a gay character as its moral centre. Fox, Sony, and Universal also earned "Adequate" ratings while Paramount and Disney joined Warner Brothers as "Failed". Vanity Fair noted that Paramount was also, along with Fox, recently found to have no female directors lined up through 2018.
