[custom_adv] In the past few years, Hollywood has been trying to become more female-friendly through initiatives that look to hire more women in front of the camera and behind the scenes. But, Hollywood still has a serious woman problem. [custom_adv] The newly released 2018 USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, a yearly study that looks at the representation of gender, race/ethnicity, LGBT, and disability in popular films, found that when it comes to women's roles little has changed in the last ten years. [custom_adv] In fact, last year, women had fewer speaking roles in movies than they did a decade ago, according to the study. While the fact that women are still underrepresented in movies isn't surprising, it's still disappointing to know how slow progress towards gender equality has been in Hollywood. [custom_adv] That represented an increase of eight films from the previous year and 20 movies from 2007. It is the highest percentage of female-driven films in 12 years. Hollywood has been under public pressure in recent years to tell more stories that feature women and people of color. [custom_adv] Some of that advocacy appears to be producing results; recent hits such as “Black Panther” and “Crazy Rich Asians” scored with audiences in part because they were inclusive. [custom_adv] Actresses from underrepresented groups still don’t get the same opportunities as white actors, but data suggests that things are improving. Twenty eight of the top 100 movies of 2018 featured an underrepresented lead or co-lead, according to the report. [custom_adv] That’s a net gain of seven films from 2017 and a 15 film gain from 2007. Last year, black or African-American actresses had five lead or co-lead roles, three mixed race actresses had lead or co-lead roles, two Hispanic or Latina actresses had lead or co-lead roles, and one Asian or Asian-American actress had a lead role. [custom_adv] There were ethnic groups that were virtually ignored. No Native women and women from the Middle East had leading roles. Although Hollywood is widening its aperture to include more points of views and is promoting more movies with women and people of color, there’s still room for improvement. [custom_adv] The overall percentage of female leads in top-grossing films may have grown, but it pales in percentage to their share of the population and of the moviegoing audience. Women comprise 51% of the population in the U.S. and Canada and 50% of ticket-buyers. [custom_adv] The same holds true with underrepresented groups, who account for 39.3% of the U.S. population. Moreover, Latinos and Asians account for a disproportionate amount of ticket sales. [custom_adv] Hollywood has also been accused of being ageist, particularly when it comes to actresses who often get shuffled off into grandmother roles when they are nearing middle age. To that end, researchers at USC looked at the number of protagonists that were 45 years of age or older at the time of theatrical release. [custom_adv] Eleven of the 100 top grossing movies, a group that includes “Halloween” and “Ocean’s 8,” featured a female lead or co lead 45 years of age or older. That’s more than double the number from 2017 when only five of the top-grossing films had a female lead who was 45 or older.
