(Stating the obvious but nonetheless)
Thought the days of black and white films were over? Think again.
For it appears watching films still really is about colour.
New research has suggested that white people prefer to watch films with white people in it and when black people are cast in the lead roles it is viewed as a film aimed at a black audience.
Producers did not want to cast two black actors in the lead role for Hitch so they chose a Cuban American
White movie-goers prefer to watch films which have white actors in them as the main roles a new study suggests
Andrew Weaver of the Indiana University Department of Telecommunications explored how the racial makeup of the cast impacts the preference of white film-goers.
Writing in the Journal of Communication, he outlined his study in which he gave 68 white college undergraduates 12 fictional synopsis of new romantic comedies.
The synopsis also featured small photos of the principal cast members.
The students were then asked questions about their movie-going habits, racial attitudes and desire to see each movie.
Web pages were created for each movie, and the race of the characters was manipulated to create six versions: an all-white cast; a 70 per cent white cast with two white leads; a 70 per cent white cast with a white and a black lead; a 70 per cent black cast with a white and a black lead; a 70 per cent black cast with two black leads; and an all-black cast.
The study found that the higher the percentage of black actors in the movie, the less interested white participants were in seeing the movie.
Mr Weaver said: 'Importantly, this effect occurred regardless of participants’ racial attitudes or actors’ relative celebrity.
Coming to America starring Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall is viewed as a 'black movie' because most of its actors are black
Fast Five is the number one movie in America now and features actors of mixed race though targets a specific audience
'Moreover, this effect was significant despite the very subtle race manipulation. The movie synopses, which were front and centre on the page, were unaltered. The only manipulation was in the thumbnail pictures attached to the actors’ names.'
He said he believed that it proved that white cinema-goers are convinced that films with black stars are not really made for them and that studio executives realise this, so they increasingly make films for each demographic.
When the white survey-takers were asked if they felt they were the 'intended audience' of the film, their answers decreased significantly when 70 per cent or more of the cast was black.
Mr Weaver said: 'Movie producers are often reluctant to cast more than a few minority actors in otherwise race-neutral movies for fear that the white audience will largely avoid such films.
'For romantic movies, regardless of racial attitudes, white participants showed significantly less interest in seeing movies with mostly black casts than in seeing movies with mostly white casts. These findings are discussed in light of both social identity theory and social cognitive theory.'
The author used the 2005 hit film Hitch as an example, which stars Will Smith. The actor himself said that the producers found it difficult to think of a female lead as casting two lead black actors was too risky.
Even movies which featured popular actors like Halle Berry in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge were seen as 'black films' by a white audience
Smith said at the time: 'There's sort of an accepted myth that if you have two black actors, a male and a female, in the lead of a romantic comedy, that people around the world don't want to see it.
'We spend $50 something million making this movie and the studio would think that was tough on their investment.'
A white actress can sometimes be risky also as film makers are weary of inter-racial relationships.
The producers finally settled on a compromise and cast Eva Mendes, who is a Cuban American.
The casting of black actors in lead roles, especially if there was a strong romantic vein in the film, meant that a large majority of the white audience viewed it as a film that was aimed at a black audience.
Similarly, if the lead couple was an interracial couple, the audience view was that it was film based around race as a main theme.
Mr Weaver concluded: 'This finding would also seem to lend credence to producers' concerns about casting black actors into these kinds of romantic roles.
'Even when the roles are written without a specific ethnic orientation, as they were here, casting minorities could keep some of the white audience away from the theatres. Interestingly, when a romantic plot is at the centre of a film, it appears that the race of the leading characters may be even more salient.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...st-similar-race-says-study.html#ixzz1M88D96vq
Thought the days of black and white films were over? Think again.
For it appears watching films still really is about colour.
New research has suggested that white people prefer to watch films with white people in it and when black people are cast in the lead roles it is viewed as a film aimed at a black audience.
Producers did not want to cast two black actors in the lead role for Hitch so they chose a Cuban American
White movie-goers prefer to watch films which have white actors in them as the main roles a new study suggests
Andrew Weaver of the Indiana University Department of Telecommunications explored how the racial makeup of the cast impacts the preference of white film-goers.
Writing in the Journal of Communication, he outlined his study in which he gave 68 white college undergraduates 12 fictional synopsis of new romantic comedies.
The synopsis also featured small photos of the principal cast members.
The students were then asked questions about their movie-going habits, racial attitudes and desire to see each movie.
Web pages were created for each movie, and the race of the characters was manipulated to create six versions: an all-white cast; a 70 per cent white cast with two white leads; a 70 per cent white cast with a white and a black lead; a 70 per cent black cast with a white and a black lead; a 70 per cent black cast with two black leads; and an all-black cast.
The study found that the higher the percentage of black actors in the movie, the less interested white participants were in seeing the movie.
Mr Weaver said: 'Importantly, this effect occurred regardless of participants’ racial attitudes or actors’ relative celebrity.
Coming to America starring Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall is viewed as a 'black movie' because most of its actors are black
Fast Five is the number one movie in America now and features actors of mixed race though targets a specific audience
'Moreover, this effect was significant despite the very subtle race manipulation. The movie synopses, which were front and centre on the page, were unaltered. The only manipulation was in the thumbnail pictures attached to the actors’ names.'
He said he believed that it proved that white cinema-goers are convinced that films with black stars are not really made for them and that studio executives realise this, so they increasingly make films for each demographic.
When the white survey-takers were asked if they felt they were the 'intended audience' of the film, their answers decreased significantly when 70 per cent or more of the cast was black.
Mr Weaver said: 'Movie producers are often reluctant to cast more than a few minority actors in otherwise race-neutral movies for fear that the white audience will largely avoid such films.
'For romantic movies, regardless of racial attitudes, white participants showed significantly less interest in seeing movies with mostly black casts than in seeing movies with mostly white casts. These findings are discussed in light of both social identity theory and social cognitive theory.'
The author used the 2005 hit film Hitch as an example, which stars Will Smith. The actor himself said that the producers found it difficult to think of a female lead as casting two lead black actors was too risky.
Even movies which featured popular actors like Halle Berry in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge were seen as 'black films' by a white audience
Smith said at the time: 'There's sort of an accepted myth that if you have two black actors, a male and a female, in the lead of a romantic comedy, that people around the world don't want to see it.
'We spend $50 something million making this movie and the studio would think that was tough on their investment.'
A white actress can sometimes be risky also as film makers are weary of inter-racial relationships.
The producers finally settled on a compromise and cast Eva Mendes, who is a Cuban American.
The casting of black actors in lead roles, especially if there was a strong romantic vein in the film, meant that a large majority of the white audience viewed it as a film that was aimed at a black audience.
Similarly, if the lead couple was an interracial couple, the audience view was that it was film based around race as a main theme.
Mr Weaver concluded: 'This finding would also seem to lend credence to producers' concerns about casting black actors into these kinds of romantic roles.
'Even when the roles are written without a specific ethnic orientation, as they were here, casting minorities could keep some of the white audience away from the theatres. Interestingly, when a romantic plot is at the centre of a film, it appears that the race of the leading characters may be even more salient.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...st-similar-race-says-study.html#ixzz1M88D96vq
You can't be for real? This comes from a guy who continues to talk in a condescending manner to Americans while living in their country... and you can't even admit which country you originally come from while I have many many times. I am proud of who I am and where I am from. I have enough self-esteem not to spend money on strippers because unlike you, I actually have social skills and can approach women without flashing my money at low-self esteem whores. Nor do I patronize a video model (Tiara).
