Despite well-documented evidence that Latinos are slowly breaking barriers in the entertainment world, being one of the biggest audiences that sees films and leading protests towards more diversity, Hollywood is still having trouble including them in leadership positions. Case in point? The Hollywood Reporter‘s 100 Most Powerful People in Entertainment list for 2018. The list, meant to highlight the movers and shakers of Hollywood, has always looked remarkably white and male, this year being no real exception.
Being Latino definitely doesn’t equate to much power if you’re going off this list. Almost immediately you can discern the lack of Latinx representatives. The two on this list, Mexican director Guillermo del Toro and Nuyorican impresario Lin-Manuel Miranda, didn’t even make the top 50, coming in at No. 91 and 87, respectively. Miranda, the only US-born Latino to appear on the list brings up the chronic inability to further Latino narratives. Too often those given the chance to tell stories in Hollywood are born in Latin America, making it rare for a movie studio to focus on Latino stories set in the U.S. This isn’t to disparage foreign-born Latin Americans, but it showcases an issue in the way Hollywood perceives what is “Latino.” As the largest ethnic minority in the US, it’s especially egregious that only about 2 percent of those mentioned come from our community. And even worse, no Latinas made it.
The Asian community fared a little better but still remain underrepresented. Out of 100 people only three are Asian: Jon M. Chu, the director of the upcoming In the Heights movie and who helmed this year’s Crazy Rich Asians was at No. 97. Warners Bros. CEO producer Kevin Tsujihara placed at 16, though sharing the spot with Toby Emmerich, marking another win for Crazy Rich Asians. And the only Asian woman on the list was Lisa Nishimura, a Netflix executive who came in at No. 9 though she shared the spot with fellow Netflix execs Cindy Holland and Scott Stuber.
In terms of other numbers on the list: Fifteen of the 100 people selected were African-American, with five being black women. And a whopping 17 white women popped up in various capacities.
There may be improvement, but it’s still slow going and this list reflects the very real fact that Hollywood’s gatekeepers still remain white males – or in other words #HollywoodSoWhite.