Study Says Hollywood Is 'Whitewashed', Has 'Epidemic of Invisibility'

A new study on diversity in Hollywood has found that films and television series produced by the country's biggest media companies are "whitewashed," and that Hollywood is suffering from an "epidemic of invisibility" for women, minorities and LGBT people in the industry.

The report released by the Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism was "one of the most wide-ranging examinations of the film and television industries, including a pointed 'inclusivity index' of 10 major media companies," reports ABC News.

The results of the study were published just days before the Academy Awards, which has been under some controversy over all-white nominees.

"The prequel to OscarsSoWite is HollywoodSoWhite," Stacy L. Smith, a USC professor and one of the study authors said in an interview. "We don't have a diversity problem. We have an inclusion crisis."

In fact, according to BBC, the "lack of diversity in the Oscar nominations" prompted Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith to boycott the awards ceremony. This led Oscars head Cheryl Boone Isaacs to promise for double the number of female and minority members of the Academy.

At the Oscars...people of color are always welcomed to give out awards...even entertain, (pt. 1)

— Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) January 16, 2016

But we are rarely recognized for our artistic accomplishments. Should people of color refrain from participating all together? (pt 2) — Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) January 16, 2016

People can only treat us in the way in which we allow. With much respect in the midst of deep disappointment.
J (pt 3)

— Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) January 16, 2016

According to BBC, the study found that only a third of speaking characters were female from the examined 414 films and TV shows. Approximately 50 percent of the lot did not feature at least one Asian or Asian-American character, while 20 percent did not have one black character.

Meanwhile, among the 11,306 speaking characters they study examined, only seven actors were transgendered - four of which were from the same series. Characters who had ages of 40 and above comprised of 74.3 percent male and 25.7 percent female.

"Overall, the landscape of media content is still largely whitewashed," the study concluded.