What’s more,Hidden Figuresis a bona fide hit, earning $84 million so far and counting.
That #OscarsSoWhite hashtag and social-media campaign worked, and we’re all good here, right?
Certainly, impressive progress has been made in a short period of time.
It prompted filmmaker J.J. Abrams to seek out filmmakers of color for his upcoming projects.
(Parker was acquitted.
Celestin’s conviction was overturned on appeal.)
That’s a lot of rapid change, but it’s only a first step.
Reign launched #OscarsSoWhite from her living-room couch in 2015.
Other minority voices joined her on social media and built the campaign into a powerful rallying cry.
Hollywood’s record on race continues to be uneven at best.
“It’s not always what’s right in front of you,” she says.
“This comes down to a very fundamental employment problem,” saysHidden Figuresproducer Donna Gigliotti.
Those two execs are in the vast minority.
Walk into any greenlight meeting at a studio and you’re likely to see mostly white, male faces.
A few high-profile successes don’t hurt.
The leads of theStar Warsfilms are multicultural with strong female roles.
TheFast & Furiousfranchise continues to expand its global box office because its cast is so diverse.
“I don’t look at this as a cycle,” he says.
I believe we are going to continue to move forward."
Others, however, think we’re still far from real parity.
In other words, #OscarsSoWhite isn’t going away anytime soon.
