About

What we’re researching.

What’s the biggest producer of film in the world? Not, as you may suspect Hollywood, but rather Bollywood. India produces around 1000 films a year, which is almost double the number America makes. But despite their clear dominance in film, Indians are not represented in mainstream America in media. According to Annenberg’s IDEA Institute, only 5.1% of speaking or named roles in film and television were Asian – and only a fraction of these were East Asian. When Indians are on screen, only 9% are leading characters and 66% of characters are portrayed in a stereotypical job.

This lack of and misrepresentation has a negative effect. An Indiana University study of preteens watching TV found that only white males had an increase in self-esteem after watching, while female and other ethnicities had a decrease in self confidence.

It’s damaging and something needs to change.

What has been researched.

A 2012 study from two Indiana University professors looked at the effect of representation in the media, studying almost 400 preteen children over the course of the years.

The researchers found that television exposure predicted a decrease in self-esteem for white females, and black females and males. The only group that had an increase in self esteem after watch TV was white males.

Researchers conclude this was due to poor representation of women and minorities, and racial stereotyping.

“Over a period of time, through repeated exposure to the same or similar stereotypical depictions across films and across narratives in different media sites, we unintentionally and often unconsciously start accumulating these bits and pieces of information about the social group in such a way that we develop a ‘‘schema’’ or a quick short-cut reference for the social group. Not surprisingly, when asked to recall the attributes of the social group, people might recall scenes, characters, lines, settings, and actors from various films in an attempt to grab whatever little information we can get to make quick judgments in interpersonal situations. Thus, it is crucial to examine what types of portrayals of various marginalized groups are presented within this medium”

A 2005 study looked at 24 randomly selected films and television shows that featured Indian or Indian characters. Out of these only 9% of lead characters were Indian.

66% of Indian characters were portrayed in a stereotypical jobs versus only 37% of other ethnicities.

83.3% of Indian characters spoke Indian languages or broken, heavily accented English.

Annenberg’s Institute for Diversity and Empowerment (IDEA) released a study of media and found that almost 72% of speaking or named characters were white and only 5.1% were Asian (this includes East Asian).