Reply #16: In Hollywood, it's the default problem... [View All]

[lapfog_1]

most characters and extras default to "white" and to a somewhat lesser degree, male.

When a role calls for a person of color, they find one, but if it doesn't, the casting directors and everyone else... doesn't.

Which leads to stereotypical roles as well... if you are doing a crime drama, and you have a purse snatcher or street mugging or car jacking... you get a Mexican or a black (is it CSI:Miami or CSI:NY), if you need a conflict between a DA who is trying to do the right thing and a community activist, you get black people, if you have an insider trading or corporate scandal that was covered up by murder, you get the default. And the default is white.

And that's racist.