Hollywood’s Anti-Diversity Push is Doomed to Fail, and Evidence Just Dropped
Donald Trump’s re-election ushered in cowardice around diversity among Hollywood leadership. New numbers from audiences paint a different picture though.
The second Trump era has been marked by efforts to cut down diversity equity and inclusion at every corner of the government and beyond. One small problem, the last year in change has also nascent chaos in the form of wars, economic problems, and civic life complications that a lot of people weren’t betting on. With barely contained excitement, different executives have said that the era of inclusivity is over. However, some new numbers from a UCLA study directly contradict those arguments.
UCLA’s new Hollywood Diversity Report has a ton of great information about what movie-going looks like in 2026. But, one of the most interesting nuggets in those pages is the fact that diverse movie casts overperform the competition. Variety quotes numbers that indicate casts with 41-50% BIPOC performed the best across key metrics. Things like global and domestic box office, opening weekend totals, and widest distribution are just higher with a diverse cast. And, that would run counter to all the messaging we’ve been reading for two years.
Unfortunately for those of us who love going to the theater, it will probably take a second for the distributors to catch up to the reality on the ground. A lot of people like to yell about things on the Internet, but real life isn’t reflecting a lot of those biases. As an added bit of interest, BIPOC audiences are heading to the movies more than their white counterparts. (Women and diverse people have been packing the theaters on opening weekend. And, have been rewarded with some great films in the meantime.)
Diversity is the future of movie-going
Elsewhere in the UCLA study Comm box office hits from the last couple of years like Barbie, Zootopia 2, Lilo and Stitch, and Inside Out 2 all highlight the increasing importance of women film fans when it comes to box office hits. It’s gonna take a wide variety of audiences to get public trust back after the tumultuous beginning to this decade. A lot of people would blame streaming television and movies for this shift, when in fact the information environment was downright rancid. And, I would argue continues to be so. Any future for the theater industry is going to have to win hearts and minds. You don’t get that without making stories that speak to everyone. In the study, they explain.
“People want stories they can relate to and connect with in the movies they watch,” the co-authors argue. “In a society where people increasingly do not interact with each other in person, film affords people the opportunity to connect with others who they may never come in contact with in real life and helps them to understand their shared humanity. This is why meaningful representation in film is so vital and why Hollywood must adapt to meet this need.”
It’s hard to argue with articulation like that. Stories are the lifeblood of human existence after all. They are what bind us to each other. A well told tale will make people sail across the oceans or explore the vast reaches of space. In this case, we just need them to keep being diverse so people will get into the theater and learn to enjoy themselves again.
(featured image: Alex88)
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