Smith in USC News – “Black Characters”

According to a study performed by Faculty Fellow Stacy Smith, Hollywood movies directed by African Americans are significantly more likely to include African-American characters with speaking roles than movies not directed by African Americans. The report, co-authored by project administrator Marc Choueiti, also found that only one of the top 200 movies from 2007 and 2008 was directed by an African-American woman, according to the "Black Characters" report. "Black Characters" also quantifies the continuing, although slightly diminished, sexualization of black female movie roles versus black male movie roles. [Full article]……