Reimagining #ReelWomen in Hollywood with @dosomething
All this month, @dosomething will be collecting images of reimagined heroines. Share yours with #ReelWomen and visit dosomething.org/reelwomen to learn more.
From 2007 to 2012, only 30.8 percent of speaking characters in the top 500 movies were women. But Nikita Jansen (@artbynikita), a 17-year-old actress and artist living in Los Angeles, saw an even bigger issue.
“It’s not a Hollywood secret that the film industry tends to whitewash their casts,” says Nikita. “I can’t recall ever seeing an Asian woman as a leading role in a major franchise, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a leading character wearing a hijab.”
To address that, Nikita drew what she wished she saw on the big screen: leads from two of this year’s most anticipated blockbusters — The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 and Star Wars: The Force Awakens — as women of color.
“While the original actresses are great, I wanted to show that hiring actresses from different backgrounds won’t change who the character is,” says Nikita. “With this in mind, producers should consider creating heroines that people of all backgrounds can recognize and look up to.”
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