And of the deaths, all but one ended violently.
Overall, the study found that API characters are absent in mainstream movies.
Only 5.9 percent of the characters in 1,300 top films between 2007 and 2019 were API.
Mike Moh as Bruce Lee in ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’.Columbia Pictures
“There has been no meaningful change over time,” the researchers concluded.
Compare that to 336 unique white male actors driving the story lines as leads/co-leads across the 13-year span.
That is a ratio of 84 white male actors to every 1 API female actor.
There was also a severe lack of diverse representation when films did show API characters.
Of the Asian/Asian American actors, East Asian and Indian actors dominated, with only 13.3 percent Southeast Asian.
And in 600 films from 2014 to 2019, only 15 API characters were shown as LGBTQ.
When measuring disability, only 26 API characters were shown with a physical, cognitive, or communicative disability.
And not one API woman received sole directing credit of a live-action film across these top-grossing movies from 2007-2019.
Representation made a difference.
“Humor that is rooted in racial/ethnic slurs… must be examined closely.
Laughter may reinforce problematic portrayals and obscure the harmful nature of language use,” they added.
“In contrast, research shows that humanization can reduce aggression,” they commented in another section.
Read the full study here.
This Thursday, Amazon is hosting a free virtual event open to the public to discuss the findings.
Frank Masi/Sony
