Women Of Color Face An ‘Epidemic Of Invisibility’ On Screen — And It’s Not Getting Any Better

In 2023, of the top 100 highest-earning movies at the box office, just 14 featured women of color as leads or co-leads, down from 18 in 2022.

As former President Donald Trump and his base dial up the racism and sexism against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, it should come as no surprise that there’s an “epidemic of invisibility” for women of color on screen, according to a new report published Monday.

In 2023, of the top 100 highest-earning movies at the box office, just 14 featured women of color as leads or co-leads, down from 18 in 2022. Behind the camera, only four women of color directed major Hollywood movies last year.

The entertainment industry’s persistent intransigence on racial and gender equity is a perennial finding of the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, which has annually examined diversity in front of and behind the camera since 2007. The group’s latest report warns that this abysmal cycle is likely to continue as Hollywood companies roll back their previously lauded diversity initiatives, cut costs and prioritize risk-averse choices — despite mountains of research showing that diversity is essential to Hollywood’s survival.

The success of “Barbie” was only a blip. In 2023, fewer women were leads or co-leads in the top 100 box office movies than in the previous five years, according to the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative’s data. Overall, just over 30% of all speaking characters in 2023’s major films were women or girls, a number that has virtually not changed in 17 years.

“It is clear that there is either a dismissal of women as an audience for more than one or two films per year, a refusal to find ways to create meaningful change, or both,” founder Stacy L. Smith said in a statement accompanying the report. “If the industry wants to survive its current moment, it must examine its failure to employ half the population on screen.”