Were black actors more prominent in the 80s than they are now?

Were black actors more prominent in the 80s than they are now? - Rows of comfortable empty seats in modern theater hall with stage and screens

Lately I've taken a mild interest in 80s pop culture, and from my very superficial look I was surprised to see more black actors in movies, tv shows, and commercials of that time than I'm used to seeing today.

One example: Miami Vice, which aired in the second half of 1980s had a white and a black guy as protagonists. I was genuinely surprised by this because, honestly, I think this would be considered unusual, maybe even radical in any mainstream show today that's not overtly targeted at a black demographic. Instead, what we usually see is the token black guy (Jesse L. Martin, Ice T) in an otherwise white cast. Even a show like Chicago PD, a show about a city that's whose population and police force is something like a third black--even a show like that still has the minimum required one token black guy and that's it.

Another example: Looking at sitcoms, I think I can name more black sitcoms from the 80s and 90s (Cosby, Fresh Prince, Moesha, Martin, Moesha, Family Matters, Sister Sister) than contemporary ones (Blackish..., and that's it?). I admit that this list probably says more about me than about the state of TV. I haven't kept up with sitcoms. And, who knows? maybe the 80s and 90s were the golden age of sitcoms and they've since fallen in popularity and so there's just fewer sitcoms overall, and hence fewer black sitcoms. Fine. But still, that's a precipitous drop.

I'm not trying to start a flame war, or start a discussion about the merits of representing minorities on screen. I'm just looking for thoughtful answers on 1) whether this pattern of higher representation of black actors in the 80s is real or spurious and 2) if real, what could cause this paradoxical drop in representation despite the conventional narrative of racial progress. References would be appreciated.



Best Answer

Empire, Insecure, Queen Sugar, Secrets and Lies, House of Payne... There are still shows out there that cater specifically to the black audience, just not all of them are available to all TV subscribers.

Additionally, I've noticed a very large trend in commercials lately that depicts a black male/white female household.

In movies, there's usually a good balance between black and white characters, although some still remain all-white and some remain all-black. Tyler Perry's movies feature predominately black characters, although with a few recent duds his movies seem to come out less frequently. There have also been conscious attempts to inject black characters into white roles, but they are usually met with bad results. Starting with a horrible remake of The Honeymooners (2005) that featured Cedric the Entertainer and Mike Epps, up through the latest reboot of Fantastic Four (2015) that featured black actor Michael B. Jordan in the traditionally white role of Johnny Storm, there's a trail of films that tried to use black actors in traditionally white roles to appeal to a broader audience.




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What percent of actors are Black?

The most common ethnicity among Actors is White, which makes up 59.5% of all Actors. Comparatively, there are 15.6% of the Hispanic or Latino ethnicity and 13.9% of the Black or African American ethnicity....Actor Race.Actor RacePercentagesHispanic or Latino15.6%Black or African American13.9%Asian6.0%Unknown4.4%2 more rows•Apr 18, 2022

When did Black people star in movies?

In 1903, Uncle Tom's Cabin, starred the first black actor to ever appear on screen. During that era African American roles were very limited to playing the Tom, coon, buck, mammie, or mulatto. After that came the great producer Bill Foster.

What percentage of movies have Black leads?

While their overall representation among film casts is broadly in line with the Black share of the US population (13.4 percent), Black actors play only 11 percent of leading film roles and are often funneled to race-related projects, which typically receive lower investment in both production and promotion.

Who were the biggest actors in the 80s?

The 10 Most Iconic Film Actors Of The 1980s
  • Robin Williams. ...
  • Robert De Niro. ...
  • Kurt Russell. ...
  • Jack Nicholson. ...
  • Michael Douglas. ...
  • Mel Gibson. ...
  • Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise's rise to stardom was meteoric. ...
  • Harrison Ford. No male star did the '80s better than Harrison Ford.




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