If you read the story below, it makes perfect sense that a casting manager would be fired for not following the instructions of the director, who on this case is no less than Academy Award-winner Peter Jackson. But the hoopla over the outrageous idea of a casting agent looking for a certain “type,” even a certain type of skin color, makes little sense.
—–
Will this be the beginning of the end of Hollywood’s openly discriminatory hiring practices?
A casting manager working on The Hobbit has been sacked over allegations a British actress was turned down for a role in the film because of her skin colour. …A crew member also reportedly published a newspaper advert calling for extras with “light skin tones”.
A spokesperson for Peter Jackson insisted no such instructions had come from the director’s Wingnut production company, and a representative has now confirmed a casting agent has been fired over the scandal.
The rep says, “No such instructions were given, the crew member in question took it upon themselves to do that and it’s not something we instructed or condoned… The crew member in question has been dismissed… It’s something we take very seriously.”
There is no more of an openly discriminatory industry than show business. Casting offices and agents look for particular “types” every day. This is what they’re hired to do. Discriminatory hiring practices based on looks, age, gender, and race are the norm in Hollywood, not the exception. You can be too fat, too old, too blond, too dark, not pretty enough, not buff enough, or just plain “wrong” for reasons that have nothing to do with talent and that no one can or will explain. This town is buried in stories of people who knocked the audition out of the park but were told they weren’t the right “type.” Which means they were qualified for the job, they just didn’t physically appeal to the boss or bosses; director, producers or a combination of both.
This is the only industry in America that constantly gets away with not giving the most qualified person the job — that openly hires bad actors and actresses based on their physical attributes and/or nationality as opposed to their talent. For purely money-making purposes, movies and television constantly target particular demographics. Frequently a role will be written in order to specifically appeal to a particular race or country in the hopes it will drive more box office or higher ratings.
There’s also a helluva lot of nepotism in show business. Drew Barrymore, Colin Hanks, Sofia Coppola, Nic Cage… And that’s just the beginning. It’s amazing how many people currently working at every level of the industry got their start thanks only to an established relative.
Obviously, if any other industry employed the same hiring practices as Hollywood they would be shut down by the Justice Department for discrimination. Imagine Wal-Mart trying to make a case that in one particular store they discovered that only hiring young, pretty, Caucasian blonds increased profits by 5% and at another store, hiring young, buff, Latino men resulted in the same. Think they would be allowed to stay in business long.
The best rule of thumb when it comes to understanding Hollywood’s behavior is to watch what they accuse others of doing — especially Big Business — and you can bet that’s exactly what they themselves are doing.
Nepotism, sexism, ageism, racism, lookism… You got an ism, Hollywood’s practicing it. And getting away with it.
Comment count on this article reflects comments made on Breitbart.com and Facebook. Visit Breitbart's Facebook Page.