Ethnic representation analysis of commercial movie posters

Bibliographic Data

ID22236166
AuthorsDima Kagan (0000-0002-8216-8776, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev), Mor Levy (Afeka College of Engineering), Michael Fire (0000-0002-6075-2568, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, corresponding author), Galit Fuhrmann Alpert (0000-0003-4778-3754, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume11
Issue1
Publication date2024-02-08
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHumanities and Social Sciences Communications (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2662-9992 • E-ISSN: 2662-9992
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1057/s41599-023-02040-y
OpenAlexW4392529562
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited17

In the last decades, global awareness toward the importance of diverse representation has been increasing. The lack of diversity and discrimination toward minorities did not skip the film industry. Here, we examine ethnic bias in the film industry through commercial posters, the industry’s primary advertisement medium for decades. Movie posters are designed to establish the viewer’s initial impression. We developed a novel approach for evaluating ethnic bias in the film industry by analyzing nearly 125,000 posters using state-of-the-art deep learning models. Our analysis shows that while ethnic biases still exist, there is a trend of reduction of bias, as seen by several parameters. Particularly in English-speaking movies, the ethnic distribution of characters on posters from the last couple of years is reaching numbers that are approaching the actual ethnic composition of the US population. An automatic approach to monitoring ethnic diversity in the film industry, potentially integrated with financial value, may be of significant use for producers and policymakers

Ethnic group · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Anthropology · Digital Media and Visual Art · Media, Gender, and Advertising · Subtitles and Audiovisual Media

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