Aug. 17, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before joined the budding group of films this year that will be known for their depth of storytelling about a diverse cast of characters.

The film, a romantic comedy about a high schooler whose secret love letters get leaked to the student body, initially struggled to cast the part of protagonist Lara Jean due to disagreements between author Jenny Han and production companies.

Han, who wrote the young adult novel of the same name in 2015, told The New York Times that interest in a film adaptation decreased after she insisted that the character be portrayed by an Asian-American actress.

Han remained steadfast in supporting this casting decision and when Netflix producers picked up the film, actress Lana Condor filled the role of Lara Jean.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before currently has a 95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and is being commended by some movie-goers for offering a relatable character for young Asian-Americans to look up to. Other comments on Rotten Tomatoes show that some audience members consider this choice pointless and that the part could have been played by anyone.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before now joins a circle of recent movies which pose the question; does Hollywood need to push more diversity in film?

Two days prior to the release of this film, Crazy Rich Asians premiered and staked its claim as the first American movie with an all-Asian cast, earning over $34 million in it’s first weeks at the box office. Asian-American movie-goers have expressed their happiness with the film over Twitter and with newspapers like The Washington Post.

Alternatively, some audience members, primarily those that aren’t Asian-American, said they didn’t understand the comedy of the film, according to reviews on metacritic.com.

Before that, Love, Simon, which came out in March, featured a gay protagonist and was written for the screen by writer Greg Berlanti, an openly gay man. Critics and viewers together began asking whether or not this movie was a milestone for gay representation.

Time released an article which questioned whether today’s teens in the LGBT+ community need more representation in film.

At the same time, some viewers took to social media and shared how the character Simon Spier made them feel more comfortable being out and being in the LGBT+ community.

Diversity in film, whether it’s representation of people of different races, ethnicities or sexualities, will ultimately be up to directors and producers in the future, though the growing trends in representation will likely influence future casting and writing decisions.

Expert Corner: written by Dr. Colin Helb, Professor of Communications

Dr. Colin Helb, professor of communications and the Chair of the film studies minor at Elizabethtown College, talked about how the increased diversity of movies in the last year results from a mix of changing social norms and changing marketing techniques in Hollywood.

“Movements like #metoo really show us that we as audience members are demanding better representation and standards in society, not just in movies,” Helb said.

“Producers and companies may not be consciously thinking about making diverse movies, but they are responding to the demands of audiences and picking up projects that they think will make them a lot of money.”

Some movies, like Crazy Rich Asians, open up audiences to a lifestyle of opulence and royalty that they’ve never seen. However, Helb argues that while the cast and specifics change, the story is the same as many others told throughout movie history.

“Crazy Rich Asians is just the story of one lifestyle and one family, and it lets us in on this great dynamic between characters. At the end of the day, it’s a classic ‘fish out of water’ movie and it tells a story that is familiar to us,” Helb said.

Regarding criticism and audience appeal it became clear that movies will face a healthy dose of both no matter the cast, location or message.

“Of course these movies face backlash for their casting decisions and representation – a movie will always catch slack for underrepresenting any group of people, even if those people have been well represented in the past,” Helb said.

That said, what are the positive repercussions of diversity from the perspective of a film scholar?

“I’d say one of the positive outcomes is definitely people seeing non-stereotypical representations of themselves,” Helb said.

It seems coincidental that so many movies that are pushing what we consider to be diverse are coming out around the same time, but is it truly coincidence? In short, Helb thinks it’s not the case.

“People of color and women have always been in the movie making business, but a lot haven’t been in the big boy’s club of creators until recently. We evolve as a society, and hope our art evolves with us. So there’s a lot of hope for new directors telling different stories,” Helb said.

“I’d like to say it’s the beginning of a new wave, but at the very least it could be a mini-revolution in movie making.”