Most adults feel misrepresented in films, due to overused stereotypes and a lack of diversity

A study of 2,000 adults under the age of 35 found 43 per cent struggle to relate to the characters they see on the big screen.
And 57 per cent think stereotypes are overused in films, with 30 per cent going as far as to say they have been offended by a movie cliché.
While 29 per cent have refuse to watch a film due to an offensive or outdated stereotype.
The research was commissioned by confectionary brand M&Ms as part of its global ‘FUNd’ initiative designed to champion diversity and inclusion and create a sense of belonging.
Femi Kolade, Head of Studies at London Film School, which is part of the initiative, said:
“The mainstream film industry has been dominated for too long by a narrative that excludes so many people’s lived experiences and reduces all of our specific and vibrant diversity to a few standardised, often negative and always limited representations of who we are today, who were yesterday and who we’ll become in the future.
“This must change and this timely research and this important campaign shows yet again how desperate mainstream audiences are to see that change.”
Film-lovers wish there was better representation
Oversexualised women is the most common stereotype young adults feel they see to much in movies, for example Alice Eve in the first Star Trek reboot film, and ‘She’s All That’ which conveys the message that you have to be attractive to be popular.
This was followed by females being depicted as weak or too sensitive, and foreign characters’ broken English used for comedy, as Sacha Baron Cohen does in the Borat films.
Others are tired of seeing black or Latino people portrayed as gang members, black communities being broken or disruptive, and flamboyant members of the LGBTQ+ community, as Damien was portrayed in 2004 hit Mean Girls.
Instead, young adults would like to