Why are movies and tv shows that take place in LA/ Southern California have a mostly white and black cast even though LA is 61% Hispanic and Asian?
February 3, 2026
The OC
Suits LA
Boyz in the hood
Entourage
90210
All American
Friday
The hills
34 comments
*Taps the sign*
Movies are not real life.
Idk, but the lack of representation we get in media despite being the biggest group in California and the second biggest in the US is some bullshit
Bad Bunny is holding it down for all the Latinos right now lol
Have you been there? LA is huge. Different parts have different percentages.
Wondered this myself when watching the movie ‘Crash’ 20-some years ago. 🤮
But I think that your question points to underrepresentation in mass media in/from America.
Asians and Hispanics don’t become actors as much as white or black people
Most of the things you listed are set in areas of SoCal that have large percentages of white or black residents.
Most of those tasks place all in a specific neighborhood.
It’s almost like microcosms are a thing…
Dude, the writers were most likely living in/near SoCal, they knew what they were talking about.
Those are specific areas and are represented accurately.
ETA: those areas are chosen bc of racism in Hollywood though.
I always wondered that ..
I love when I see Latinos on tv
USA is very diverse
It be nice if they added more Latinos, Asians, native, and Pacific Islander actors other than just white and black..
Movies are made for national and international audiences, and actors and actresses come from all over the world to work in Hollywod. They don’t just cast whoever walks in and happens to live within 5 miles.
I’m not American, and I don’t know about the other shows so can’t answer for them, but 90210 was set in Beverly Hills in the early 90s where the white demographic was 87% in 1990. The OC was set in Newport Beach in the early 2000s where the white demographic was 89% in 2000.
The greater LA area is a massive metropolis composed of many, many neighborhoods with their own micro-populations. The media you cited are mostly located in specific pockets of LA.
The OC = Newport Beach (75% white)
Suits LA = Century City (73% white)
Boyz in the Hood = South Central (was 80% black up until the 80s-90s, but it is now predominantly hispanic)
Entourage = Hollywood, WeHo, and Beverly Hills (Hollywood is 45% hispanic, with white at 34%, but WeHo is 70% white and Beverly Hills is 76% white)
90210 = Beverly Hills
All American = South Central, Crenshaw, and Beverly Hills (Crenshaw is 58% black)
Friday = South Central
The Hills = I don’t know much about this one, except that it was bopping around affluent areas, so…
With all of that said… there should be way more media representation of hispanics and asians. We can do way better.
Idk but the shows and movies I watched as a kid in the 80s and 90s were more diverse and seemed more realistic to me.
There were a lot of Middle-Easterners living in Bev Hills during the 90s yet the 90210 show was all white. The obvious answer is who they want to appeal to, or who they advertisers want to reach.
Anime live action remakes are being whitewashed and movie remakes of books featuring Asian characters are also pressured to be whitewashed.
I read reports how in the hit show, “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” Hollywood producers were pressuring the director to whitewash the original Asian character. They compromised by casting a mixed Asian lead. Very disappointing.
People who dismiss racism are probably White since they never had to deal w the lack of representation
These are all older shows. Newer shows reflect greater diversity.
LA is Huge.
Racism and redlining happen to run rampant in Los Angeles.
Hollywood doesn’t cast Asians and Latino/a actors.
The times they are a’changin’.
But I don’t think listing 8 shows / movies can really cut it. You might be right about the under-representation. But you are going to have to look at a lot more shows.
You might start with
The Rookie
Bosch (including Bosch Legacy)
Southland
SWAT
Training Day
Colors
Just naming a few that I could think of off the top of my head. I did not do a full analysis of them, but I think most of them have latinos and asians to some extent.
There is also a spinoff of Bosch called Ballard. Ballard is played by Maggie Q.
If you make any effort whatsoever to actually analyze this I would be interested in the result. Online lists of movies and TV shows set in LA run into the hundreds or thousands.
Identity surrounding Latino or Hispanic heritage is interesting. Many people who have a Hispanic heritage fully consider themselves to be white. Just something to think about.
Just because Los Angeles overall has certain demographics, doesn’t mean that the groups in these shows or the neighborhoods reflect those same demographics. There are aprox 23 million people in Southern California.
The OC takes place is Newport Beach, 70-80% white.
Suits LA, 86% of lawyers are white. (I don’t know shit about that show, I just know there are lawyers)
Boyz in the Hood, 48% of South Central was black at the time of filming, but in the 80’s, Crenshaw specifically was considered a black neighborhood, “the heart of Black LA.” This film drew on the director’s personal life experiences as a young black man growing up in a predominantly black neighborhood – it’s gonna have a predominantly black cast.
Entourage is based on Mark Wahlberg’s life – that dude was arrested for beating the living shit out Vietnamese men while calling them racial slurs. It was so bad that he was initially arrested fir attempted murder. Maybe in a show based on his life, he doesn’t have any Asian friends. I dunno. Probably more likely that racism is just alive and we’ll in the entertainment industry, but I think people shouldn’t forget that ol’ Marky Mark almost killed a man just because he was Asian.
90210 – 78% of Beverly Hills is white.
All American – Again, Crenshaw and Beverly Hills.
Friday – shit, your guess is as good as mine. Back then, Gardena was just about 1/4 each black, white, Latino, and Asian.
The Hills – 76% of that neighborhood is white.
Los Angeles used to be quite extremely segregated. Whites had expensive isolated areas, but usually lived with Hispanic and Asian people in mixed communities. Blacks lived in very specific areas. Basically, if you were black and couldn’t afford to leave, you’d live in an effectively completely black neighborhood. The percentage in the metro area was something like 5% as well. Orange County was also very white and affluent.
It is a big place and these are somewhat historic.
You’re also probably being racist in your belief that all Hispanic people are dark brown.
Firstly, LA is massive and has a metro population of around 13 million. If this were a state, it would be the 6th largest. As such, there are a lot of places in LA that would be white. Secondly, shows are made to be watched by more than LA, and as such, they are going to look more like the general American than the general Los Angeles resident. Thirdly, TV shows are shot with actors, and while the race of people in LA is majority Hispanic, the majority of TV actors in LA is not.
Most nepo babies are white.
Boyz In The Hood and Friday take place in neighborhoods that are majority black.
Because back in the 60s-90s there were a ton more white people in California compared to now. There was more than just a few majority white neighborhoods, there were many entirely white areas.
There was an Asian an of course Latino demographic, but not nearly as many as today. Back then negligible amount of south Asian/Indian demographic.
The Black community has always been smaller on the west coast, with the exception of Oakland. But LA also had more black population in the 60s-90s. Back then LA was like 8% black, now it’s maybe 5%. Compton was approx 80% black population in 1990, now it’s down to ~%12.
Latinos have displaced both the black and white population as the two primary racial groups in California.
Shows and movies set in the 80s, 90s, and the early 2000s reflect the population characteristics that existed in California at that time.
It’s different now, but not that long ago whites were in the majority in California. So movies and tv reflected that.
Location setting, there’s areas dominated by one demographic and that area might just be the setting,
Look at the neighborhoods those movies are set in. That will speak the most to it.
But Also.
Look at the demographics of the time they were set. Not today.
You’ll see things were different.
Because you cherry picked movies and TV shows that have a mostly white or mostly black cast because of the setting/story.
Some of those movies and shows you listed are pretty old. It wasn’t 61 percent 20 or 30 years ago
Maybe, due to the fact, most viewers are not Angelinos? Hell, most are not even Californicators.
They’re camera shy man. A little cultural sensitivity maybe.
Look at the time that those shows were filmed (or set). 90210 was an early 90s show. So don’t compare it to racial demographic makeups of the 2020s, compare it to those of the 1990s.
The actual answer is 90% of movies/shows are not filmed where they are based. Lot of big movies or shows that are supposed to be New York or Pennsylvania are filmed in Canada for example. The set will reflect those areas more typically. Also if they are filmed in LA, LA is big and has a huge range of diversity depending on the area.
I feel like you have to just throw out movies about the film industry when examining this subject. Like IIRC Entourage isn’t really about living in LA. It’s about Hollywood. All the main characters are supposed to be from new york.
And FWIW Adrian Grenier is a hispanic man playing a white guy from queens.
Hollywood movies in general are often either masturbatory or hyper cynical portrayals of life in LA if you’re in the industry.
34 comments
*Taps the sign*
Movies are not real life.
Idk, but the lack of representation we get in media despite being the biggest group in California and the second biggest in the US is some bullshit
Bad Bunny is holding it down for all the Latinos right now lol
Have you been there? LA is huge. Different parts have different percentages.
Wondered this myself when watching the movie ‘Crash’ 20-some years ago. 🤮
But I think that your question points to underrepresentation in mass media in/from America.
Asians and Hispanics don’t become actors as much as white or black people
Most of the things you listed are set in areas of SoCal that have large percentages of white or black residents.
Most of those tasks place all in a specific neighborhood.
It’s almost like microcosms are a thing…
Dude, the writers were most likely living in/near SoCal, they knew what they were talking about.
Those are specific areas and are represented accurately.
ETA: those areas are chosen bc of racism in Hollywood though.
I always wondered that ..
I love when I see Latinos on tv
USA is very diverse
It be nice if they added more Latinos, Asians, native, and Pacific Islander actors other than just white and black..
Movies are made for national and international audiences, and actors and actresses come from all over the world to work in Hollywod. They don’t just cast whoever walks in and happens to live within 5 miles.
I’m not American, and I don’t know about the other shows so can’t answer for them, but 90210 was set in Beverly Hills in the early 90s where the white demographic was 87% in 1990. The OC was set in Newport Beach in the early 2000s where the white demographic was 89% in 2000.
The greater LA area is a massive metropolis composed of many, many neighborhoods with their own micro-populations. The media you cited are mostly located in specific pockets of LA.
The OC = Newport Beach (75% white)
Suits LA = Century City (73% white)
Boyz in the Hood = South Central (was 80% black up until the 80s-90s, but it is now predominantly hispanic)
Entourage = Hollywood, WeHo, and Beverly Hills (Hollywood is 45% hispanic, with white at 34%, but WeHo is 70% white and Beverly Hills is 76% white)
90210 = Beverly Hills
All American = South Central, Crenshaw, and Beverly Hills (Crenshaw is 58% black)
Friday = South Central
The Hills = I don’t know much about this one, except that it was bopping around affluent areas, so…
With all of that said… there should be way more media representation of hispanics and asians. We can do way better.
Idk but the shows and movies I watched as a kid in the 80s and 90s were more diverse and seemed more realistic to me.
There were a lot of Middle-Easterners living in Bev Hills during the 90s yet the 90210 show was all white. The obvious answer is who they want to appeal to, or who they advertisers want to reach.
Anime live action remakes are being whitewashed and movie remakes of books featuring Asian characters are also pressured to be whitewashed.
I read reports how in the hit show, “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” Hollywood producers were pressuring the director to whitewash the original Asian character. They compromised by casting a mixed Asian lead. Very disappointing.
People who dismiss racism are probably White since they never had to deal w the lack of representation
These are all older shows. Newer shows reflect greater diversity.
LA is Huge.
Racism and redlining happen to run rampant in Los Angeles.
Hollywood doesn’t cast Asians and Latino/a actors.
The times they are a’changin’.
But I don’t think listing 8 shows / movies can really cut it. You might be right about the under-representation. But you are going to have to look at a lot more shows.
You might start with
The Rookie
Bosch (including Bosch Legacy)
Southland
SWAT
Training Day
Colors
Just naming a few that I could think of off the top of my head. I did not do a full analysis of them, but I think most of them have latinos and asians to some extent.
There is also a spinoff of Bosch called Ballard. Ballard is played by Maggie Q.
If you make any effort whatsoever to actually analyze this I would be interested in the result. Online lists of movies and TV shows set in LA run into the hundreds or thousands.
Identity surrounding Latino or Hispanic heritage is interesting. Many people who have a Hispanic heritage fully consider themselves to be white. Just something to think about.
Just because Los Angeles overall has certain demographics, doesn’t mean that the groups in these shows or the neighborhoods reflect those same demographics. There are aprox 23 million people in Southern California.
The OC takes place is Newport Beach, 70-80% white.
Suits LA, 86% of lawyers are white. (I don’t know shit about that show, I just know there are lawyers)
Boyz in the Hood, 48% of South Central was black at the time of filming, but in the 80’s, Crenshaw specifically was considered a black neighborhood, “the heart of Black LA.” This film drew on the director’s personal life experiences as a young black man growing up in a predominantly black neighborhood – it’s gonna have a predominantly black cast.
Entourage is based on Mark Wahlberg’s life – that dude was arrested for beating the living shit out Vietnamese men while calling them racial slurs. It was so bad that he was initially arrested fir attempted murder. Maybe in a show based on his life, he doesn’t have any Asian friends. I dunno. Probably more likely that racism is just alive and we’ll in the entertainment industry, but I think people shouldn’t forget that ol’ Marky Mark almost killed a man just because he was Asian.
90210 – 78% of Beverly Hills is white.
All American – Again, Crenshaw and Beverly Hills.
Friday – shit, your guess is as good as mine. Back then, Gardena was just about 1/4 each black, white, Latino, and Asian.
The Hills – 76% of that neighborhood is white.
Los Angeles used to be quite extremely segregated. Whites had expensive isolated areas, but usually lived with Hispanic and Asian people in mixed communities. Blacks lived in very specific areas. Basically, if you were black and couldn’t afford to leave, you’d live in an effectively completely black neighborhood. The percentage in the metro area was something like 5% as well. Orange County was also very white and affluent.
It is a big place and these are somewhat historic.
You’re also probably being racist in your belief that all Hispanic people are dark brown.
Firstly, LA is massive and has a metro population of around 13 million. If this were a state, it would be the 6th largest. As such, there are a lot of places in LA that would be white. Secondly, shows are made to be watched by more than LA, and as such, they are going to look more like the general American than the general Los Angeles resident. Thirdly, TV shows are shot with actors, and while the race of people in LA is majority Hispanic, the majority of TV actors in LA is not.
Most nepo babies are white.
Boyz In The Hood and Friday take place in neighborhoods that are majority black.
Because back in the 60s-90s there were a ton more white people in California compared to now. There was more than just a few majority white neighborhoods, there were many entirely white areas.
There was an Asian an of course Latino demographic, but not nearly as many as today. Back then negligible amount of south Asian/Indian demographic.
The Black community has always been smaller on the west coast, with the exception of Oakland. But LA also had more black population in the 60s-90s. Back then LA was like 8% black, now it’s maybe 5%. Compton was approx 80% black population in 1990, now it’s down to ~%12.
Latinos have displaced both the black and white population as the two primary racial groups in California.
Shows and movies set in the 80s, 90s, and the early 2000s reflect the population characteristics that existed in California at that time.
It’s different now, but not that long ago whites were in the majority in California. So movies and tv reflected that.
Location setting, there’s areas dominated by one demographic and that area might just be the setting,
Look at the neighborhoods those movies are set in. That will speak the most to it.
But Also.
Look at the demographics of the time they were set. Not today.
You’ll see things were different.
Because you cherry picked movies and TV shows that have a mostly white or mostly black cast because of the setting/story.
Some of those movies and shows you listed are pretty old. It wasn’t 61 percent 20 or 30 years ago
Maybe, due to the fact, most viewers are not Angelinos? Hell, most are not even Californicators.
They’re camera shy man. A little cultural sensitivity maybe.
Look at the time that those shows were filmed (or set). 90210 was an early 90s show. So don’t compare it to racial demographic makeups of the 2020s, compare it to those of the 1990s.
The actual answer is 90% of movies/shows are not filmed where they are based. Lot of big movies or shows that are supposed to be New York or Pennsylvania are filmed in Canada for example. The set will reflect those areas more typically. Also if they are filmed in LA, LA is big and has a huge range of diversity depending on the area.
I feel like you have to just throw out movies about the film industry when examining this subject. Like IIRC Entourage isn’t really about living in LA. It’s about Hollywood. All the main characters are supposed to be from new york.
And FWIW Adrian Grenier is a hispanic man playing a white guy from queens.
Hollywood movies in general are often either masturbatory or hyper cynical portrayals of life in LA if you’re in the industry.