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Podcasts Take Two
On the Lot: Academy tries again for diversity, Spiderman must be white, and straight
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Jun 22, 2015
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On the Lot: Academy tries again for diversity, Spiderman must be white, and straight
The motion picture academy board tries to diversify its membership. And if you want to be Spiderman in a movie, you have to be white.
A promotional image for Jaws
Jaws, beloved at 40, holds lessons for modern Hollywood
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Universal/The Kobal Collection
)

The motion picture academy board tries to diversify its membership. And if you want to be Spiderman in a movie, you have to be white.

In this week's On the Lot, the LA Times' Rebecca Keegan says the board of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences will meet Tuesday, and a big item on the agenda – adding some new members who aren't older white males.

Meanwhile, Wikileaks published some documents between Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios which detail requirements for any character portraying Spiderman/Peter Parker. They must be white, heterosexual and a non-smoker.

Keegan also spoke about some lessons modern Hollywood seems to have forgotten about what is perhaps the greatest summer movie of all time, Jaws. She says one reason the film, which turns 40 this week, is such a classic is that it focused more on character development, and less on special effects.