A Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Research Paper published in February 2020 has found that since 2012, when the Chinese government began allowing more foreign films into the country, Hollywood movies have cast more light-skinned actors in starring roles. The researchers concluded that U.S. film studios were casting to fulfil the aesthetic preferences of Chinese movie-goers, in a culture that places a premium on light skin — a phenomenon known as colourism. The study, published in October 2017, examined more than 3,000 films from between 2009 and 2015 and found that films made after 2012 demonstrated an 8% increase in the number of "very light-skinned" actors in starring roles. The 8% shift meant that "for 1 of every 3 films in this category, the film went from having 2 out of 3 as very light-skinned actors to having 3 out of 3 very light-skinned actors." The study's co-authors called this phenomenon a "light-skin shift." The light-skin shift only occurred in film genres that the Chinese government typically permits into the Chinese market, such as action movies and big summer blockbusters. U.S. studios increasingly create these films from start to finish with the Chinese market in mind.
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