Paul Sinacore Casting Shines Spotlight On "Friends: The Reunion" as Diversity Backlash Continues

Jun 18, 2021

LOS ANGELES - June 18, 2021 - PRLog -- The diversity issue continues to swirl around Friends: The Reunion for missing the mark on inclusion. (Hollywood Reporter: "'Friends' Creators on Creative Regrets and Biggest Reunion Reveals: It Was a Very Hot Topic on the Set", May 27th").

Socially constructed through the Western lens of Whiteness, Friends fostered empathy on a global scale. An all White cast, with few Black guests, none invited to The Reunion. Paul Sinacore weighs in:

"Casting is in the spotlight and we must strive and demand to include fairly. If not, you get what we have now - people trying to blame individual people for the systemic diversity issues that exist in this country. People become hyper-sensitized, overreactive, and volatile. It's always a trade off and knee-jerk reactions from the world of instant gratification. No one should be debating the fact that the 'cast is the cast'. The diversity and inclusivity issue will not be solved overnight and we can't change the past. It is a work in progress. We need to work together to improve diversity and inclusion, not become more divisive. Moving forward in show business we work to make positive strides one casting at a time, not by blaming individuals for the wrongs in American history or by attempting to rewrite it."

"The public is perceiving the diversity and inclusion issue with Friends: The Reunion as part of the problem. Now is the time to answer the urgent cry for social justice. As a Sociocultural Anthropologist, we study the culture of human beings, the culture of the world, culture on a global scale and the culture of connection and togetherness. Friends: The Reunion has allowed us to delineate the glaring differences between international diversity and inclusion vs. American diversity and inclusion in real time. Through ethnographic research we reveal a more holistic view of what it is we mean when we say the words diversity and inclusion. It's okay to be upset, it's okay to voice your disapproval, it's okay to want more from people and expect more from people of great power and in great positions. It must also be okay to accept what has happened, accept the past, learn from our shortcomings and move forward in a positive direction together as the human race." ..Paul Sinacore

UCLA's annual Hollywood Diversity Report reports that in 2020, films with casts that were made up of 41% to 50% minorities took home the highest median gross at the box office.

Paul Sinacore is a Casting Director, visual anthropologist, academic documentary researcher, ethnographer, SAG actor, professional drummer and owner of Paul Sinacore Casting LLC in Los Angeles, California.

Paul appeared in Friends: Season 6: Episode 10, 1999
"The One with the Routine"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISCrrkSg8Zw

Paul's past work in casting:
Nike
LeBron James: "LeBron James: Come Out Of Nowhere"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLMPd0PyqL8

Facebook
Birthday Fundraisers: "Wish Bigger"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_lAcPIQjuc

https://paulsinacorecasting.com
https://imdb.me/paulsinacore
https://www.facebook.com/paulsinacorecasting