As we discussed last week, this year’s Oscars are a redux of last year’s #OscarsSoWhite controversy. The Academy members – mostly white men older than 60 – have decided for the second year in a row that no actor of color did any Oscar-worthy work. They also decided that only dudes are good at directing movies and that the only Best Picture-worthy films were about white people. It’s a mess, and even the Academy’s African-American female president, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, is upset about it – you can read her comments here. Isaacs is in such a tough spot – she legitimately has done work to increase diversity within the Academy, and yet she’s overseen two of the most insular and “white” Oscars in decades.
What’s slightly funny is that Chris Rock is returning as the host of this year’s Oscars. Rock is not the kind of comedian to ignore the controversy, and people are expecting a lot of pointed jokes in Rock’s monologue about the Academy being so dreadfully out of touch. Rock has already given us a preview – he tweeted this a few days ago:
The #Oscars. The White BET Awards.
https://t.co/8qjLR0uysI
— Chris Rock (@chrisrock) January 15, 2016
LOL at “White BET Awards.” He’s not wrong.
Meanwhile, there’s been some talk about celebrities – specifically actors of color – boycotting the Oscars until the Academy gets their sh-t together. Rev. Al Sharpton released a statement and at least one group is calling for a boycott.
“Hollywood is like the Rocky Mountains, the higher up you get the whiter it gets,” Sharpton said in a statement, “and this year’s Academy Awards will be yet another Rocky Mountain Oscars. Yet again, deserving black actors and directors were ignored by the academy — which reinforces the fact that there are few if any blacks with real power in Hollywood. Being left out of awards consideration is about more than just recognition for a job well done; winning an Oscar has long-lasting cultural and economic impacts.”
For the second year in a row, all 20 acting nominees are white. In the directing category, there is only one person of color (Alejandro G. Iñárritu) and no women. And for best picture, no films with predominantly black casts (such as Creed or Straight Outta Compton) are in the running. In response, NAN L.A. is urging a nationwide “TV tune-out” of the Oscars show, which is to air Feb. 28.
“The lack of African Americans and women excluded from the major categories of Oscar nominees is appalling,” said Najee Ali, NAN L.A.’s political director, in a statement.
Sharpton’s statement added that NAN is convening a Hollywood summit next month “to bring light to those studios and others in the film industry who aren’t living up to their obligations. We will not sit idly by and allow our community to be disregarded.”
The Academy did not immediately respond to request for comment.
While I understand the frustration, I really do, I’m not sure if a boycott solves much of anything. Obviously, the status quo is not self-sustaining and I’m glad that high-profile people in Hollywood (like Jada Pinkett Smith or the producers of Straight Out of Compton) are openly criticizing the Academy. Yes, pressure should be put on the Academy. Yes, we should be having larger conversations about race and gender and discrimination and representation. But is a boycott the answer? Would a boycott force the Academy to change? Eh.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.
? Would a boycott force the Academy to change? Eh. <—- Got Grammys and MTV to change when all the most popular prolific rap/hip hop acts stopped showing… It's not perfect now but they televise and present awards to people they weren't before
Also the ratings for the Oscars have been dropping every year with this controversy I’m sure people won’t watch it, the only good thing will be Chris Rock. As for the boycott, I think it’s a good idea both films (Creed, Straight Outta Compton) were great & deserved to be nominated. It’s a problem that the Academy keeps doing so go ahead & make them hear that enough is enough.
Just an addendum to your comment: Both Creed and Straight Outta Compton had nominations. Creed for the white supporting actor and Straight Outta Compton for the white script writer. It does feel like the academy bent over backwards to lock out the PoC involved in both films.
“It does feel like the academy bent over backwards to lock out the PoC involved in both films. ”
The same argument was made about Selma last year. Only the song was nominated.
And now after people actually watched Selma they seem to agree that it didn’t deserve the Best Picture nomination.
No “the same argument” was not made regarding Selma. Glory featured on a film by and about black people but thats where the comparison ends. The nomination and win(!) went to two black artists (Common & John Legend). Also, I’ve actually watched Creed and SOOC, as well as a number of other nominated films, and I am telling you that the standard that let Stallone through the gate would have let MJB through too. If the SOOC screenplay made the cut then so should have the directing and production. But apparently the goal post shifts when the person in consideration is a PoC or a woman for that matter.
I agree. The answer is a resounding yes; especially if not only people of color boycotted. If other big names called for a boycott and refuse to attend/present, they certainly would make sure to change next year. The exclusion of people of color is appalling.
I think a playful “hip, alternative Oscars” event would be the most effective approach.
Instead of being angry and stuffy, Chris Rock and a lot of other people — black, white, any ethnicity and gender orientation — could do an event that laughs at the Old Farts Who Vote for Oscars and honors everyone who got neglected by the Oscars over the years, beyond just this year.
Be funny, fresh, “explain” terms like rap, be snarky but in a way that will embarrass the Oscars to change.
While I think a boycott is a good idea, Jada and Spike were idiots for saying it out loud versus making the phone calls to get everyone on board first. And while it is getting really old that people of color aren’t represented, it would’ve been smarter to align with other groups who suffer the same indignity, like comedy actors/writers/directors, who continually get overlooked. Myself, I think that Steve Carell should’ve been nominated over Christian Bale. How about actresses? Last year, the Oscars nearly had to scrape under the barrel (read: Aniston).
Which leads me to the next facet… what should the boycott’s goal be? Personally, I think that the goal should be to get the Academy voters who allow other people, like their relatives, assistants, etc. to vote in their place for no other reason except sheer laziness or complacency or the ones who don’t watch a majority of the films nominated suspended or permanently removed. Or handicap their votes… for examples, if they watched half the movies nominated, their vote should be worth 1/2 and so on.
But now, given that some have popped off prematurely, the element of surprise is gone.
Exactly.
My mother who knows nothing about this subject but has become aware of the lack of nominations for black talent said, “Sometimes you have to shame the devil before you defeat him.”
Let’s face it. In these times of media coverage and social media it’s not so easy to pretend and lie as it used to be. If there was a boycott and in the crowd all you saw was white faces I feel it would bring a very strong point home about who the Academy considers important.
It’s not even just about the lack of nominations for black talent. What about latinos, asians, middle easterners, indians and everyone in between?
The nominations don’t reflect the world we live in which includes a lot of non-white people.
Maybe not just the nominations, but the actual acting jobs. How diverse is it? How many good scripts have diverse casts? How many leads did non-whites got?
The change must come before the nominations.
In the untied States (approximations) over 65% of the population is Caucasian/white Hispanic, 13% African American, and 17% Hispanic/LatinoLatino with the remaining percent Asain, Middle Eastern, ect. Having broader white representation only correlates with staitically true population numbers. I’m suggesting nothing more than there are more white people, so there will be more white actors and directors creating movies pertaining to their experiences. This should surprise no one.
I don’t agree that either of those movies or actors were good enough for nomination. However, Beasts of no Nation and Idiris should have been nominated. But I believe the subject matter was too harsh and the academy members didn’t even watch the film.
Also Benecio del Toro should have been nominated.
The problems are opportunities for great work. There are no poc that head major studios. Therefore, it is a year and a day for studios to decide to back films for actors of color to have material.
Probably why most films with great roles for people of color and women are independent. Precious,years a slave,fruitville station, monster ball….
Beasts of No Nations wasn’t produced by a major studio, it was done by Netflix. And while it did screen in LA & New York, the Academy has yet to acknowledge the new format. So I think that is what hurt Beasts and not the subject matter.
Hmmm. Last year, Virunga, a Netflix film was nominated for an Oscar.
And they are going on about the young kid in Room, but the young actor who had the lead role in Beasts of No Nation was excellent.
I think part of the problem is that they always seem to keep in reserve a number of nominations because ‘their time has come’; sentiment, popularity in Hollywood and recognition for a body of work clearly come into play at times. The problem is that directly impacts on non white candidates because there tend to be fewer good roles and perhaps less of an old boy network? So for a performance of equivalent standard I suspect an individual non-white actor would fighting over a smaller number of nominations, even without conscious discrimination.
A friend and I had a very heated discussion about this. We don’t want POC nominated just because they need one Black actor in the mix. I have seen most of the films nominated. I personally do not think Creed and SOOC deserved Oscar nominations. I think the problem is that there were few good movies released this year with great parts featuring POC acting in them. Now last year, Selma not only deserved to be nominated for best picture, but also best director and best actor.
Agree. If any movie with a black lead should have been nominated, that was Beasts of no Nation and Idris. I didn’t find the other two movies very good at all, in fact hardly managed to finish one and couldn’t finish the other. Same with Selma last year.
I also disagree with nominating black or other ethnic minority artists for the sake of some representation. Art should be art, anti something movements are not at home there.
You both miss a number of major points in the argument. This isnt very complicated. Read carefully
1) You think those movies were mediocre and undeserving. Fine. Many of us, do not. Many of us also think that many of the “white” movies on the list have no business being there. In other words this is an extremely subjective process and as such a persons background influences their assessment. Its no wonder that old white men in the academy cant relate to Idris much less to SOOC.
2) Even these movies that you dismiss as undeserving had nominations. Dont get excited though, both nominations were for the white people involved in the film. So a movie like SOOC that had primary black people behind the scenes, ended up with a nomination for the minority on set. Same applies for Creed. The main cast members were PoC except for one. Guess who got the nomination?
I completely agree that lack of opportunities is a huge part of the problem. I imagine Jada has her panties in a twist bcs Will wasn’t nominated for Concussion, but it wasn’t really an Oscar worthy movie.
Beasts of No Nation was and there is no excuse for Idris and the young boy to have been overlooked. The old farts of the academy are just not accepting of films they likely consider to be “made for tv” bcs it was a Netflix release.
Creed should have had more noms, and maybe SSOC for best film.
@Naya
Spare me your lecture and the authoritative tone. I disagree with you and it’s so very simple. Deosn’t even need to be read carefully.
I dunno, I think people would be more likely if they nominated people actually saw and liked, no matter who was in them. At this point it just feels we’re rooting for actors who either we don’t know or always get nominated, and for the vast majority it’s movies no one have seen, and it’s hard to care in that situation.
And yet @here’s Wilson 52% of the population are women.
But there are best actress/best supporting actress categories. On the issue of best director, or if an all female ensemble ever won best picture? I have no idea. On this topic you are probably completey correct, woman are underrepresented.
What would boycotting an awards show do?? People are missing the real problem here. Straight out of Compton and Creed were good films but should they be up for a best picture nom? Perhaps. But would nominating two films staring black people have made much of a dent when considering every other film has predominately white people staring in them? The answer is no. It’s not the Oscars fault it’s Hollywood. Unless Hollywood changes the type of films that get made and the actors that get chosen to be in those films nothing is going to change.
They need to hit them in the pockets. Money talks and that is usually the only way to get people to listen.
Adding the rap categories means there’s no longer time on Sunday to give the awards in the classical categories. So there’s no longer a reason for me to watch the show.
If you think I’m being racist for preferring classical music, please check out Kathleen Battle’s glorious performance of Gounod’s Ave Maria with Christopher Parkening at the 1987 Grammys and note that Dionne Warwick led the standing ovation.
Sadly, it’s the studio execs who are the main issue … as Spike Lee mentions. I firmly believe if we had more diversity in film and TV, genres like suspense and comedy would SORE and would be improved. More of us would watch and not drop out of shows so quickly.
I wish for the day that TV shrinks to more normal (watchable / participating) levels but with more quality shows … ditto for film. Unfortunately, these old white grandpas driving in their overpriced German go carts aren’t going anywhere soon until they start rotting or finally find a girlfriend or golden parachute somewhere. I believe many are like Congress …. without much talent, experience, and good artistic vision. As well, they don’t appreciate struggles than many among diverse groups have gone through … and not just about race/ethnicity either.
DEAD at “old white grandpas driving in their overpriced German go carts.” 😂😂
Omg I haven’t laughed this hard in so long. Thank you!
As a white individual in this diverse world, I find myself with no interest in watching this year. So yeah, I’ll boycott. Besides being embarrassing and shameful, why would I want to watch what is supposed to be the best of the best when in actuality it’s just a bunch of white guys patting each other on the back. I always feel sorry for the good ones who unluckily happen to get nominated during controversies like this. Then I am reminded that these are often the same folks who play the game, accept their awards oh so graciously, “..thank the academy” and continue on in privilege. #boring
A boycott would work if people nominated or previously won boycotted. Like how last years winners present the following year? If they refused to do so.
The best thing is for Chris Rock to skewer the Oscars like I said he would last week. I’m looking forward to it.
That’s my sole reason for wanting to watch. I want to see what Chris has to say. Though they might try to censor him a bit.
I also wish that presenters would show up wearing an #OscasrSoWhite T-Shirt.
The problem here is I have a feeling this year’s Oscars may be the highest viewed simply because people want to see Chris Rock do a major roasting. If that’s the case, at the end of the day, who still wins?
As much as I want to watch Rock, I might have to sit this one out and watch highlight reels online that white people write complaint pieces about.
I told my friends that I was only watching the opening monologue. That won’t contribute to the ratings very much.
Or maybe I’ll watch it online after the fact. But I won’t be watching the show. The only reason I tuned back into the Oscars the last few years is because of JLaw.
I’m personally choosing not to watch. There will be plenty of places to watch recaps without me giving anything to the program. I just don’t want to give anymore support to an organization that doesn’t support people of color unless it’s a once every five years token.
Or better yet – they present and deviate from their scripted remarks to recognize actors of color. Kind of a Kanye moment. “Imma let you finish, but Michael B. Jordan was great in Creed.”
I don’t think that’s fair for the actor/actress that actually won, just like what Kanye did was not fair to Taylor Swift. He came off looking like a real jerk. Us POC already have enough negative stereotypes to deal with, we don’t need more.
I think Chris Rock continuing as host is great. I look forward to watching his moments on the talk shows. He never fails to make people uncomfortable and will probably singlehandedly be able to encourage change just by being himself. Whoops, how did we do this to ourselves- I can hear all these academy members exclaim!
I don’t know how anyone else feels, but I don’t think Al Sharpton is going to help their cause. Seems he is just now jumping on the bandstand (I could be wrong). He seems to jump in causes that will give him the most publicity. I agree something must be done. Boycotting, unless it pulls advertisers from the show, is not going to do much.
What do you mean? A publicized PoC boycott is disastrous for Hollywood. This is an industry that thrives on 1) PR and 2) liberal politics.
Just get a bunch of famous PoC, women directors and allies in a room somewhere and stream that party online during the Oscar telecast. I bet you every Oscar headline the following day, carries a pic of the sit-out right alongside Leos smug winning face.
If it works more power to it. But I truly believe money talks in Hollywood and unless it does some monetary damage I’m not sure how much of an impact it will have. I’m not saying not to do it, but It is a legitimate question to ask. Guess we will have to wait and see what happens.
Most of Hollywood’s “liberal politics” are in theory only rather than practice. Those who hold the keys to the kingdom are driven solely by $$$.
Al Sharpton is an ass. I can’t fathom how anyone takes him seriously.
I agree. I just don’t understand how he has any credibility.
I’m certain most people on this thread have never heard Sharpton speak let alone met him. He’s a very smart man and hilarious to boot. Those of you who like to criticize his involvement in the Tawana Brawley case need to read up on what Trump said (among so many others) about the Central Park Five. Then get back to me. And in the meantime, note that Trump is close to getting the Republican Presidential nomination and has the ear of a large swath of the electorate and yet you do not hear the mainstream media demonizing him the way everyone has demonized Sharpton for believing that girl (to whom something did happen, which remains a mystery).
@Pinky, Al Sharpton ran for a presidential nomination multiple time. For an American it would be hard not to know of him.
I respect Al Sharpton for what he does with his National Action Network day in and day out.I first learned about the Trayvon Martin case from Sharpton well before it made national news.
@ Pinky
Yes, I have heard Rev. Sharpton speak. His sermon at church was very powerful. And as much as I agree with you about Trump. I don’t know any other African Americans who feel that he speaks for us or represents us well.
@crtb Not sure I understand what you mean: I don’t think Trump speaks for anyone of color. Or were you suggesting I think Sharpton does?
Justifying someone’s actions saying “Trump did something similar” is not a good defense. And how about what he did during the Duke Lacrosse team case? He helped ruin the lives of 3 innocent people. Sharpton is a racist and an attention *****.
I agree, Al Sharpton doesn’t help ANY cause!
Watched The Martian this weekend. Considering a boycott until I get my six dollars back.
LOL…
Do you not enjoy comedies or are you yet another Judd Apatow shill? 😉
LOLZ! 😉
Bettyrose: I’ll stand in line behind you. I only went as my husband’s escort. I never would have chose a Damon film as no matter who he plays, all I see is Matt Damon. The only thing I ever could tolerate him in was Liberace. Oscar nominated….????? Anyway I did finally see Star Wars which I anticipated not liking and loved it, the swirling chair and all!
Amen, sister.
Was the Martian that bad? I was planning a trip to the video store today (yes my town still has one and I love it). I was going to rent Straight Outta Compton and The Martian. Might have to re-think The Martian now ! I assumed it was good as it got a lot of Oscar buzz. See this proves how the Oscars really work !
word…don’t listen to me. I just don’t care for Damon obviously but it was nominated for best picture so that says something. My husband enjoyed it and thought it was worthy of the nomination. Go for it and there’s nothing wrong with video stores. I hope you enjoy it.
Personally, I liked The Martian. It was gripping, emotional and Matt Damon was quite good in it (particularly when you consider that for most of the movie he’s not interacting with anyone but himself/the audience). But I did see it before it was nominated in the comedy section of the GG’s and then won. If you can go into the film to be entertained, it’s really good.
Straight Outta Compton was excellent. It’s a shame the only nominations it got were for the writing. It was full of really good performances.
You should see both 🙂
OK I’ll watch it…thanks !
I dunno. I just didn’t find it suspenseful or unique. It was like Castaway, without the psychological exploration; Gravity, without the back story & sense of total isolation; Alien, without any real danger or heart-pounding action; Saving Private Ryan, except without the moral dilemma of risking lives to save one life. I’ll stop here.
6 clams? You got off cheap. A 2d matinee costs 9 bucks where I am.
Nonono . . .we waited until it was on demand and paid $6 to watch it on Roku.
Super boring, couldn’t wait for it to end. As far as sci fi goes ex_machina blew it away and with far less money to make it.
Well, boycotting something when there’s no immediate financial fallout etc. often seems pointless. But you have to start somewhere. Maybe it will wake some people up? You don’t think if (and that is a huge if attached to a unicorn, obviously) for example Leo D. joined a boycott this year of ALL years, it wouldn’t at the very least send a message, maybe help the conversation? It won’t happen, not in a million years. I’m just saying. It’s better than nothing.
You know, that’s interesting, given that Marlon Brando did boycott during a year he won. I can’t see any white actors doing that today. The only other thing I can think of is for audiences to boycott movies that don’t have diverse casts (within reason). I’m not expecting Pride & Prejudice to have a diverse cast, but movies that are all-white but don’t need to be should be boycotted at this point. I sure as heck don’t want to see another J.Law/Bradley Cooper/DeNiro film.
AGREED. I can’t see another j.law,bradley film. she’s so overrated as it is,but to watch the two of them over and over and over again…I’m done.
His presenting the Oscars is going to be hilarious, I might actually watch them this year
The Oscars is usually the TV highlight of my year. My “super bowl”. But I won’t be watching this year.
I’ve also made a decision that this year I will only see movies with central female characters. We can complain all we want about the lack of diversity in movies but if we keep going to see movies about white men, made by white men nothing will change.
I’ll follow it on Twitter just to see who wins.
I haven’t watched for years. I just log on here the next day to see who won and look at the dresses.
I agree SO HARD with all your comment, Louisa! I usually love the Oscar season, but I’m not as invested this year. And you’re right, I’m gonna vote with my feet and make a real effort to seek out, support and talk about stuff – not just films – which prioritise women and people of colour.
Not because I wanna be a hero sjw, but because I’m getting real fecking sick of seeing the same people telling the same stories.
Not just movies about white men written by white men. Movies about white men who date girls half their age or close enough. I’m absolutely sick of age gaps in movies. I boycott anything that has a significant age gap unless it is a period film (for obvious reasons) or it is relevant to the story in a positive way. Otherwise, just nope. I’m not supporting this ageist, sexism towards women anymore. I’ve had enough of hollywood disposing of women in their early to mid 30s… And that’s if they’re LUCKY.
Can we just stop with the “conversations” . I was just watching a vintage Carvett interview with Marlon Brando. Marlon spends half the interview discussing the exclusion of PoC in Hollywood, both behind the scenes and infront of the cameras. In 1972!! How long do you need to have a conversation before you begin to act on it?
I think a boycott or even an act of defiance (like a presenting awards while wearing a predesignated arm band) will send a powerful impossible to ignore message for future awards.
Absolutely true.
If we leave it to ‘conversations’ and ‘discussions’ then that’s all it will be for another 50 years.
And credit where credit is due: Marlon Brando put his money where his mouth was, declining the Oscar he won in 1973, instead sending a Native American woman to explain that he was declining due to the portrayal of Native Americans by Hollywood in film. Can you imagine JLaw declining an Oscar? Even Meryl Streep?? Leo??? HAHAHAHAHAH!! These “liberals” in Holllywood are all about themselves – it seems that the social conscience Brando had has gone the way of other protesting for social changes – away.
What do you expect from people who make their living playing make believe?? I have no use for the Oscars or most actors/actresses anyway. Vacuous and selfish.
You are so so right.
I think all this is just an attempt to drum up viewership for an award show so boring and aging and ridiculously long.
Good point. I stopped watching years, ago, but I’m definitely interested in watching Chris Rock bring the controversy. I haven’t seen many of the nominated films, but I was hoping that Beasts of No Nation would get a nod.
A boycott could definitely work. Sadly though, I feel that in order for it to really make a difference, some of the people in power have to join in. It would be nice if the rest of Hollywood would stand up and speak out on this issue. But it seems people want to hide behind their hands and act as if nothing is wrong. Or either they just don’t care.
No it wouldn’t because the academy doesn’t get movies green lit in hollywood the studios do. So boycotting the oscars will do absolutely nothing.
If movie-goers worldwide are less interested in movies based around female or nonwhite characters, movies based around white male characters is what will get made. Movies are incredibly expensive to make. We can’t realistically expect movie studios to act like charities churning out movies that people don’t want to watch. Jem and the Holograms which came out last October was one of the biggest flops in movie history. This was a movie made to appeal to tween and teen girls and hardly anyone went to see it. Businesses won’t sell what people don’t want to buy. If we want change, audiences need to become more open-minded and show an interest in stories about women and people of color.
Because Academy members have nothing to do with making movies? And what people deem to be worthy of awards consideration also has no impact on what movies are made?
Except the problem at hand wasnt a scarcity of material to nominate. It doesnt matter how much you produce, when the Academy has made up their minds to ignore you.
If most movies that are made are by white guys and about white people, that’s what will get nominated. If most movies people want to see involve white male lead characters, those are the movies Hollywood will push. This isn’t an easy problem to solve because movies are distributed worldwide and in many places like Asia there’s a lot of racism and sexism. There’s an unfortunate preference for white male lead characters all over the world. Nominating movies by women or blacks, just to have female and black nominees could end up being seen as tokenism. There isn’t an easy answer here. Ideally more movies representing diverse characters should be made, so that women and minorities can win on merit. The question is will there be a market for those movies.
@Em Uhhhh…how much money did Straight Outta Compton make? What was the top grossing film this weekend, beating out The Revenant and that Baygazhi flick? There is a healthy appetite for nonwhite stuff, at the very least. Please, don’t fall victim to toting the party line based on wishful thinking rather than any calculable study or metric!!!!
@Em
Uh em? See this gets my goat. It’s so easy to say, “Well they made a film for women and it didn’t make any profit so it’s not their fault.”
Nope. They took source material of something that was very beloved and had a very devoted fan following and said “Hey we’re going to devote less than HALF the money we spend on films like G.I. Joe and we’re also going to completely change the story. Then we’re going to eliminate many of the major characters fans loved and heck, while we’re at it lets rewrite the entire mythology to fit a Justin Bieber music documentary.” (I didn’t even get into what they did to the only black female character)
Thankfully many people (men, women, young and old) refused to support that nonsense. This is exactly why people are discussing boycott, because you can’t always eat the table scraps and be grateful for it. If someone has no motivation to make something wonderful for a group when they have a potential million dollar idea then maybe they’ll find the motivation to do better when they have a million dollar bomb.
Perhaps the producers of these films simply want an Oscar and are catering to the likes of the Academy. Do you remember those Sony hacks? Right there in the emails they discussed how they wanted their films to be “universally liked” and how “white leads” are better for movies because “white leads” are universally liked…or some b.s. like that. I don’t understand how this could possibly be true. In that case, how did Straight Outta Compton become so successful? PEOPLE watched it…MILLIONS did. You know how there is a Billboard Music Award show that hands out awards to singers based on how well their songs did on the radio? We need something like that for movies. An award show based on how well a movie actually did and not what some out of touch snooty retired while male thinks (they don’t represent the majority at all).
Sorry @EM, you are still in the past. Movies with POC DID make money this year. More than the other films nominated AND they had critics backing their performance. Time to come up with another excuse.
I’m not watching this year. Chris Rock jokes will be funny but those at the show could not care less, they will enjoy themselves and laugh at the jokes.
@Em “Straight Outta Compton” not only topped the box office for weeks, but after its success, another movie with a black cast, “War Room,” topped the box office. If an independent Christian film with black leads can top the box office, any number of films with people of color can. Blacks come out en masse to support movies. They make up a larger share of moviegoers than their share of the U.S. population. I think Latinos are also pretty avid filmgoers.
The point about international appeal is very valid. The Hollywood movies which sell well in the foreign markets are usually action movies with big headline stars.
Just for comparison – Martian made 60% of its box office in foreign markets ( 307MM foreign vs. 227MM domestic). SOC made 20% of the box office in the foreign markets (40MM foreign vs. 160MM domestic).
You can see that the domestic intake is of the same magnitude between SOC and Martian but the foreign box office makes a huge difference.
For POC actors to have more opportunities, not only the US needs to be more accepting of diversity but also the rest of the world.
@Mark — Exactly
As I said the other day,, when Rock comes out to do his opening bit he should announce that he can’t be part of it and then just walk off the stage. That’d be way more powerful than him presenting the show and cracking jokes about how white the Oscars are. In a way cracking jokes about it whilst still being part of it trivializes the seriousness of the problem. But you never know, Leo might surprise a few people on the night and either not turn up or not accept the award he’s “so desperate’ to get.
That would also end Rock’s career on the spot. Would that make a statement? HELL YEA! But, I don’t think he’d be willing to do that.
As for Leo, he’s waaaaaaaaaay too thirsty to not come for his turn at the fountain.
I agree with WR…. International investors are probably a huge part of this problem. Lots of other countries are way behind us when it comes to racism- and even when they aren’t purely racist, they don’t identify as much with a movie with a black lead, because many of them don’t have experience with that race or culture. (I am not saying that is as it should be, just pointing out what I have observed living in Asia.)
China is financing more and more of… Well everything in America, and so they have a lot more say in what we are consuming than a lot of people realize. So, it’s not necessarily old white men, but old Asian men you need to be upset with. Or, be upset with Americans for running up so much debt that we have given away our agency to other countries.
I do think Straight out of Compton would have international appeal, but it is about celebrities, and so those movies tend to do well. A film like precious would not have as much international appeal. BUT, if films like STOOC are put distributed worldwide, that will open the doors to more films with poc seeming interesting to those markets.
On a personal note, I wish the Oscars truly went to who deserved it that year, for that movie. It seems a shame when someone does great work, to get passed up because people want to see consistent work form them before they win. it seems like people who make good movies and do interesting roles are winning for so so films. I think of Julianna Moore- she does a lot of interesting roles, and is taken very seriously, but only recently won an Oscar.
Plus, I’m sure he’s under contract, and they’d sue him for everything they could get.
Sure Rock would get sued and a lot of people would be angry at him but that would be negated by all the people who would love him for it and would want to work with him.
I don’t know why anyone takes the Oscars seriously anymore. All those awards are bought by movie studios for their actors. Jennifer Lawrence gets a nom for a mediocre performance. Leonardo Dicaprio and Will Smith have yet to win one but Matthew mcconaughey gets to walk around with one. They should let Ricky Gervais host so he can keep it real and tell these celebs to get over the fact that they’ve won something that has been bought like he did at the Golden Globes.
And one last thing please no one try to say that because Chris Rock is hosting it shows that the Oscars are diverse…that’s what they want you to think.
Jennifer Lawrence got a nom for an excellent performance in a mediocre films – which isn’t the same as a ‘mediocre performance’. And picking out a very talented 25-year old female as an example of where Hollywood gets it wrong is missing the point – the problem is the mediocre white men, frankly.
I haven’t seen Joy yet so I’ll reserve judgment for that later, but there is no one on this earth that’ll make me believe she deserved to get nominated for American Hustle.
Her performance in Joy was mediocre just like the movie. Besides I don’t see other actors getting nominated when their movies are mediocre. It’s okay to accept the fact that she gets nominated just because she’s in a movie. She’s had 4 nominations. And the whole point of my post was that $$$$ talks hence why you’ve got all these mediocre white people getting nominated all the time.
The family saw “Joy” a few days ago. It was the first time we’ve ever walked out on a movie. And it was Mom who lurves Lawrence that got up and left first, which meant the rest of us had to follow!
Twenty minutes in when the pipes burst in that house was the final straw for her, apparently. There was not one likable person in that movie and it already felt crowded and depressing. Mom should have listened to her kids; we wanted to see Carol or Concussion!
She is overrated, even if I don’t like watching someone if the performance is good it’s good. My girlfriend forced me to go with her and I can tell you jlaw tries but fails badly because she has no range. It was not an Oscar worthy performance at all, neither was Damon, nor Stallone or winslet. ill tell you a movie that should have nominated other than the ones I’ve mentioned previously because they had more diversity, but this movie was better than any all white movie nominated and it also has an all white cast it was astounding, it’s called, 71′
@Sarah01, 71 was fantastic. But it came out in 2014, not 2015.
As long as the Oscars has the prestige it has within Hollywood and the general public, there is no reason for it to change. As long as the public pays attention, and actors/actresses prostitute themselves for a trophy, there is no reason for change. I gave up on pro wrestling for the same reason, the excessively similarly done crap over and over. I don’t remember the last time I watched the Oscars. As long as people pay attention, it will not change. The only reason for the Academy to get its stuff together would be for people to stop paying attention, period. That said, I hope Christ Rock skewers the Oscars and the attendees.
Not sure it’s fair to bash the actors for it. While the institution may have a problem, there ARE some interesting “white people” stories that some good actors may choose to do, and to do very well. Not sure we can expect people who potentially have a once-in-a-lifetime shot at the Oscars to turn it down or to turn down the trophy they could very well deserve just because there’s an overall problem.
But that’s my point. They crave that trophy. It holds too much importance for Hollywood. Just because someone has or hasn’t won one, doesn’t mean they are better or worse than anyone else. It is how the award is perceived. There is no reason for the Academy to change as long as people believe that award to be important.
Well… that’s how awards work, yes… Not sure it’s about who’s better or worse, it’s about who’s done the best work this year. Also not sure how we decide how much importance is just right and how much is too much.
Jada Pinkett’s statement is like someone said reactive and not proactive, I could be wrong but I don’t think I heard a peep from her last year. But the year her hubby gets snubbed she is on a crusade.
I don’t care what her reason is; it’s a real problem that needs addressing.
She put out a GREAT video today basically saying, “So how long do we keep waiting to get basic respect and recognition?”
So yeah, I don’t care what you call it she’s right.
Thank you please see this interview from Will last yr
http://www.ok.co.uk/celebrity-news/will-smith-doesnt-see-racism-in-film
Some Highlights
Asked whether he thought ‘Selma’ – the acclaimed film about civil rights campaigner Dr. Martin Luther King – was snubbed by the prestigious awards ceremony because it only received two nominations ahead of the event in Los Angeles on February 22, he said: ”You know, my brain doesn’t even work like that. I don’t think of it in terms of snubbed and things like that. People vote for the movies that they want to vote for and they have that right.”
But ………. now its a problem ??,
Someone needs to tweet Will’s response from last year back to her. LOL
Why should any person get an award nomination they haven’t earned because of their gender or their skin colour?
What makes you think they haven’t earned one?
Tell that to all the white people collecting nominations for just showing up to a movie set.
Eddie Redmayne for Danish Girl
Bryan Cranston for Trumbo
Mark Ruffalo for Spotlight
Sylvester Stallone for Creed
Kate Winslet for Jobs
Adam McKay for The Big Short
Bridge of Spies as Best Picture contender
None of these would happen if the people were not white as f*k. Have they not only not earnt their nomination they would in some cases be ridiculed if they were played by POC. Case in point Kate Winslet’s awful accent is never brought up but everyone has opinions of Will Smith in Concussion.
Have seen any of these films? How do you know they don’t deserve to be nominated?
? I’m 100% sure that the Danish Girl would’ve been even more “Oscar baity” if it were a movie about a black trans woman. Your opinion is very subjective, and therein lies the problem: you can never PROVE that those nominations are or are not deserved, you can merely opine, because people can always claim that they honestly liked the white actor’s performance better than the black actors, and it is next to impossible to prove that they are lying or even biased.
The only one I 100% agree with you on your list is Kate Winslet, and yes I have seen these films. She is just blah. Now they could have also not nominated Eddie Redmayne. Although it was a good performance, and more the kind of film they like, but I just watched Idris Elba and that was better. I saw Will Smith in Concussion and that was good too, and he could have been nominated, but not sure who I would have kicked out but Redmayne and Idris Elba was much better than Will Smith. Now I know people are going to get mad at me for this, but I seriously don’t get Mad Max. I would have nominated both Creed and Straight Outta Compton instead. I know the Academy likes artsy fartsy pictures, and Mad Max is the outside the box feature, but Creed and Straight Outta Compton are so much better. Also, Sylvester Stallone is getting the old timer vote. If there is any added incentive to his nomination it is nostalgia not the color of his skin. I think you can say the Academy is racist without degrading the nominees, especially on your list are some great actors with great performances who deserve recognition, and the fact that they are white is not the reason they are nominated. For the Best picture category they had two more positions that could have been there. None had to be eliminated to put both Creed and Straight Outta Compton in.
@FingerBinger yes i have seen all of them.
@Timbuktu So is the OPs. The opinion that someone is not getting nominated as their body of film is bad is also very much subjective. Moreover films like Trumbo, Joy etc failed with critics and audiences alike. Poeple who saw it did not like it . Also i am not talking of a black actor getting Redmayne’s role but someone more deserving being nominated in his place.
@noway I did not degrade these nominees but just point out their body of work does not merit a nomination. It seems the work of MBJ, Coogler, Mitchell can constantly be looked upon and said how it was not good enough but not for these people. The Academy as we are talking of it in its ideal state should nominate people for their body of work in that year and not for their histories. Oh i also wanted to add i loved Mad Max and it is all that i am gunning for but if that needed to be done away with to make room for Creed then so be it. If critics supprted Creed the way they supported Mad Max.. such that they basically elevated it to a major awards player I am sure one of Coogler or MBJ would have had a chance. They deserve to be dragged too.
@CornyBlue
Of course, everyone’s opinion is just that – an opinion. Art is highly subjective. That’s why I find all these conversations about who’s better and more deserving fairly moot: there are a lot of movies that I LOVE that people hate, and I’ll never understand why. And vice versa.
@noway,
but how do you decide who’s “better” when 2 different actors perform in 2 different roles? I can only compare movies (liked this dislike that) or performances in the same role (I get it when people say that such and such was better as Jean Valjean, for example, because we’re comparing apples to apples).
How do you compare Eddie as a transsexual in one movie to Idris as not-sure-who (haven’t seen that movie) in another? How do you measure who’s “better”? Who made you cry harder? Who made you sadder? Who made you smile more? Who made you think more? Not sure how people can so confidently declare that one was better than another, without adding “in my opinion”.
This coming from someone who thinks that Eddie didn’t necessarily deserve a nomination! But I’ve seen too few movies to really know.
@Timbuktu- but a really good movie actually staring two black trans women called Tangerine came out and was totally snubbed, so I’m really not understanding your argument?
@Conyblue
I’m confused by your list and comment. If the movie is about real people one would understand the people in the film being that race. That makes sense. I’m sure you and I and others would have a problem with a none POC playing an actual person that was Black.
I do think that movie casting could be more open. There are minor and major roles in moves that could be played by a more diverse cast. I also think Big Named stars have a part in this too. They if they have some power can put more POC in their films. I could name quite a few actors and actresses that have never been in a movie where one of the main characters were someone NOT white. This is a much bigger problem than just the last few years.
” Tangerine came out and was totally snubbed”
Tangerine was nominated for a number of awards, and won some last year.
@Marty
Is “Tangerine” the same movie as the Danish girl? Do 2 black women automatically make it as good or better than the “Danish girl”? I haven’t seen Tangerine, so have no opinion one way or the other. But even if the main topic of the movie is the same, doesn’t mean that it is easy to compare the roles (there are different ways of approaching the same topic), nor does it mean that a movie on a similar topic is automatically “snubbed” if not nominated. That is my point.
Snubbed by the Academy. Which is the focus of this whole thread.
@Marty.
? I understand the whole point of this thread just fine.
“Snubbed” implies it deserved to be nominated, but didn’t, does it not?
But if the Academy doesn’t think the movie deserved to be nominated, than it’s not a snub, is it?
And just because YOU think it deserved to be nominated and, therefore, must have been snubbed on purpose and out of racism, does not mean that this was the motivation behind Academy’s decision, does it?
And even if other awards and critics thought that the movie deserved to be nominated STILL doesn’t mean that the movie is absolutely objectively worthy of Oscar nomination. The universal consensus is that Tarantino is a genius, yet I hate his movies. If I was in the Academy, I’d never vote for the guy. Not because I’m on a crusade against Tarantino, I just genuinely do not like his movies.
@lisa2 I meant that POC should have been nominated in their place.
@Timbuktu The entire point of a snub is a movie or performance that is generally appreciated by the public including critics but the Academy fails to recognize it. The way you are describing it nothing is a snub. And obviously the Academy decides what is awards worthy. The Academy is wrong to not include POC in places where they have been superior to whites. The entire point of this thread really.
You CLEARLY did not see any of those movies or you would know that the actors deserved those nominations. LOL.
@lila fowler I clearly did and that is why i know they did not. LOL.
I’m a little behind the eight ball here as I’ve not seen many of the films nominated nor have I seen the films by PoC that others on this thread feel should have made the cut. What I’m wondering is if there is no grading rubric for an Oscar nomination? Clearly the award has held long standing meaning and recognition in the art form, it’s the most sought after prize is it not? That being said, and I’m honestly unsure which is why I’m asking, is there really no clearly defined instructions on choosing nominees? If these awards are in fact based soley on the opinions of a select few how is it possible to determine if there had been a snub? Again, I’ve not seen most of these films so my knowledge on the prefomances or in some cases even the subject matter is lacking. I also wonder how much of the problem stems from a generally smaller proportion of films being cast to PoC which in and of itself could be, IMO, a larger part of the problem.
@lila fowler
@CornyBlue
and this is EXACTLY why I think the “snub” talk can never get anywhere.
@CornyBlue.
Honestly, come to think of it, yes, nothing is a 100% sure snub. Snubs are always a perceived thing, not a factual one. Jennifer Aniston thought she was “the #1 snubbed” last year. How many of us agreed with her? And who decides if she is right or if we are?
@here’s Wilson
Are you a teacher per chance? 🙂
I actually do not think there are any rubrics, but I’d be happy to learn otherwise. I also remember that last year, they posted a few (anonymous?) stories from members of Academy about who they were voting for and why, and I remember a lot of very unscientific and subjective answers, along the lines of “his movie wasn’t as good this year, but he got snubbed 3 years ago, so I’m voting for him”.
@FingerBinger Well, for one thing, the New York Times trashed Redmayne’s performance. The consensus among critics seem to be that Alicia Vikander did excellent work, but Redmayne seemed to be phoning it in, relying mostly on physical tics than the emotional life of the character. I actually wanted to see “The Danish Girl,” but the reviews actually dissuaded me–for the time being, anyway.
@timbuktu thanks for the info… I feel disappointed with the answer though! Makes me wonder how the Oscars became the highlight of the awards season knowing that it’s determinant is only the opinions of some folks and nothing more. What a let down.
That was actually something I was wondering about. I rarely see any movie in the theater so I honestly have no idea if people are upset because there were people who outshone the predominantly white and male nominees/winners. Who specifically do the majority feel were snubbed or is it more a concern that it looks bad?
I will say I find it rather shady that for two years in a row every person of color who directed, produced or gave a performance in a film was found to be subpar to the others that have been recognized.
Yes it does look bad, but I do feel some performances were better. My missing nominees in order of performance and stupidity and yes I believe the following are better than some nominated are: Idris Elba supporting actor for Beasts of No Nation, Creed for Best Picture, Straight Outta Compton for Best picture, Ryan Coogler Best director for Creed and Michael B. Jordon – Best Actor Creed. Now a few with some equally good performances that could have been nominated are: Abraham Attah for Best Actor Beasts of No Nation, Will Smith for Best Actor for Concussion, Samuel Jackson for Hateful Eight, and pretty much any supporting actor from Straight Outta Compton. Both Spotlight and The Big Short are like Straight Outta Compton in that they are more ensemble acting pieces and got nominations but Straight Outta Compton did not.
Thank you for the list. I have been hearing about this for the last few days, but nothing I read seemed to mention who were worthy contenders that were passed over. Though that is probably my own fault for not finding quality articles/debate over the topic.
Both the leading actor category and supporting actor category are very strong this year. All well known, well established actors. Not much room for anyone new to squeeze in. I think that was a part of it.
Some of my faves didn’t get in either.
I think another reason we have 2-3 British American split going on lately.
In the supporting category to get Idris in, either Hardy or Rylance would have to come out. There is some split in opinions on Hardy, but he is a part of Revenant. He has a huge promotion machine behind him.
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Tom Hardy, The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Best Actor is one of the weakest this year though. Agree on BSA but Bale or Ruffalo would andshould have been left off. Hardy just had too good a year.
Because not every person in the nominations did a brilliant job.
I’m sorry if I come off b*tchy but these labels are completely ridiculous to us. It’s as if someone refered to me as being a person of colour due to my nationality when my whole ancestry is european. It makes no sense and it’s not fair to african americans being ignored or passed over because they’re not white.
I resent the fact that Alejandro González Iñárritu is considered a director of colour just because he is latin american. His ancestry is Spanish. You can call him a minority because he is a latin american director working in the american film industry but to paint him as “… of colour”, in my opinion, takes away from the matter at hand.
I apologise if I offended anyone, I’m just so tired of being labeled all. the. time. I’m a person not a thing.
I completely agree with you but race is such an amorphous concept that guys like Alejandro can, depending on the viewer, slip through. Unfortunately, quarreling about whether or not he even qualifies can become an exercise in diversion. So I prefer to just focus on Hollywoods broader race issues.
I think the term POC become odd but it is used to discuss people that are not White. And for more practical purposes you can’t list the genetic path of everyone in order to accurately say what they are or not. We are all more than the color of our skin. But that color is what we all see firs.t
I agree, Cee, I can’t see how Mexican people are somehow PoC now, or is everyone in Central and South America also in that category? Obviously some are POC, just as some people from the USA and U.K are, but it’s ridiculous to use PoC as a generic term for Mexicans. The talented and handsome Gael Garcia Bernal won an award recently, is that to be flagged as a win for a POC? Nonsense. As for the main issue- it’s hard to prove a bias when appreciation of any art form is so subjective. But there seems to be a real issue given the talented people of many ethnicities out there. A few zingers from the egotistical and tiresome Chris Rock won’t do much to change things.
Wow @Anne and @Cee Latinos have long been considered minorities/POC, etc. Do you know for a fact that Alejandro is 100% Spanish, that he has no indigenous ancestry, or, gasp, African ancestry. Many Latinos are a mixture of European and Indian, which is why they’re referred to as Mestizos. Some, especially in the Caribbean, also have black ancestry. Find it curious that you resent the fact that Alejandro is considered POC. He comes from an underrepresented group, whether you view him as white or not. POC is not just a term to describe black people, but Latinos, Asians, Native Americans and Arabs.
@WTW, outside of the US, Mexicans and other Latinos of white descent, Arabs and Indians are considered to be of the white race and would actually be offended if you argued that they are not white.
When I was growing up I was taught at school that there are 3 races – Blacks, Asians ( Chinese, Vietnamese, Koreans, Japanese etc. and Native Americans are actually also of Asian race) , everybody else is White.
Race and identity are different everywhere, which makes the discussions complicated because people intentions can be easily misunderstood.
@WTW I’ve lived outside of the U.S., specifically with a Mexican-American woman. We were students in England and traveled to France, Italy, etc. She was not considered white. In fact, Greeks weren’t even considered “real” whites. Because Latinos have Native American ancestry, not sure why they wouldn’t be considered Asian, based on your definition. Many people thought my friend was South Asian because they simply didn’t see that many Mexican Americans. My roommate was Egyptian American, and I don’t think she was considered “white” in Europe either. I don’t know what country/continent you’re from, though.
USA is an extremely racist country. Racism is so tremendously spread in every ethnic group.
I’ve being living in US for a while and it can be a mess drama to give explanations about my face features, my skin color and name.
I actually think US tis the least racist/discriminatory to the minorities country I’ve ever lived in.
Not every country has different races, but every country has different ethnicities, groups and the US is by far the most tolerant and accepting of all kinds of people.
For example, in the UK if you are not British, they will treat you nice and with respect but you will never be treated as “one of them”. You are always “the other” and that diminishes your opportunities. The same in Germany. The same in Italy.
In other countries you will have outright ethnic discrimination based on how you look.
Agree. I dare not to have a normal conversation in the USA because someone is constantly on the offense side with some racial accusation. Plenty of people keep living in the past and seem to lack the willingness to move on. I don’t understand this stance. If we , in Europe, with all our past wars and history of violence between the European states, had such attitude, we would have started the sixth world war already.
I’ve lived in France and England, grew up in those countries, was not born there, and have never experienced “being the other”. Living in Canada now and the only thing that I disapprove is the preferences given to Canadian born non white people at job interviews.To me, all kids born and raised here should have equal chances. Anything else is butt kissing and is not fair. The kids are not guilty in being white or yellow or brown. Having been born in Canada, with equally good language and same education (speaking of our public schools), they should be indeed equal. I detest the continuing favorization of individuals based on colour when in their general upbringing and education, they grew up in the same environment, thus had the same start.
I know it doesn’t make sense but in the US Hispanics are designated as a minority eligible for Affirmative Action benefits. This is why they are a separate group.
It makes even less sense when the beneficiaries are 100% white people from Latin American countries (such as Argentina) or people with 75% Northern American white blood and 25% Hispanic blood with a Hispanic last name. They get preferential treatment ahead of a poor white person in some cases.
It was initially set up as a away to help poor Mexican immigrants. But I wish the help was based on the class/ poverty instead of race. A poor white person needs help just as a poor black person.
Is affirmative action only for poor people and working class jobs? I thought it was about opening doors at all levels of society.
“I thought it was about opening doors at all levels of society. ”
It seems the doors are more open to those who have family money and connections regardless of their race.
Arts is actually an excellent example. Without family support it is pretty much impossible to make a living in arts, unless you hit it big, which is one in a million chance.
Maybe in the wrong spot, but well…
Alejandro’s ancestry may be Spanish, his mother or whomever in his family might have come straight from Spain, but he looks like millions of other Mexicans. He could be walking downtown in my city and noone would say “foreigner”.
That he is a minority in the USA, well, he is a minority as much as the Revenant’s cinematographer, Lubezki is, too, even tho he is a redhead or whatever his ancestry is. He is Mexican.
I do hate labeling too.
I understand or try to understand the plight of black African American, wanting the recognition due to the actor’s work and everything. It is a loud claim… I sincerely want to understand.
Maybe there weren’t as many quality works for black actors as other years, maybe the “whites” had more quality movies (not sure about this), etc.
Maybe the way the Academy votes is weird, hey I do not understand how the States vote for president. To me it is a weird process, not just one person, one vote. Is it similar for these awards?
I do not see Latinos/hispanics complaining so loudly. I have read about them complaining, but hardly ever other ethnicities than black state it like this. Does it have to be some kind of demographic fairness, like how many euro-whites, black actors or hispanic/Asian, etc should be nominated?
Maybe it is the history with such a terrible past of slavery that makes blacks so outspoken about this. What I’m saying not only blacks got snubbed, but I do know that very few actors of my ethnicity (mestizo: native and european), nor my culture, Mexican are nominated because there are hardly offered quality acting jobs. Even now, Gonzalez Iñarritu is choosing to tell non hispanic/Mexican stories. It is his right.
Will Smith who is rich and has chose to make not great movies introducing his son to stardom, instead of producing a quality script for black people, even if they are unknown. (I just took a look and the scripts that Overbrook produces are not all that: this means war, After Earth, Hancock. There are a few good ones, they should try more of those. Less bad comedies, less nepotism , more quality films for more diverse casts.
Cynical Me wonders if they hired Rock to host in order to try to diffuse the fact that there are mostly only white nominees this year?
Ya think? 😉
He was hired back about three months ago, not after the nominations came out.
I know it may seem that way, but Rock was hired before the nominations, and in fairness some are trying to make a more diversified Academy by hiring an African American Woman as the President along with a more diversified Board of Governors than they ever had so some change is happening. She was unhappy with the lack of color in the nominees too. They need to work on the nominee process which obviously skews old white male and I think eliminates or makes it very hard for some pictures to get nominated, and they need to keep adding more people of color to the Academy which can be done even without them being nominated. Not sure if a boycott is really going to help and as others have said ratings have been low for a while. I think with Chris Rock hosting aside from it probably having some funny moments if the ratings are down they will probably blame him. I think instead of that boycott, they should work on the studios first and try to have more pictures and roles for people of color and more people hired who are minorities. These awards are really kind of pointless, but that could mean more jobs for a lot of people.
The voting Academy is made up of 6000 people. Of that 6000, 90% are older white males. Recently, 250 or so new members were added, most of which were female and poc. Now that’s still VERY low of a number and old white males still make up a VERY large percentage of the vote. It will take a very long time to get some equality withing the Academy, but small steps are being made. However, I would like to mention that not all old white men are racist, and not all young POC are going to vote for a movie just because it had a poc as a lead. There still needs to be a fair way to vote and we should focus on talent. We need more poc to showcase their talent is what the true issue is. Lack of OPPORTUNITY is the real problem.
People also have to understand that the AMPAS is a combined branch. Not just Actors/Actresses.
http://www.oscars.org/about/academy-branches
If you don’t have a diverse group of people in the other branches then NO things are not going to change. There needs to be changes all over in order for things to be different. If you look at the membership of the other branches; it is an eye opener
And not all of those 6,000 vote in all the nomination categories. They all get to vote for the actual Oscar in all categories but not for the nominations. They all get to vote for Best Picture nominations but only actors vote in the acting categories for nominations; only sound people vote in the sound categories; only directors vote for the director nominations; and only writers vote in the writing categories. You can have some crossover if a person belongs to more than one category but usually they have to choose one or the other during the nominations. Example: Emma Thompson has a Best Actress Oscar AND a Best Adapted Screen play Oscar for Sense & Sensibility; she got to choose which category she would vote for. Ben Affleck gets to vote for Best screenplay because that is what he has an Oscar for. He doesn’t get to vote for the acting or directing nominations.
The director category is a notoriously small white boys club.
OK. Even if he was hired before the 2016 nominees were selected, based on last year’s lack of diversity too (and the history previous), again, Cynical Me wonders if because of the pattern, the president figured that getting Rock as a host might help the Oscar’s image.
It’s a step, but like @ WORD said above, there’s still not enough diversity in the voting base.
IDK, what if all POC attending the awards-A-A, Latinos, Asians, All-ignored the seating chart and sat together as a bloc? Actors, directors, writers, DPs, craftspersons, everybody. This would show who and what is being ignored.
PS – I saw Creed Friday and SS was very good, but it’s almost criminal that MBJ and RC were not also nominated.
The problem isn’t the academy, the problem is the movie industry in general. We have little to no substantial roles for people of colour and females. Not to mention the lack of diversity behind the camera as well. The academy awards aren’t the disease they’re just a symptom of what is fundamentally wrong with this industry.
Agreed, I’m more ready to jump on that cause.
When the best writers write white male stories, best directors direct white male stories, one, of course, can always find good white actors to act those white male stories, is it any wonder that white male stories sweep the Oscars? Not at all, it makes perfect sense, and is even “deserved” in a sense that those are best crafted stories just by the sheer amount of talent that goes into them.
First, we need to change what stories are being told, and then the nominations should change on their own.
I would say the Academy is culpable in the problem when they have options to nominate from and don’t, but generally yes, they are just one part of a larger issue.
There’s a lot to say on this topic, but no one will be boycotting — except the people who have no chance of ever winning. The rest all want that award too badly.
Agree with that too. If the actual nominees didn’t show up – that would make a statement. But as long as nominees are there, the absence of those not nominated won’t be noticed, because non-nominated people miss the Oscars all the time, for many many reasons…
But not sure it’s fair to ask the nominees not to show up… Just because the game is rigged doesn’t mean they didn’t work hard… It’s like athletes who train for the Olympics for 4 years and then don’t get to go because of some political storm.
There are a few assumptions going on here:
1. The over 60 white men doing the nominating give a crap what we think (we see that’s not the case)
2. Actors of color boycotting would be noticed by said 60 year old white men. Would there be an impact on the bottom line if actors of color boycotted? Doubt it. The actors were already ignored by the old white men already. Why would you think not showing up to their prize posh ceremony would matter to them?
3. That anybody still listens to Al Sharpton.
I’m glad we are having these conversations and trying to find a solution. A boycott doesn’t seem like an effective way to go.
People are focusing on the symptom and not the root cause.If Hwood was promoting more diversity both in front and behind the camera then come awards season there would be a wider range of POc and women to pick from. As Viola said. People cant win awards for roles that arent there .This annual faux outrage means nothing if that doesn’t change
Whilst these concerns may have some merit IMO its borderline tasteless/tacky for people to complain about not being ” honored ” It was tacky when Kanye and Nicky Manaj did it and it can be seen as tacky now, also it has the tendency to be derailed into tokenism like the Infamous “Black Oscars of 2001 when Sidney Poiter was honoured with a Lifetime achievement award and the Academy apparently felt it looked bad as in 40 yrs since Poiter won his leading Oscar no other black person had won one the result? …. Halle Berry winning an Award that IMO she DID NOT deserve and whist Denzils win was well deserved giving him that night came off like it was reducing him to Charity which Denzil does not need as he could have won the Oscar 10 times over
This crap will only stop when the Old White Men Brigade dies off. (sorry if that’s harsh). Women and POC need to be equally represented and in positions of power. Kind of like how TV has become. A boycott would def bring attention. I actually think it might work.
There are not, proportionately, enough women or people of color who are effective enough to rise to an equal number of positions of power. Same for CEOs and the like, you may WANT to see an equal number but there are not an equal number of candidates.
Hahahahaha. Good one Word.
Wait–what happened to Word’s comment?
Here is the thing though.. If black people did not go as a sign of protest they will be blacklisted. Maybe not Jada and Will Smith but anyone lower than them can count themselves on the black list.
Another thing is how many people of colour would have been attending anyway ?? The only name I can come up with is Zoe Kravitz if they invite the whole cast of Mad Max and if they have some presenters…. That is what less than 10 people ?? White people need to get involved need to stand on stage when winning and criticise the academy.. Leo Jennifer Lawrence and others who can do no wrong in their eyes should speak up.
The academy is not racist, when they have deserving black actors/directors/movies to nominate, they do. It’s not their fault if the best performances this year came from white actors etc. Blame the studios for not funding high quality black directors and movies with black actors (and other races!).
The academy can’t nominate someone in an attempt to avoid allegations of racism, they have to have a standard and pick the best. Otherwise it makes a mockery of all the brilliant, deserving black winners who have been nominated or won in the past. Who would want the embarrassment of being seen as a token? Who would want their deserving work not being properly recognised and respected because they are viewed as only having been nominated or won for political reasons. Nobody could ever claim that Denzel Washington wasn’t the best, why would you ever want to take that credit away from somebody?
+1 These are same old white men that nominated three 6 mafia for an oscar. They won btw.
Who do you think the Academy is made up of? The people that make the movies.
The reality is, there is a certain ‘type’ of movie and role that is considered award-worthy and is fast tracked for award contention. For a movie starring a person of color, or made by a person of color, or for audiences of color, the movies can’t just be good, they have to be outstanding to even be in the general awards conversation. Can you really say that the best is nominated with no consideration of color, when that pool of ‘awards’ movies isn’t diverse to begin with? We can absolutely fault the Academy for not reaching beyond the easy choices.
Oh please! We know this game. Its designed so we never win. The fact is people do still insist that Jamie and Halle and Denzel were “token wins”. There is no winning with those racist dbags so what do we care. The fact is there was talent to choose from this year, I present you Idris Elba in Beasts of No Nation. With these types of people, recognising Idris performance would be tokenism but recognising Stallones performance is just “acknowledging talent”. So once again, nobody is playing that rigged game. We know some idiot will scream “token” the second a PoC shows up, so can we just have more inclusive awards anyway.
Yup this is exactly what is going to happen next year. ANY POC nominated next year will be seen as just a “token” to “please the masses”. Which sucks. I feel like there is no win to this.
My God, YES to everything you said!
They did a great job whitewashing the Oscars for sure, in my opinion Idris Elba was robbed, the Best Supporting Oscar was his to lose for Beasts of No Nation.
He was never getting nominated for that because of Netflix. Period.
It had a theatrical release. Furthermore a previous Netflix-only film was nominated, so no.
How ironic this comes out on MLK day. How proud he would be……I think things are even worse now than in his day. We get to see and hear the injustices plain as day 24/7 online and on cable news. Sad times in America.
Well that I will disagree with, as much as I don’t even bat an eyelash at the crap Donald Trump says (like I needed a blowhard billionaire to reveal to me the country is racist), things have improved since MLK.
At the very least black men aren’t being executed for dsring to sleep with white women or hosed down in the streets. Black women aren’t being denied respect but by the most ignorant, they are able to rise in ranks and achieve.
Where do you live? because those things are not the norm all over the USA.
and black men are being killed daily
Read my comment again.
Do we see a nationwide tragedy of black men still being slaughtered for daring to look at, wink, smile, or sleep with white women? No.
Black women aren’t being literally blocked on the steps of the courthouse and colleges from entering.
It’s not paradise but gains and improvements have been made. There was a time when a black woman would have been laughed right off the steps of an employer who would proudly display a “No Coloreds” sign in their window.
I’m not denying it doesn’t still happen but those things are minor occurances, what we face now is a different and more insidious form of racism.
It’s absurd and offensive to state that things are “worse today” then they were in the era of Jim Crow laws and segregation. Education is a good thing.
Commenting again. I know how this site feels about Ryan Reynolds but I became a fan when he did an interview with GQ last year pretty much calling out Hollywood…he pretty much said that he’s been a box office failure for sometime (talked about Green Lantern specifically) and how he still gets work because he’s a white male. But that he wanted to make a point that Michael B Jordan also needs to keep getting work after Fantastic Four. He pretty much said that Hollywood gives a person of a color or any female one shot and if they mess up they’re no longer considered a “lead,” and it becomes harder for that person to get quality work. I don’t know I thought it was interesting that he would say that considering the fact that he still has a job because of it.
Wow interesting to say the least ! He makes a very valid point.
There is no doubt white young good looking men get the most breaks to make as many mistakes as they like and still be a lead or a working movie actor for that matter. Love that Ryan Reynolds stood up and spoke about it. We need more of that, Mathew McConaughey and George Clooney where are your interviews. Just saying.
Wow I totally did not know or expect that from Ryan Reynolds, that’s really impressive. I always love when someone is aware and willing to openly discuss issues like that.
Here’s the article for anyone interested: http://www.gq.com/story/ryan-reynolds-deadpool-gq-cover
He talks about a lot of other stuff obviously but you can skim down to get to the point.
Although his sentiments on the matter were nice, I’ve heard from people who’ve worked with him on his films that he’s a rude conceited asshole. Nonetheless, that doesn’t denote his statement that white males will always get a pass in life.
You might want to ask some lower class white males in this country before making that sort of blanket statement. A poor white man can be passed on just as easily as a black man and I assure you it happens. Frequently. There is this recurring theme I think, this belief that because a man is white he is privileged. Yes, the most privileged among us are white males, but class plays an important role in society regardless of your race that is to often overlooked.
Don’t care either way. I watch movies based on what I like, not the Oscars and don’t actually watch the awards shows. I’d be perfectly happy if they just published a list of winners without a show at all.
Do your best, create the best product, and don’t care so much about the awards and whose fault what is. At least that has been my approach to my life and it worked.
I won’t watch a boxing movie or a hip-hop movie or a Rambo movie regardless of how many Oscars they win or don’t. I will watch something like Bridge of Spies regardless of how many Oscars it wins or doesn’t.
That’s just not how recognition works.
We can say all day long how it’s fine if some people aren’t acknowledged but it isn’t. It’s just an injustice we’re ignoring that in turn is harming part of the population.
It is so easy to magnify a small injustice by inaction. It doesn’t bother me I’m not a black actor, director, producer. Sure they don’t get awarded for brilliant work…which makes it easier to pay them less, and value them less, and not encourage younger black talent, and have that talent either give up on their dream or simply retire. That’s fine right?
I see brilliant work ignored on both sides. All I can do is vote with my money. It is the best way.
This is why American music is dominated by rap and hip-hop (most of which I cannot stand and find offensive). But so what , money talks.
You won’t see me protesting about how white or Hispanic or classical artists are underrepresented at music awards. I just don’t turn on MTV ever.
This.
A boycott is the first step.
Nominees become members of the academy and are then part of the voting process, right? So as long as all the nominees are white, the academy will stay white. A sad thought. The academy needs an influx of diversity via nominated individuals. And that action needs to start BEFORE the nominees are announced.
You don’t have to be nominated to be included in the academy. They bring in members every year who have not been nominated too, and this is how you change the group. You still need to change Hollywood too, though as it is so lilly white.
Here’s the thing. It’s ENTERTAINMENT POPULARITY AWARDS. It is SO not important. If people would instead demonstrate the lack of importance of the event and rather the importance of what is going on to REAL people of color in the not-so-privileged sphere, that would be so much more profound for everyone.
I sort of have to agree. I understand that there’s a message, and that these people are role models for some, etc., but only a tiny fraction of our population are actors, a tiny fraction of those make it big, and a tiny fraction of those gets nominated for the Oscars. The sample is so not representative, that I feel it is rather hard to make it into a racial issue, and fighting this fight only helps very few Black people who are already doing just fine.
We see that music and sports are very much skewed the other way, I’m not offended as a white person, even though if we look at the percentage of Black people in the US and Black people in music, the proportions are far far more off than in the Oscars. So what? If hip-hop and rap sell records, then they sell records. It would be wrong to push more white people on stage to give an accurate representation of the American society, wouldn’t it? So, why does this logic not apply to Hollywood?
I will watch the Red Carpet but not the show itself. Would rather watch Downton Abbey and The Kardashians anyways. And I hope Stallone wins. That’s about it.
who is going to boycott the oscars in an industry where people still want to work with woody allen and roman polanski?
interesting sidenote (I agree with your comment) – woody allen has never been to the oscars despite winning a crapton.
Amen to that….. Thank you so much for this. We are talking about guys who A) raped someone and B) being accused of child abuse and still people work with those guys….. How about talking about that openly?
Support the People’s Choice Awards. The Oscars are not going to change. 🙁
What.. LMAO.. the People Choice Awards.. Really. That is worse than the Oscars. That is def paid by PR. You only have to see who is there to know who won. And if you say no thanks they give the award to the next person that says yes.
Hardly the Award Show to hold up as the thing to support.
If I were Cheryl Boone Isaacs, or Chris Rock, I would resign in protest. It might be career suicide, but it would send a very strong message.
Why would a boycott work if POC are already being ignored by the Academy? That makes no sense.
Beasts of No Nation and Idris were definitely snubbed imo. However, it was a Netflix original and I think as such, it will be a bit until their movies start popping up in the Oscars. Right now, I don’t see that Hollywood has any incentive to nominate anything done by Netflix.
I can’t put my two cents in for Will Smith as I haven’t seen Concussion, but Idris Elba and Oscar Isaac are the only non-white actors that I would argue deserve a nom. Straight Outta Compton started strong, but ended up being cheesey and bland. It could have been great, and a solid Oscar contender for sure, but that second half just tanked. I will be peeved if it wins over Ex Machina.
Lioe someone above said, the problem isn’t with the Oscars (not even last year, Selma was a damn mess), it’s with a lack of quality roles for minority actors and a lack of funding/opportunity for minority screenplays and directors. As soon as that changes, we’ll see a ton more POC niminated.
I just recently watched Selma and was expecting something magical. It really disappointed. I don’t think it was Oscar worthy at all. I agree, like Viola Davis said, the only difference between POC and White people is OPPORTUNITY. We have the skills, we have the talent, we have the work ethic…we just don’t get the chance to show it as much as White people do. That is the truth.
I’ve seem many many movies over the years that have been nominated and were not OSCAR worthy.. those films didn’t have a black cast and they still got that nod. Just as there are performances that are not Oscar worthy each year by none POC and yet they also get that nod. I remember Gugu Mbatha-Raw gave an amazing performance in Belle.. Over looked for other performances that were no where near as great. Joy Bryant in About Last Night. Chris Rock; Top Five. Cory Hardrick American Sniper,
too many examples to name; so there are a lot of great performances that get OVER LOOKED..
Ahem, Samuel L. Jackson.
Jada Pinkett Smith just boycotted the #SoWhiteOscars.
Maybe we should stop giving the Oscars so much power. We know what movies were liked this year and what actors/actresses did a great job.
I’m not old enough to remember when the Oscars were ever cool to watch.
Never was cool to watch .It is always too long ( thank the 10 min of commercials every 30 mins)
Spike Lee announced today he isn’t attending the ceremony even though he’s scheduled to receive an award.
That’s pretty big, tbh.
I think Spike has been (rightfully) boycotting the Oscars since Do The Right Thing didn’t get a best picture nod.
What award is he receiving? I understand why he wants to boycott, though it’s really the big production companies like Sony that need to be boycotted. If he’s being recognized for excellent work why wouldn’t he go and accept it and do a lovely speech about how POC do have talent !
He is receiving an honorary award.
He is got and Honorary Oscar. Problem is they wouldn’t be presenting it at the show anyway. They would show a video clip of the awards show he attended. Just like they have done for previous years.
Jada Pinkett Smith just released a video statement breaking this down for individuals who get it .
I think she simply and gracefully illustrates the issue and why its come to the head it has. I’m really grateful for social media at times like this so that minority voices can come together and speak on injustices that the media would ignore. If not for the backlash from the population this would have been swept under the rug.
Im Sorry but Jada is practicing “Zendaya ‘ activism which is only speaking up when something affects you personally Only Last Year Will Smith was asked if black people i.e Selma . David Oyeleyow were snubbed and He hemmed and hawed and finally said ” Well the Academy has a right to vote for who they want ” He also gave an interview a few mths ago saying BOTH he and Jada have come to the conclusion that racism is rare BUT Now that HE was snubbed his wife is up in arms , they are not standing up for Black people they are standing up for themselves and I for one am not here for it .At least Jesse Williams and Amandla speak up about broader issues not just the ones that affect them personally
@Censored Don’t understand why Jada Smith should be taken to task for what her husband said. Husband and wife are not interchangeable. Jada has always seemed more militant/activist than Will. She’s likely been upset about this for a while but this year decided to take a public stand. I doubt she’s only making this move because of her husband.
Thank you for saying the people who get it. For some it’s soooo complicated to see it clearly.
Yeah there are couple of commenters that are being willfully ignorant on the issue and I’m starting to get tired.
I’ve given up watching the Oscars as the show is often too painful to watch. It’s 3-4 hours of wasted air time. I’ll watch the red carpet arrivals with a friend and critique the gowns.
Since the award shows are all about Viewership Ratings – boycotting is the first step. Most of the movies the general public haven’t seen anyway. It’s all insider nut rubbing each other. I don’t watch, anymore.
I never have put much stock in the Oscars. Seems they rarely speak for the majority taste on what wins. I have no idea what goes on behind the scenes in Hollyweard but I am sure that has a lot to do with who wins.
I agree, more often than not, Oscar movies for me are what NOT to see.
I don’t want Chris Rock to host….I want him to just come onstage and insult these old white entitled men, insult all the hollywood a-holes, insult Harvey Weinstein etc. Call out these jerks on their behaviour and hollywood fakeness.
Boycotts only work when the right people is involved. So until the big nominees and names of Hollywood are part of it, this is just part of the show. As for the moment I dont think this will make a difference and may be in fact bumping up the ratings for the hate-watch and curiosity factors.
I saw The Martian over the weekend, and was not a fan. Out of the entire cast, it was blatant to me that Chiwetel Ejiofo was the only one with any heart or dimension. My first time seeing him in a film. Can’t believe he got snubbed over Matt Damon.
I just saw it last week. While the movie didn’t suck, it was rather disappointing. And even boring. While likable, I didn’t see this great performance from Matt Damon that everyone is applauding. Jessica Chastain was wasted in her role, as was Sean Bean. I totally agree that Chiwetel Ejiofor gave the best performance. His role was fleshed out a bit more than the others.
So tired of the political correctness. If we are going for quotas on movies/tv awards, then maybe our football/baseball/basketball teams should reflect a politically correct roster as well.
This is all beyond ridiculous. So many other things in the world to be worried about.
You wouldn’t have to deal with political correctness if the movers and the shakers gave everyone a fair chance.
I’m biracial my kids are quad-racial. If it wasn’t for political correctness the racists and bigots would have a free for all in our lives. But they know that they have to contain it sometimes because others will call them out for it.
I cannot tell you how many times random people have thought it ok to comment on me or my children or my husband.
Political correctness is there because people forget how deeply rooted sexism, racism and fascism are in our society and not only that our mindset.
In a perfect world you wouldn’t need political correctness because everyone regardless of name, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or anything else makes us different would be seen as equal and treated as equal. You wouldn’t need quotas because people in power would be giving everyone a fair chance not only that everyone would have a equal chance at opportunities.
There’s no comparison between athletics and acting. How well Academy voters think someone acted is subjective. How many field goals, rebounds etc., a basketball player makes is not. I think you know this. There are also plenty of sports that continue to be dominated by whites. Black Americans are anomalies in the NHL and MLB, for instance.
But there is comparison between film and music. Both are subjective art forms, the latter is dominated by Black musicians, and?
People only seem to get angry around awards time. Get angry the rest of the year, when casting directors are choosing white people for roles that POC could play. Protest and boycott THEN. The fact is, if Creed was not Best Picture worthy, it wasn’t going to get nominated. Don’t be upset when your few meager POC-based offerings are rejected. Get POC into great movies and roles the other 364 days of the year, don’t bother boycotting the Oscars.
+1
I’m still confused about the politics around the Best Foreign Language Film category. In the past non English speaking films have been nominated in the Best Picture category but most years they’re not. What’s weirder still is that since they extended the number of Best Picture nominations a few years ago we’re seeing a number of mediocre films get Best Picture nominations whilst critically acclaimed non English speaking films are segregated to the Best Foreign Language Film category. They really need to scrap the Best Foreign Language Film category and start recognizing quality work from around the world in the Best Picture category on merit and for the sake of diversity. Acknowledging an inferior English speaking film over a superior non English speaking film in the Best Picture category simply because it’s an English speaking film is a clear case of racism.
But if they did that, no Hollywood films would make it into the nominations…
Besides from special effects and perhaps editing, you can find superior movies to those nominated for the oscars with better scripts, actors, directing, etc., around the world every single year.
Surely they could cull the five films nominated for the Best Picture award that are merely making up the numbers to pad out the field and replace them with the five most critically acclaimed foreign language films.
The show’s too damn long and boring and the way my remote control is set up – it switches the channels all on its on. 😉
I boycott the Oscars EVERY year. A three hour snoozefest of the rich and powerful of Hollywood giving each other awards for movies I didn’t see. Excuse me…FILMS. Why do people outside of Hollywood care about this so much? Not even the lure of Chris Rock can make me tune in.
How exactly are we supposed to get POCs into roles when casting directors won’t do colorblind castings? What exactly was the criteria for choosing The Martian over Creed for best picture? We have meager POC based offerings because big studios don’t want to fund movies helmed by POCs, and instead want to throw money at the likes of Adam Sandler to make more mediocre drab. We’ve been angry. We are woke. We want change, but when you have an institution with the majority of its members white males over the age of 67 and a lifetime membership with no regulations for voting, then how are we ever going to get to the table.
There actually are regulations for voting. For the nominations, only actors vote for actors. Only directors vote for directors. Only writers vote for writers. Everyone votes for Best Picture.
And the qualifications to become a member are geared to not allow many POCs into their ranks, so there goes their chances to be part of the process. If there are small percentage of POCs within their voting ranks, then there will be fewer nominees and actual winners. When one of the key criteria to being admitted is being nominated and the Academy isn’t nominating POCs, then there goes actors, directors, producers of color who can begin to shape the Academy into a body that actually mimics society. When you have to have a certain amount of experience plus a recommendation from members, and they aren’t interested in your body of work or…like Matt Damon believe they are doing enough to push diversity, then the same ol’ same ol’ goes on in Hollywood and the Academy.
Too much on here to read. But has everone forgotten BET. How many whites get nominated there.
Isn’t BET a television network? I do think they have an awards show, but I’ve never watched so I’m not sure by your comment if you are suggesting whites do/do not get nominated.
They don’t need the BET.. they have basically all the others locked down. And there are a white performers that have been nominated
BET is a television channel Barbara, at least know what racist statement you’re trying to make before you make it. If you mean the awards show then white people have won awards there.
Meh. I hate all of the awards shows. It’s basically a bunch of snobby rich people giving each other trophies while wearing overpriced prom gowns/tuxes that cost more than my annual salary & stroking each others’ egos. I say we get rid of them altogether.
I hate them too. I love movies but I hate the whole Hollywood ego culture.
Chris Rock should make this a bigger deal as he hosts the ceremony. I saw heaps of great acting from black actors this year. Esp Chiwetel Ejiofor in Z for Zach.
I really do not get why SOC should have been nominated. For what? Because Hip Hop Fans watched it? Do not get me wrong. I LIKED it but the movie is not Oscar worthy? For what? Talking about guys who were using the F Word more than anything else? Guys who took drugs, had guns oh and were beating women? Talking about feminism here all the time but loving a movie about guys who were degrading women for years. The Martian is not Oscar worthy either. Not at all. I haven’t watched BonN so I can’t talk about that movie. I did watch Jobs, I also watched The Danish girl and the Revenant. All movies were awesome. Room will follow this week. Watched Creed and I do not unterstand why anyone was nominated. Which movie got snubbed? Which actor? I would love to give the award to someone who deserves it. No matter what. But except of Idris I don’t See which Black actor was snubbed? Or which movie……sorry. I unterstand the discussion but it is not about the Academy…. Not only. The problem starts before. No good script, no good actor and no good movie….
A yet JLaw got nominated for another mediocre perfomance
She should never have even won for Silver Linings. Overrated. But apparently black actors have to be three time better than white ones to get nom’d.
Lawrence is not nominated for a mediocre performance,it is the movie who is mediocre
In your opinion, Creed and Straight Outta Compton weren’t good, but in the eyes of many critics, these movies/their casts/directors were outstanding and got better audience ratings than mediocre fare that is now competing for major awards.
May be those two movies were simply not good enough compared to the others? Except of the Martian. That movie nomination is a joke. I really unterstand discussions and I would love to give the award to people who deserve it but no to SOC and no to Creed. Not for me. If I nominate Creed I can also nominate Southpaw which was great too but not Oscar worthy either…..and Jlaw is am overrated ass kissing actress I can’t stand. Not one tiny bit. Since SL I boycott every movie she is in….
The Oscars are always rigged anyway.
Completely. It is also just an egofest.
Many black actors, and many women, have been Oscar winners this past decade. If we’re going to go back to having token nominees (and eventually they will demand token winners), then what’s the point of the whole thing. Those who were nominated this year are the ones the academy members felt did the most notable work. We might not agree on their choices, but it’s the way it is. If we start demanding token nominees and winners then the good work of all of them is moot.
Who are these many black actors and women that have been Oscar winners in the past decade?
Jamie Foxx & Forest Whitaker won best actor in 2004/2006 respectively. Morgan Freeman won a supporting actor in 2004. Jennifer Hudson (2006), Monique (2009), Octavia Spencer (2011), and Lupita Nyongo (2014) all won supporting actress Oscars. There’s only been 1 best actress Oscar awarded to a black actress and that was Halle Berry back in 2001.
The Oscars have been around since the 30s.
I agree with Naya on all points AND who are these academy voters? Looks like we need to vote them out like we do our political representatives.