Earlier this week, Issa Rae and John Cho announced the Oscar nominees for the 92nd Academy Awards. A fan favorite from 2019 was the more personal look into the life of Arthur Fleck, also known as the Joker. As we examine his life in Gotham City, we learn that Arthur is a societal outcast who is constantly bullied for his Pseudobulbar condition which is responsible for his random fits of uncontrollable laughter. With more than 11 nominations in the categories of Best Picture, Actor in a Leading Role, and Directing, the Joker will definitely be taking home a few Oscars on February 9th.
Other movies of 2019 with multiple nominations are The Irishman, Little Women, and 1917. Though well written and meaningful, a lot of these films suffer from a lack of diversity which has been an issue surrounding the Oscars for many years. Surprisingly, only one nominee was a minority and that was Cynthia Erivo for best actress in “Harriet”. According to the Washington Post, Erivo told the New York Times, “Far too much work was done this year by incredible women and men of color that should be celebrated.” In 2002, Halle Berry won the best actress for her performance in Monster Ball. She was the first black woman to win in her category. The Oscars should be ashamed! Surely black people being “bad actors” couldn’t be the reason for the lack of diversity. I have seen far too many phenomenal performances and films performed and created by black people for there to be a lack of representation.
The Oscars will air live on Sunday, February 9th at 8 pm Eastern time. Make sure you tune in to see if any of your personal favorite performances will take home an award!