Without a doubt, 2015 was a great year for movies, and after watching the Golden Globes earlier this week, we were all probably bouncing around with glee in anticipation of the Oscar nominations. However, when the nomination list was announced earlier this morning, everyone found themselves banging their heads against the wall in frustration that once again no minorities are represented in any of the four main acting categories. It seems that this year all the Oscar nominations happen to very white—again—even though the Academy had a diverse array of performances and films to choose from.
Despite outstanding performances, Idris Elba went unrecognized for his role in “Beasts of No Nation,” along with Will Smith for “Concussion,” and Samuel L. Jackson for “The Hateful Eight.” Even Kitana Kiki Rodrigues and Maya Taylor, the transgender actresses of color who starred in “Tangerine,” failed to earn nominations this year.
Michael B. Jordan, who was well received for his role in “Creed” was looked over, while his co-star and white actor, Sylvester Stallone, was given the nomination for Best Suppporting Actor. The only person of color who managed to snag a nomination is the Mexican director of “The Revenant,” Alejandro González Iñárritu, despite the fact that only white actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy earned recognition for their acting in the film. And all this, after DiCaprio focused his acceptance speech at the Golden Globes on recognizing “all the First Nations people represented in this film, and all the indigenous communities around the world.”
The familiar hashtag #OscarsSoWhite has been revived and is trending on social media, along with the updated version #OscarsStillSoWhite in response to the lack of diversity put forth from the Academy for the second year in a row.
With no #Oscarnoms for Idris Elba, Michael B. Jordan or Will Smith, all 20 of the Oscar nominees in acting are all, once again, white.
— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) January 14, 2016
Do you see anyone missing from the 20 acting noms at this year’s Oscars? #OscarsSoWhite https://t.co/12Q76d2qei pic.twitter.com/OkwG7ZrQD7
— Mic (@micnews) January 14, 2016
It’s actually worse than last year. Best Documentary and Best Original Screenplay. That’s it. #OscarsSoWhite
— April (@ReignOfApril) January 14, 2016
Maybe they’re doing #OscarsSoWhite again because Hollywood loves sequels
— Jessica Goldstein (@jessicagolds) January 14, 2016
Ironically, the Oscars are being hosted this year by black comedian, Chris Rock, and many are hopeful that he will address the issues of diversity when the award show occurs at the end of February.
— Emily Gagne (@emilygagne) January 14, 2016
No black actors/directors nominated for the second straight year. Travesty. Hope host @ChrisRock addresses this. #OscarNoms #OscarsSoWhite
— Marlow Stern (@MarlowNYC) January 14, 2016