In recent years, it seems that the high-profile organizations and companies are becoming aware of the issues that plague minorities in today’s society. Recently, it seems even the Oscars have begun to change.
The Twitter hashtag, #OscarsSoWhite went viral during the past few Oscars’ presentations, highlighting the fact that most films, actors, actresses, and other production staff nominated for awards were white. People called for there to be a change in the representation of minorities and a quick peek at this year’s nominations seems to show a shift in a positive direction.
Looking at past Oscars award shows, one can conclude that it is not necessarily the best films that get the Oscar nominations, nor the most popular ones. How many times have you looked at the list of Oscar nominations and said to yourself, “I had no idea this movie existed?” Keep in mind, the Oscar nominations are decided by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, an organization made up of filmmakers from around the world (the specific roster of filmmakers is unknown). These people are certainly not the average person and would not watch movies as an average member of the public would.
Looking at this year’s nominations, we see Black Panther, the first superhero movie to be nominated for best picture. This nomination coincides with the assertion that the movies with the largest budgets (mostly the ones made by major studios) are the ones that receive nominations. However, Black Panther is different, given that it features a massively diverse cast and its genre as a superhero movie.
For many, the Oscars are a place to admire the great work released throughout the year. However, because the Academy is made up of a secret group of filmmakers, their agendas don’t necessarily coincide with those of the general public. Some members of the public consider these filmmakers/film critics as condescending towards the regular movies that the general public is familiar with watching in the theater. Black Panther not only marks a change for more diversity in terms of story and casting, but also the genres of movies featured at the Oscars.
Most people have a mobile decide or computer where they can stream their favorite shows and movies through services such as Netflix and Hulu. Well, since we are now seeing general popular movies be nominated for Oscars, why can’t Netflix and Hulu, and even Amazon, original movies get nominated for Oscars? This has already happened in the realm of TV, as Amazon’s original series, The Marvelous Ms. Maisel, was awarded an Emmy and a Golden Globe.
This year’s Oscars nominations even feature films made by people that are not American. For example, Roma, nominated for best picture, is a semi-autobiographical work directed by Alfonso Cuarón and stars two Mexican actresses.
Although there have been strides towards inclusively with the nomination of a film such as Roma, one cannot help to notice that some films, such as Crazy Rich Asians, were totally left out of Oscar nominations. Crazy Rich Asians was one of my favorite films I watched last year, and I was a bit disappointed it will not be recognized at the Oscars. However, this should not be a discouragement, as the fact that the film was even made in the first place, featuring an entirely Asian cast, is reason for applause.
Although it is great to see the Oscars advancing in terms of diversity, we as media consumers must recognize that we must keep demanding for diversity in film. We must also recognize that sometimes while our demands may be met, they may not be done so out of charity. For some companies and filmmakers, they may give in to our demands because in this age it could result in massive backlash from the public, thus resulting in less money at the box office. However, the fallout can also be beneficial, as it did with the show 13 Reasons Why. The more that people talked about the show, the more publicity it got that the producers never had to pay for.
So yes, it is good to demand diversity from high profile places such as the Oscars. But we must also be attentive media consumers with the content we consume and the reasons behind its creation. I do not want to discredit those filmmakers who are genuinely trying to show diversity in their films. We must become aware of the fact that some do not have the best of intentions. We must make sure the strive for diversity is genuine and not just “trendy.”
We are not quite at the goal of having the best minority representation at the Oscars, but we are much closer than we were a decade ago. Keep demanding stories featuring people of color and people of non-Western cultures. Keep demanding stories featuring LGBTQ+ characters. Keep demanding stories of people that do not fit the mainstream beauty standards. Change starts with us.