The Academy is infamous for it’s lack of racial diversity in its nominations, to the point where no one was surprised at the all-white nominee list this year. Angry and vocal about their anger, yes. Surprised? Not so much. Typically, the host will make one or two jokes about this issue and leave it at that. This year, however, host Chris Rock made sure that racism within the Academy stayed at the forefront of everyone’s minds.
Rather than one or two acerbic comments, his whole opening monologue focused on the issue at hand. Explaining why it’s an issue now, he stated that “when your grandmother’s swinging from a tree, it’s really hard to care about best foreign documentary short.” He went further on, saying that the black community “want black actors to get the same opportunities as white actors.”
Honestly, I’m really glad that Chris Rock didn’t let the subject go. To put it politely, I’ve gotten rather frustrated with the way the media will make one or two jokes about the racial imbalance and never bring it up again. It’s essentially their way of trying to brush off the problem – make a joke about it to acknowledge that you’re “woke” but then just stay static in your ways.
With the strong vocal outcry this year and Chris Rock’s emphasis, I think that maybe, just maybe, the Academy and its institutions will start to change.