The win
During the 98th Academy Awards, more famously known as the Oscars, actor Michael B. Jordan took home the award for Best Actor for his role in Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler. Coogler also took home the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and the film won Best Cinematography and Best Score. In his speech, Jordan expresses his thanks to Black Oscar Winners who came before him: “I stand here because of the people that came before me…Sydney Portier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Fox, Forest Whitaker, Will Smith, and to be uh amongst those giants, amongst those great greats, amongst my ancestors, amongst my guys. Thank you, everybody, in this room and everybody at home for supporting me over my career.”
Jordan is the sixth Black Actor to win the Best Actor Award at the Oscars, making this a magnificent feat, especially after the criticism of the movie Sinners, including that of Box Office Concerns and the downplay of the film’s importance. Yet, instead of outlets praising this magnificent and long-overdue achievement of Jordan’s, the focus is on another star: Timothee Chalamet.
the problem
Timothee Chalamet, along with Leondaro Dicaprio, Ethan Hawke, and Wagner Moura, were all nominated for Best Actor at the 98th Academy Awards. Chalamet, nominated for Marty Supreme, has been under fire recently for his unwarranted and offensive comments regarding the Ballet and Opera Industries: “And I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera or, you know, things where it’s like, “Hey, keep this thing alive, even though it’s like no one cares about this anymore.” He laughs and proceeds to say, “All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. Uh, I just lost 14 cents in viewership.”
Chalamet, who went to NYU, a school famous for the arts, and who has a mother and sister who both worked in the Ballet Industry, has rightfully been dragged online for his comments he made before the Oscars premiered. On varying media platform such as X (formerly known as Twitter) and TikTok, there have been many think-pieces on his behavior and whether this would impact his ability to win the Oscar he has been so openly wishing for. And with recent events, it could be seen that maybe his comments did cost him an Oscar.
But truthfully, the reason Chalamet didn’t win the Oscar wasn’t because the Academy didn’t like his comments and wanted to show him that he was wrong. Chalamet didn’t win because Jordan gave a better performance than him, and any justifications other than this are because of racism.
Jordan has been acting since he was 12 years old, and with each role his skills have expanded greatly. In his role as Smoke and Stack, he emulated two different people in a different time. From changing his physical apperance, his voice, and hs mindset, Jordan became his two character. And this was rewarded with his win for Best Actor. But, his win has been significantly overshadowed by his collegue’s lost.
This is not an abnormal thing in the entertainment world. The wins of Black entertainers are always overshadowed when a likeable (although likeable is debatable in this instance) White actor loses. Take Victoria Monet winning the Best New Artist Award at the 2023 Grammys over Gracie Abrams. When one’s favorite is White and is snubbed, it becomes everyone’s problem and the winner is pushed to the back. Yet when Black Artists are snubbed, it the regular. From Michael Jackson, to Beyonce, to Angela Basset: many have been ignored when their performances have been excellent.
Now, we have Michael B. Jordan, and the exact same thing is being done to him. Black Actors, Black Musicians, and Black People do not exist to snub White Actors and to “teach them a lesson.” Black Entertainers win because they deserved to, and it’s important to call out this subtle racism and the accusations of performative diversity in these spaces.