As Black History Month comes to an end, it’s important to note that we still have a very long way to go in terms of equality. For yet another year, the Academy has nominated only white actors for the four most important categories at this year’s awards. Now I’m not the person who thinks that people deserve awards just for being different or a minority, however, it’s ludicrous to believe that there was not one person of colour that deserved a nomination for two years running. It’s selfish, as a white person, to say that it must be because every one of those white actors must be more talented then their black counterparts, because that is ignoring the larger issue that is at play here, and it’s simply not true.
It’s no secret that Hollywood is lacking in diversity. A 2015 study done at UCLA concluded that 94% of film studio heads are white, and 100% are male. With numbers like that it’s no wonder the film game is majorly white-washed, however that doesn’t make it okay. Even within films that call for actors of colour, white people are being casted; Katniss Everdean was written as dark skin toned (the exact race is not stated), however J-Law has been raking up millions playing her for years, or just look at the entire cast of Ridiculous Six. There is a total of 12 minutes of dialogue spoken by non-white actors throughout the entirety of the Harry Potter films. It’s absurd.
Even without nearly as many chances for nominations, there were movies that were completely overlooked that do feature non-white actors, directors, and writers: Creed, Straight Outta Compton, Concussion, and Beasts of No Nation, to name a few. The blatant racism that the Academy is displaying is appalling, and it’s heartbreaking that they can get away with this. Having more questions and complaints then answers, I turned to my fellow writers to chime in:
“I read yesterday that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is taking steps to diversify the Oscars by appointing more people as executives and to their committees, which will apparently have an immediate impact. But their goal to double the number of diverse members is set for 2020. While this seems like a proactive response, what bothers me a bit is that #OscarsSoWhite is something that started last year, but only gained such widespread recognition this year because celebrities have begun to take a part of it, even going to the lengths of boycotting (Will and Jada Pinkett Smith). Good on celebrities, but I find the response from the Academy actually tardy; it’s something they should have paid attention to and reacted to way before. They realized a little late that diversity is necessary, not just to be fair and representative, but also in order to maintain any relevance in pop culture, and that’s on them.” Sarah Zaman, University of Ottawa
“As a black young women, I don’t know how I feel about this situation because I am so shocked; everything has become so racial in the past year or so. Unfortunately, I knew racial discrimination and racism was a part of life and the reality of black people and any other minority of people. With this whole “OscarsSoWhite” situation, I am obviously upset that there is no diversity whatsoever. Growing up, I was used to not being able to identity to actors/actresses in movies or on TV because they didn’t look like me. However, in the last couple years, we have seen more and more diversity on our screen, which makes me happy. So, why is there no diversity in the Oscar’s nominations? We have seen brilliants actors/actresses of many colours impress us in the past year. So, don’t tell me that none of those diverse actors/actresses deserve a nomination. Indeed, it’s based on talents, so are you saying that none of those people were talented enough? That’s what’s insulting. Concerning this whole boycotting situation, I don’t like it. I think that everyone should go support one another; it’s not the nominees’ fault that they got the nomination. Attend the ceremony, then when it’s over…work behind the scene to make the changes necessary so it never happens again”- Christie, University of Ottawa
I saw an article on Thought Catalog that mentions celebrities shouldn’t be asking us to care about this injustice because there are so many other injustices that happen to people of colour on a regular basis. Maybe it’s not my place to have an opinion on this, but any clear example of inequality is worth caring about. One injustice does not make another one less or more important. You can care about several facets of an issue, and it’s simplistic to refuse to bother to care about one issue because you already care about another. That’s just pure laziness; humans are capable of feeling empathy broadly and racism is about many different problems and inequalities.
Let’s get mad about every single injustice faced due to racial prejudice, that’s the only way anything will ever change.
Sources
Bunche Center UCLA, CNN, Thought Catalog
Picture Credits
Cover Picture, 1, 2