Sinners
Sinners was one of the highest-grossing films of 2025 and drew audiences eager for a refreshing breakthrough from established director Ryan Coogler. The film was incredibly successful and received an overwhelming number of positive reviews, from the soundtrack to the outstanding performances by actors like Michael B. Jordan. All this in mind, when the nominations for the 31st Critics’ Choice Awards were announced, most people assumed the Best Actor award would go to Jordan for his portrayals of Elijah “Smoke” Moore and Elias “Stack” Moore. When the exciting night of the award ceremony arrived, and the category was announced, it was Timothee Chalamet who found himself on stage for Best Actor, not Jordan.
A movie that had come out only a few weeks before the Critics’ Choice Awards began beat out a movie that had been positively received, celebrated, and hailed as the best movie of 2025 by fans everywhere, and was beaten by a film that had barely been in theaters. The moment was cemented in the long history of black erasure and blatant disrespect of black actors in Hollywood, as the camera zoomed in on a disappointed Michael B. Jordan, watching an award he knew he deserved be handed to a white actor. Unfortunately, this isn’t unusual or new when you understand the past of black actors in Hollywood.
Michael B. Jordan isn’t a newcomer to the film industry but an established presence, from his breakthrough role as Cary Grant in Fruitvale Station (2013) to Adonis Creed in Creed (2015) to his iconic role as Erik Killmonger in Black Panther (2018). Each of his roles has shown his range, skill, and true box-office power. Each of his roles not only shows off Jordan’s many talents but also resonates deeply with black Americans as cultural milestones. His characters represent black masculinity, pain, and ambition. This makes his losses and mistreatment by the very industry he works for even more meaningful. To ignore Jordan’s talent on screen is a deliberate choice, a choice that represents how Hollywood picks and chooses what black artists to celebrate and which to ignore.
The role of award ceremonies, such as the Critics’ Choice Awards, is too important to ignore. Award ceremonies serve as cultural gatekeepers. They decide which movies are relevant, meaningful, and significant enough to gain the attention of boards of experienced critics and fans. These institutions decide which movies are cemented in history as culturally relevant and which ones didn’t make the cut. When it comes to black films and award ceremonies, they often get cut before they’re even announced as nominees on stage. Black films usually perform well at the box office but fail to win the awards they deserve at major award ceremonies. Nominations and wins for black cinema, or the lack thereof, show that these awards often aren’t rooted in merit and creativity but instead in how closely these celebrated films are to tradition and whiteness.
Dismissal of black talent in hollywood
The events at the 31st Critics’ Choice Awards fit into a long history of the dismissal of black talent in Hollywood. A past that reaches as far back as the mistreatment of Hattie McDaniel during the 12th Academy Awards, when she won for her role as ‘Mammy’ in Gone with the Wind (1939), to the posthumous recognition of Chadwick Boseman’s talent after his unfortunate passing. The standard for black acting and performances is higher than that of their white counterparts, and this is proven by how white actors can often get away with playing the same character across multiple films. In contrast, black actors have to work twice as hard to get the same type of recognition.
Black actors and actresses are forced to prove their skills with each film by changing themselves to deliver life-changing performances. Actresses like Angela Bassett are often credited with truly transforming into their characters, such as Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do With It (1993) and, more recently, Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), with the latter being acclaimed as some of the best acting in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Nonetheless, her acting has gone unrecognized by major award shows, such as the Academy Awards. Michael B. Jordan embodies strength and charisma, traits that would otherwise uplift his white counterparts, but these are seen as weaknesses by the industry.
Hollywood rewards black pain and suffering but is suspicious of giving out awards for movies that represent black joy, success, and confidence. Each snub to black actors, directors, and creators is a silent affirmation from the film industry that while your work may be recognizable, it is not enough. These snubs don’t resonate only with the people who work tirelessly to produce the pieces, but also with audiences at home who recognize this same feeling. The same type of snubs that happen in classrooms, workplaces, and creative spaces too often. Michael B. Jordan’s snub isn’t just about movies; it’s about watching history repeat itself in front of your very eyes and understanding every moment of it.
While iconic award ceremonies ignore many classic movies and talented actors, they remain essential to black creators and other people of color. Awards cement legitimacy and talent. They tell audiences, critics, and other creators that you are a force to be reckoned with and someone who is a master of your craft. They shape the stories that are created and recognized. They determine which creatives receive the funding and space to make the films of the future. When black people are excluded from these privileges, it cements an image of Hollywood that the film industry is trying to protect: that Hollywood is a space for white stories and creators, which forever creates a myth of value for other projects.
Michael B. Jordan doesn’t need an award to show the world that he’s a talented actor, but his snub at the 31st Critics’ Choice Awards reveals a darker past with black talent in Hollywood. A past that Hollywood will continue to ignore until black works are celebrated and commemorated for what they are in the moment. Until then, the film industry will continue to give the proper recognition to work created by black people and will continue to fail to call what black film truly is: art.