The last two years of Academy Awards have been dominated with all-white nominees which has left a dramatic gap in cultural representation in motion pictures and further stemmed the lack of diversity issue within Hollywood. I recently listened to a radio news cast presented by Native America Calling as it aired on Feb. 25, 2016. The parallels I drew from the discussion very much resembled what we are continuing to see within the Oscars.
One of the women featured in this interview is Sacheen Littlefeather, an actress and activist for Native American civil rights. However, she is predominantly known for refusing an Oscar in 1973 on behalf of Marlon Brando (The Godfather) for the poor treatment of Indians in the American film industry. At the time, Sacheen was the first Native American woman to be used for a political platform. But what we are seeing today is the connection between Sacheen's speech and those of other cultural backgrounds following suit in boycotting the Academy Awards.
One of the most standout cases as of late is the behavior of actress Jada Pinkett Smith, the wife of actor, Will Smith. Jada has gone to extreme lengths to demonstrate her disapproval for the way that the Academy handles cultural diversity within Hollywood. She has made videos to describe how she feels about the issue and takes a firm stand in not attending the Oscars alongside her husband. When Sacheen heard about Jada's efforts in boycotting the Oscars, she reached out in an email stating that their histories very much resemble each other in the suffering of their people, and to also thank Jada for her courage and representation for the people of color. As it turned out, Jada was very much inspired by Sacheen's performance at the 1973 Oscars and was appreciative of Sacheen's support in her efforts and attempt at paving the road for cultural representation.
What seems to be prevalent here is the fear of ethnicity in Hollywood. There is a question as to whether or not it will sell, which results in a natural lack of it. Sacheen hopes that discussion will bring about change to the fact that 94 percent of the Academy is made up of whites and 77 percent males. This goes to show that there is much work to be done before there will be any remotely close equality of representation in terms of Hollywood productions. But there is hope. Recently the musical" Hamilton" directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, a Puerto Rican, has proven that diversity can sell very well, earning an estimated 200 million over the first 24 months on Broadway.
Both Jada, Sacheen and other minority civil rights activists encourage the act of bringing awareness to the lack of diversity seen throughout Hollywood's history to hopefully bring about change so that those of all backgrounds may see their culture represented in productions.
