The latest in hashtag activism is about the Oscars and how very very white they are and have been for the past half-century they've been around. This is something people have been aware of for a long while so Twitter is a few decades late to the draw, but we'll have this discussion now while people still care about the Oscars.
To get this out of the way, I don't follow the Oscars. It's never exactly been “fair.” Shakespeare in Love honestly beat Saving Private Ryan in 1998 and that's all you need to know. What I do follow is The Razzies, where the worst movies of the year get the kick to the groin they deserve. But I know how the Oscars work, and it's hardly ever about what is the “best.” It came to light that the people who ultimately decide on which movies even get nominated are almost exclusively white old guys over 60 and that explains everything.
Do you know why Oscar-bait movies come out late in the year and why the movies nobody cares about come out in January and February? Because Hollywood is afraid that the Oscar voters will forget a movie unless it happens at least a month or two before the Academy Awards. They make such an enormous impact on Hollywood and the movie industry that the entire movie releasing schedule is dependent on them.
And you can always tell when a movie is begging for an Academy Award. Period pieces with big name actors and bonus points if it takes place during WW2 and if it's a film about movies you get 5,000 points and a one-up.
So is there a bias? Yes. There's always a bias. And when you have an exclusive white old guy club, diversity and representation isn't big on your mind. But it's not just a bias against anyone that isn't white and male, it's a bias against entire genres and things that make no sense. And it isn't simply the Academy Awards, Hollywood in general doesn't seem to acknowledge anyone born any other color than white.
If you look at the box office records, you'll notice that most of the highest grossing movies star white actors, primarily white male actors- unless you want to count "Avatar"'s blue furry people. With big name actors like Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Samuel L Jackson, Morgan Freeman, and Jamie Foxx being household names you'd think you might find more diversity but it's far from that. Will Smith and director Roland Emmerich famously had to fight for the former's iconic leading role in "Independence Day" because the producers didn't want a black man starring in a mainstream film. Similarly, Cameron Diaz was replaced by Eva Mendes, a Latina actress, because Hollywood executives are afraid to show a white woman with a black man and two black leads will alienate white audiences. I'm hardly even scratching the surface. You want to know how Tarantino talks to the African-American actors he works with? It isn't pretty.
I've thought that perhaps it's less Hollywood itself being run by the people who “can't be racist because they have black friends” and more about Hollywood just reflecting the trends that the viewing public follows even if it is ugly and racist. After all, a good portion of the internet lost its collective mind when it was announced that a black actress was going to be playing the role of Hermione Granger. But after "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" (also known as “we remade A New Hope! Love us again please!”) starred John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, and Oscar Isaac and made roughly all the money I think we can safely say that it's more of Hollywood's own idiocy.
