Mexican director Alejandro G. Iñárritu wrote and directed the 2015 Academy Award Best Picture "Birdman," also winning Best Director and Original Screenplay. His Mexican partner in crime Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki won for Best Cinematography. The film was nominated for a total of nine awards last year, three of which were in the acting categories. Who did these Mexican filmmakers cast in their film? White actors Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, and Emma Stone, all of which completely deserved their nominations.
This year, the Academy and moviegoers alike are fawning over "The Revenant," a film by the same filmmakers. The film is nominated for 12 awards this year including Best Director, Cinematography, and two acting nominations for Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy, who are both white.
Are Alejandro and Chivo excluding minorities because they’re racist? No, of course not! They hire people they want to work with: some of the best actors in the industry. And no, I’m not saying that the best actors in the industry are white. I’m saying that when you cast an actor, you want to cast someone who is skilled. Not “white.” Not “black.”
I am upset about this whole controversy because it is nothing but distracting.
It is distracting from the fact that the film with the most nominations, "The Revenant" features tons of Native American actors and actresses. One of the most important underlying themes in the film is racism and prejudice. No one is talking about all of the amazing contributions these actors have made to Hollywood this year.
It is distracting from the fact that black filmmakers aren’t making a place for themselves in the industry. We can’t nominate Michael B. Jordan just because he was pretty good and he’s black. That’s unacceptable and frankly insulting to minorities. I don’t think Michael B. Jordan deserved a nomination. I think Stallone did, especially after the years he’s given to this character.
I think Will Smith is a phenomenal actor. And I haven’t seen "Concussion," but not everyone was crazy about it. Sorry, Will.
And maybe Idris Elba did deserve a nomination. I don’t know because I didn’t see "Beasts of No Nation." But I do know that he was nominated for a Golden Globe and that the film won the Marcello Mastroianni Award at the Venice International Film Festival. What more do you need?
I see this as an issue comprised of two problems.
The first is being addressed by the Academy now, and I agree. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is 94 percent white and 76 percent male at an average of 63 years old. These demographics need to change. But which of these stats worry me the least? The first. It worries me more that the Academy is 76 percent male when it should be close of 50/50 and the average age needs to drop 13 years.
Academy Award Winner and four-time host of the Oscars, Whoopi Goldberg blasted Jada Pinkett Smith’s Oscar boycott on "The View" saying, “Why is this a conversation that we only have once a year?” The Academy Awards are not to blame for a year in which only two films starring minorities, "Creed" and "Straight Outta Compton," were considered among some of the best of the year.
She added, “Who are you gonna bump out? Whose performance was better than whose? That’s the way you have to look at it.” I personally loved Matt Damon’s performance, but I might not have given a nomination to him. I’m happy he is nominated as it’s his first acting nomination. But who would I have given it to? Probably Steve Carell for "The Big Short." And even if Idris was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, it still would have only been one black nominee out of 20. I can’t think of any female performances by any minorities at all this year. It was Viola Davis’ year off from film and Lupita was busy with "Star Wars."
Did I expect "Straight Outta Compton" to get more nominations? Yes, maybe for Best Picture. But I haven't even seen the film, so I don't know if it deserved it. As Whoopi says, “To boycott [Chris Rock] is just as bad as what everybody’s saying.”
It is shameful to be pressuring Chris Rock into backing out. Why should he? He was invited to host, he has worked really hard, and we all know he'll do an amazing job for his second time hosting the Academy Awards.
What I don’t understand is how someone like Spike Lee, who has been nominated for two Academy Awards in his career and just received the 2016 Honorary Award for his body of work, can put out a statement that he “cannot support [The Oscars]... How is it possible for the second consecutive year all 20 contenders under the actor category are white?”
It doesn’t make sense to me.
The Academy is not to blame for the lack of diversity in theaters throughout the year. The people to blame are the casting directors and actors who decide that they can't go out for or play a role because of their background.
I'm not a black musician. I'm a musician. And if my work was never nominated for an award, I wouldn't scream racism. I would continue to work harder and improve myself.
Even President Obama weighed in on this issue: “I think as a whole, the industry should do what every other industry should do, which is to look for talent and provide opportunity to everybody. And I think the Oscar debate is just an expression of this broader issue of: Are we making sure that everybody is getting a fair shot?”
That is the second and main problem.
I love the film industry because you have to work really hard to make it. You have to put all of your effort and passion into doing your best work. Other than money making blockbusters, films can only do well if they’re good. It’s a mainly quality-based industry.
Everyone has to work hard. Leo has proved that over the past 25 years. As minorities, we can’t just expect the Academy to start nominating more of us because people make enough noise. The more minority filmmakers there are making outstanding films, the more films we’ll see with those minorities among the list of nominees.
Make good movies. Make good art. That’s what it’s about.
This debate has done nothing for me, but motivate me to do my best work. I plan to give 100 percent to everything I do. I don’t expect a piece of metal for it or a certain amount of profit or praise. I just want to make something I enjoy making for the love of what I love.
