Awards season is in full swing. The Golden Globes have said their piece and next on the agenda is the biggest night in Hollywood: the Academy Awards. It’s easy for us as consumers to glance at the list of nominees and make predictions and bets with our friends while ignoring underlying issues like racism. In recent years, the subject of racism in the United States has become increasingly debated in various forms, most noticeably with police brutality cases that seem to be popping up left and right. Racism is not just an issue within levels of government, but in Hollywood as well. This year’s nominees for Best Actor and Best Actress are all white. In fact, there are zero nominations for non-white actors across the board in all four acting categories. It hasn't always been this way.
Two years ago, this was kind of different."12 Years A Slave" won Best Picture, Lupita Nyong’o was awarded Best Supporting Actress for the same movie and Alfonso Cuaron received Best Director for "Gravity." The following year, "Selma" was nominated for Best Picture and Alejandro González Iñárritu took home Best Director for "Birdman." The Academy was recognizing its non-white stars, albeit in small ways. Then, the 2016 nominees were released. Like 2015's class, all nominees were white. Critically acclaimed films and front runners on various prediction blogs like "Straight Outta Compton" and "Creed" were nowhere to be found in the most important categories. "Beasts of No Nation," starring Idris Elba, was also snubbed, along with "Concussion," featuring Will Smith.
Immediately, in waves of anger, people were talking about it. Prominent African-American figures Jada Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee poured their thoughts out on various social media sites and have decided to boycott this year’s show. A few days after Smith released her response on Facebook, Cheryl Boone Isaac made a statement in regards to the lack of diversity in this year’s nominees. “This is a difficult but important conversation…” Isaac stated. “The Academy is taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership.”
As an avid movie watcher and film student, it’s hard for me to ignore the blatant preference of white actors by the Academy. The collection of over 7,000 members that receive a ballot from the Academy each year are older white males. This demographic of voters can’t relate to anything but what they personally know, allowing them to make decisions that keep non-white lead movies out of the picture. As a group of supposedly knowledgeable figures in Hollywood, the voters should be constantly aiming to represent all forms of talent.
On Jan. 21, 2016, the Academy unanimously voted to double the number of women and minorities by 2020. Changes include making members' voting statuses active for ten years with the ability to renew if they have been involved in film over that decade. There will also be new leadership positions that allow the members to make more decisions concerning voting. They have given an excellent response to the current backlash. The steps that the Academy is taking allows for an increase in diversity on the inside, although it does not seem to make up for past years. My question is this: why does it take outrage from a group of people in order for there to be a change?
I am subject to influence by the most prominent figures and businesses throughout Hollywood as an aspiring filmmaker. Pursuing filmmaking as a career is intimidating because of the facts. Why would I want to work for an industry that does not pay the same respects to everyone, no matter what race or gender? It’s disheartening that the Academy doesn’t seem to realize this effect on its future employees.
While you may not care about movies or awards shows, it is severely important to acknowledge the issues that lie within them. Whether it be ignorance about gender, sexual orientation, or race, as discussed in this article, I ask you to reflect on why there are these problems and what we, as consumers, can do to solve them.
