The nominations for the 88th Academy Awards were released about a week ago, and there is something every single nominee has in common: they are all white. The entire list of actors, directors, and producers up for the chance to win a coveted Oscar award is Caucasian. This isn’t to be misconstrued to say that these nominations are bad because of the fact that they are white, more so that there isn’t any other color involved. It isn’t uncommon for some movies to be snubbed despite their quality, but this isn’t a normal snub, this is a white wash. The nominations aren’t the only white washed thing either, with the 6,000 member Academy voters being 94% white. There is a lack of representation and inclusion in the Academy, and people are starting to realize it.
Director Spike Lee took to social media to openly say he is boycotting the awards, using the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. Jada Pickett Smith, wife of Will Smith who wasn’t acknowledged for his phenomenal performance in “Concussion,” also took to social media to openly announce that she will be boycotting the Oscars as well. She put videos announcing her pride in being black and how the lack of representation is a disgusting thing. Rapper 50 Cent is also boycotting the Oscars as well, and is even urging his friend and host of the Oscars Chris Rock to back out of it, in an Instagram post that has since been deleted said “Chris please do not do the Oscars awards. You mean a lot man, don’t do it. Please.”
Many big name white actors also took to voice their opinion, in an interview with Variety, actor George Clooney says that “we’re moving in the wrong direction” in reference to the academy, and Hollywood as a whole. Mark Ruffalo also voiced his disapproval with the Oscars, telling TheWrap, “It isn’t just the Academy Awards, the entire American system is rife with white privilege racism. It goes into our justice system.” Then Ruffalo said he is weighing in on whether he wants to protest and not show up to the Oscars either. So it’s easy to see that it isn’t just the minorities in Hollywood are offended, they all are.
The Oscars snubbed four of the biggest movies with black leads, Idris Elba in “Beasts of No Nation,” Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson in “Creed,” Will Smith in “Concussion,” and the biggest snub of all being O’Shea Jackson Jr., Jason Mitchell, Corey Hawkins, and Aldis Hodge playing the group NWA in arguably the biggest movie of the summer, “Straight Outta Compton.” This lack of representation is snubbing movie fans more than the actors in the end. Social media has been the spot to lots of hate and criticism from the academy, like the aforementioned #OscarsSoWhite hashtag. Some people won’t understand the outrage, or why this is an issue because they’ve seen people like them win awards all their lives. But Black kids, Hispanic kids, Asian kids, Indian kids, Native American kids, and every other type of minority child will watch the 88th Academy Awards and not see anyone like them win. Sure, they can present the award and hey, maybe they can even host the show (as shown in this year’s host Chris Rock), but they will never win. The children will only see themselves in the other guys, not in the people who are on top. This will create a generation of discouraged minorities who will not do what they want to do because of the realism of the lack of diversity. How could a black child want to pursue entertainment when he realizes how bad he will have it if he does? It will be even worse for a black women, since their representation is even lower than the men. There is a need for a definitive change, from the people who vote on the movies, all the way down to the media that they vote on. If there isn’t change then this trend of votes will continue and the Oscars will always be “so white.”
