Palpable excitement is coming out of Sundance for Nate Parker’s The Birth of a Nation, a project that has taken nearly a decade to get off the ground. The film received a long standing ovation and left many in the audience crying at its premiere yesterday in Park City. No surprise, the pushback has begun immediately on the heels of Parker’s success: pushback that says “don’t take what’s rightfully mine.” The pushback is felt in the form of all of the defensive, angry people who are annoyed wherever subjects of race and discrimination enter the Oscar race (or anywhere else, for that matter). The pushback is the reason progress comes so slowly, is stymied or halted. The pushback is the reason it’s so hard for films made by and about people of color to get a foothold in Hollywood.
It’s like clockwork. Some of it is a slow oily discharge made by anonymous commenters online who don’t have the balls to own their words with their real names. Some of it is loud and proud “white rights” complaints. The pushback is always ready to pounce and can swiftly escalate to full swing. Those who push back do so despite being seen as racists, because they’d rather take that risk than step aside to let anyone through the door unless, by their definition, they “deserve” to be there. They say they won’t vote for them or allow them a place in line “just because they’re black” — as if they think that’s the only reason. “It’s about art,” they cry. It’s about “who deserves it.”
Those in power want to remain in power and the way they do that is by pushing back against anyone who calls for change. This is a sad reality of human nature, but it has been a particularly odious reality of post-Civil War, post-Jim Crow, and even post-Civil Rights America. And unfortunately, this backwards attitude can rear its head in “liberal” Hollywood too. We’ve had the unfortunate luck to hear it all week long. Forced to face it as The Hollywood Reporter has featured a series of outraged letters, the non-stop barbaric yawp of voter protests against upcoming changes to diversify Academy membership. But it isn’t just industry people pushing back. The complaints are flooding in from far and wide. It will only get worse once this week’s Variety cover goes viral:
In response to the pushback, the heated debate online has ratcheted into outright warfare. Granted, it’s only Twitter warfare, but it’s warfare nonetheless, in which films and actors who did get nominated are getting retroactively blamed for being there. Time after time when we see statements about the lack of diversity, there are those 20 actors’ faces — like poster children for racist Hollywood. Several Best Picture nominees are themselves being tossed into this lion’s den — as when someone tweeted yesterday that “you can’t get much whiter than The Big Short.” I tweeted furiously back that of course you could, pointing out that The Big Short is only one of three Best Picture nominees (Room and Mad Max being the other two) to have any black actresses at all in speaking roles. Then I too began throwing out names of films that I thought were more white. It quickly becomes ridiculous.
All of the themes that run through all the films in the race this year are singularly important. The Big Short is about America bending over and getting fleeced by the big banks to the tune of $700 billion. Spotlight is about finding the hidden victims who suffered unimaginable trauma at the hands of the corrupt and powerful Catholic Church, and the reporters who finally nailed the asses of their abusers to the wall. Brooklyn is about the way immigrants have always helped make this country what it is today. Room is about the ever-present threat of victimization of women that lurks every second of every day all over the world. Mad Max: Fury Road is about the bleak future humanity could quite likely face, and about the power of determined individuals to overthrow oppressive regimes. The Martian is about how essential it is to respect science if we ever hope to discover solutions to this planet’s devastating problems. The Revenant is an atonement for the cruel sins committed by reckless European invaders against Native Americans. And Bridge of Spies is about how paranoia and fear can eat away at a nation’s humanity, and the way honorable men can restore high ideals.
When Ava DuVernay chooses to speak out in terms of “inclusion” rather than “diversity,” she intends to remind us that this is all about opening doors. She wants to be clear that no artist seeks to replace another or want to take anything away from anyone’s achievements. She doesn’t like to hear change phrased in ways that tears down great films just because they might revolve around white characters. For some of the films, in fact most of them (including Spotlight), the stories being told are so much more important than counting how many people of color are in a scene. Because nobody has ever demanded that each and every movie has to be inclusive — we only ask that among all movies, many more of them need to be.
As longtime readers of this site can attest, for many years we’ve covered issues of “diversity.” It’s perhaps the least favorite subject for some of my readers; it has lost me many readers and caused an irreparable rift with an entire forum. A lot of people don’t want hear about it over and over again.
When pushback happens it’s almost always extreme and when it turns vicious it almost always wins. Any prominent award victory for a black actor can usually be guaranteed to translate to fewer wins for other black actors in the near future. The resentment from the white community is palpable: they make it clear that they don’t like people of color infringing on their territory. In many of their minds, advocating for inclusion is tantamount to the dreaded “affirmative action” — a once admirable goal which has been twisted into a code-word for “taking without earning.” We’ll hear them say, “we shouldn’t pick this person or this movie just because they’re…” That’s the most typical refrain. “We shouldn’t be ‘forced’ to honor a movie ‘just because’ it would be a milestone.” It is endless, the pushback.
In spite of great strides being made, the pushback now is stronger than ever. White liberals don’t want to be thought of as racists, but they still want everything on the table to belong to them. It’s funny that so few of them (so few of us) are unable to acknowledge that our standards for what defines “good” or “best” is informed by life experience and self-identification.
The Academy’s decision to invite new members to achieve a more equitable racial and gender balance is a good one. Will it make a difference? Look at the example set by SAG-AFTRA — it’s by far the most diverse of all of the guilds and that inclusiveness is clearly evident in the awards choices they’ve made in recent years.
Pushback is responsible for preventing any film with a predominantly black cast from getting a Best Picture nomination for a span of 24 years — the period between The Color Purple in 1985 and Precious in 2009. In the same period, no powerful black directors were allowed to break through and there was counter-productive resistance whenever a white director tried make movies with non-white stories. In both cases, it’s the actors of color who paid the ultimate price. It didn’t hurt Steven Spielberg. Decades of whitewashed Oscars didn’t even hurt the Academy — until finally this year it did.
Now the pushback has become a problem the Oscars have to confront . Look around. You’ll see. But instead of putting the blame on the many fine movies and filmmakers who are blameless — as some are trying to do as we speak by saying this one is the “whitest” or that one is the “whitest” — we would all be wise to think about what DuVernay is saying about inclusion. This is what the Academy is making a real effort to achieve — adding to, not taking away. Inclusion over exclusion.
The fight isn’t going to go away this time. It’s not going to get shouted down. Those filmmakers who are underrepresented will keep striving to be seen and heard — but more importantly, they won’t give up until they have an equal voice in a culture whose demographics transform day by day. 2015 was the first year when the number of Hispanic kindergartners outnumbered white kindergartners in America. Things are changing. America is changing. Hollywood is changing. The pushback might be able to prop up the wall for a little while longer, but it won’t hold forever. It can’t stop what’s coming.
![2025 Oscars: Can a Late-Breaker Still Win Best Picture? [POLL]](https://www.awardsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/gladiator-350x250.jpg)
Thank You for this. I wonder how often each branch uses the “special merit” thing to get around the standard…
Not to the rest of the world. And definitely not a humanitarian award.
Wow! So I expect next year to have a lot of undeserving black performers nominated by quota. What a bunch of a#holes! That’s disrespectful to white actors, black actors, past black winners and fans in general.
There are film requirements. They’ve changed over the decades and vary according to each branch. Some require a certain number of films, some require a certain number of years in the industry, and some require both films and years. You can find the current requirements for each branch here: http://www.oscars.org/about/becoming-new-member/branch-requirements
Note that nearly every branch has a clause that lets them get around the requirements if they REALLY REALLY want to. All they have to say is that the person has “in the judgment of the Branch Executive Committee, otherwise achieved unique distinction, earned special merit or made an outstanding contribution” to their field.
Who would want to win an Oscar this year? Well, Leo Di Caprio sure does. He’s out getting photographed with the Pope. Talk about pandering… Will the Holy Father intercede with the Almighty to grant Leo’s prayers?? LOL!
“Any prominent award victory for a black actor can usually be guaranteed to translate to fewer wins for other black actors in the near future. The resentment from the white community is palpable: they make it clear that they don’t like people of color infringing on their territory.”
Do you realize how wildly racist this assumption is? I cannot respect you when you make outlandish assumptions like this and tout them as if they were truth.
Are there film requirements necessary for an applicant to be accepted to the Academy? I understand an applicant has to be sponsored, I don’t know the specifics, but what, if any, film work requirements are there an applicant must have in order to be considered?
In the case above, if you’ve never been in a film, can you get in the film academy?
I agree that it had more to do with a Netflix snub. Here they are trying to break into film, thus alerting moviegoers to stay put in the future and watch Netflix. Had this been produced by Foxlight, I’m sure that it’s response would’ve been different.
SOC – are most people fans of NWA? If a typical voter was unfamiliar with the synopsis of this film and had to ask what does NWA stand for – would they want to spend 2 hours of their life almost sensing what the dialogue/song lyrics are going to be? Sure it was a summer hit (as was the no-nominations either Jurassic World). it was a hit with the younger crowd – basically the audience that MTV Movie Awards are aimed at. Will there be outrage if Trumbo, The Danish Girl, 45 Years and Spotlight are snubbed by MTV?
If people don’t like the Oscars, no one forces them to watch it, it’s a private industry association of members, their own choice of who they wish to validate and award. There are many other award shows for public to enjoy.
I believe I mentioned those same native americans in my post, but thanks. And we could go on for a long time about the ethnic makeup of the cast of The Revenant, while the film admittedly contains native americans in mostly extra type roles (there are a couple more significant roles for them), and a role or two for females, the film is generally caucasian. Every lead part, every part that has at least a couple hundred words of dialogue, is played by a white male.
And Leonardo is front and center in relation to the other nineteen nominated performers. His story, before this whole issue got under way, was his toiling for a couple decades, working his ass off in several quality roles in which he was overlooked for an Academy Award. Now Leonardo is repping, certainly not via his own involvement, the Oscarwhite backlash, with his face on every picture of the nominees. Now Leo’s big win is forever going to be linked to this. Unlucky for him. I’m positive he will step up and say something graceful and powerful when he accepts; his moment will not be remembered for that.
You mean like Pulp Fiction or Jackie Brown?
There weren’t many really good movies this year with white actors. There were even fewer really good movies this year with black actors. Crappy year.
Straight Outta Compton? So the misogyny gets swept under the table there? Creed was good – not great. Concussion wasn’t. The only film that got royally screwed was Beasts of No Nation and not only Elba, but Attah and especially Cary Fukunaga. So was that due to racism or Netflix? Probably Netflix.
Sorry. I should have used the word “primarily”. They primarily nominate people of color.
Great. Another guy who is to stupid to realize that I’m on his side.
Here’s the thing, people all have opinions and they all have favorites that they don’t want to see taken out for any reason. You say Do the Right Thing deserved to be nominated in 1989 and I say “hell yes, that’s one of the best movies of all time” but then you say “drop Field of Dreams” and I immediately want to scream “No, that’s a great movie, it reminds me of my relation with my father and makes me tear up (and has a great role for James Earl Jones to boot), what you should do is drop that out of touch and cliched Dead Poet’s Society,” but then someone else will say “No, that’s a great movie that made me sieze the moment and inspired me to study poetry” and so on. See what I’m saying, something someone loves is always going to be in the firing line, maybe rightly maybe wrongly.
I’d say it’s also a little cheap to use examples of BP fields that could have been expanded to ten, because it’s more than likely that if they were expanded the results wouldn’t be what you’re hoping for. The ninth slot this year almost certainly would have gone to Carol, which is it’s own form of diversity but it’s still certainly #sowhite. Then there’s some outside chance that the last slot went to Beasts or Compton… but I bet it didn’t. For the sake of argument let’s say it went to something that’s great but white (Son of Saul maybe). Then we’re right back to where we started, for one of the diverse choices to get in one of these other movies that some contingent of the Academy seems to love needs to go. Maybe that would have been for the best (I certainly like Compton more than a couple of the nominees but don’t consider it Oscar worthy) but it’s not as easy as “we can include without replacing.”
That’s the thing about awards, they are at their roots supposed to be about merit, and as much as we like to be cynical about these things the truth is all these things we see as egregiously undeserving nominees, other people see as great movies that they voted for with all due sincerity because they have different tastes and opinions than you or I. Take for example that End of Watch movie. You apparantly think that’s “miles better than Django.” Personally I think that’s crazy talk. As charming as Michael Peña may be that movie is terrible. It can’t commit to its own misbegotten found footage format, like most David Ayer movies it depicts a suburban white guy’s laughable fantasy of what “the streets” are like, the notion of a cartel leader putting out a hit on a pair of Los Angeles street cops for stumbling into a crime scene is ridiculous, and the sub-plot with the street gang filming themselves in the midst of violent crime is beyond silly. To my eyes a Best Picture nomination for that movie would be right up there with The Blind Side and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close as a howler of a nomination, but hey that’s just my opinion and I’m not the emperor of taste… but then neither are you or anyone else, that’s why these are voted on by a large pool of voters who all have their own opinions. It’s also why the aggregate of said opinions is almost certainly going to piss off some contingent of voters who think their opinions are some kind of objective truth.
Well, La Barbie was white-skinned, blonde and light – eyed … I mean, I suppose they could have found a similarly white Mexican or Mexican-American actor like Gael Garcia Bernal, or just another Hispanic actor, to play the role
Yep. Even I can’t find a way to justify that one. 🙂
Lucas was invited. And joined. And used to be a member. However, he quit the Academy and many guilds around 1981 over frustration with Hollywood, including controversies surrounding credits for opening The Empire Strikes Back and his dissatisfaction with studio executives.
I know 🙁 Crazy, right? I will never understand how it took the Academy so long to invite some people (and sometimes never get around to it) — and yet, other people who are almost nobodies (or at least not “important” in Hollywood history) get invited early in their careers
Part of me wants to feel bad for the folks who might lose their voting. I understand that some of them have long and impressive careers without ever having been nominated for an Oscar. I get that it is possible to know a lot about film and be a good judge, even if your tenure in the industry was only twenty years instead of thirty. And I understand that past variations in membership rules for the different branches means that for many, an invitation wasn’t extended until the end of their careers, almost as a retirement present, and doing three decades AFTER that invite is really asking a lot. I even worry that the emeritus rule might disproportionately impact the few women and people of color who have managed to get an invite over all these years.
But damn if those letters aren’t destroying any sympathy I might have had. Not one has just stuck to their own story of why they should still qualify for a ballot. Instead, they all veer off into racist territory – some right from the beginning and the rest before they’ve finished.
And then when I actually do the math that most of them seem incapable of doing, and realize that some of these folks that are speaking out are NOT actually in any immediate danger of losing their votes, because they’ve been nominated or worked on a film in the past 10 years, it actually makes me wonder if the academy’s “purge” has gone far enough!
I recently saw an interview with George Lucas, who said he wasn’t an Academy voter. Why not?
”Let’s be real.” Let’s. ”The Revenant” is not a ”totally WHITE film.” Did you miss the various Native American actors in it, representing TWO differing tribes (Pawnee and Arikara), speaking in their native tongues? Of the 8 Best Picture nominees, ”The Revenant” happens to be the ONE movie that does deal with race, and showcases actors of color, like Forrest Goodluck & Arthur Redcloud.
Why is 1985 the cutoff point for your statistic? The previous 6 decades of Oscar history that have been largely all-white don’t count for anything? … Ironically, you’ve made the opposite point by picking 1985. ”The Color Purple” was up for 11 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and lost in every single category. The losing nominees included African-Americans Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Margaret Avery, Quincy Jones and Lionel Ritchie. Wanna know the Oscar-winning Picture from 1985’s crop of cinema? ”Out of Africa,” about a white writer in colonial Kenya. It won 7 Oscars, and from what I can tell, the winners were all-Caucasian. … Given a choice between a film about blacks in the South and a film about white colonialists in Africa, is it any wonder that the 94% Caucasian Academy picked the latter?
“I’m sure he’s been invited to be an Academy member”
Do not be so sure.
https://twitter.com/MarkHarrisNYC/status/692489968221032451
comfy racial bias:
https://twitter.com/filmystic/status/692475653116039169
I don’t think ignoring ‘Straight Outta Compton’ or ‘Creed’ fall under the whole ‘casual comfy racial bias’ description.
I’m not here trying to convince anyone to see things like I do.
Exhausted this week even trying to carefully say how how I feel without having people jump down my throat.
Again, a concrete example is always better than an abstract vague supposition.
Luckily The Hollywood Reporter has given us a weird wealth of concrete examples this week. They’re printing these bizarre letters from huffy Academy members who do not even have any clue how awful they sound.
These voters don’t know how their racial bias glares through plain as day — if they did, they wouldn’t say “I resent being called a racist!” and then in their very next sentence they say some eye-rolling crude thing that reveals their comfy contented racial bias.
There’s the old Documentary producer who says: “Is Jada Pinkett Smith even in the movie business?” (Answer: she was in Magic Mike XXL last year, and dozens of other movies, but the larger point is this: “Dude, you don’t even know whether a black women is an actress or not? If you don’t know, don’t make a ass of yourself by blurting out your ignorance as if you’re being clever.”)
There’s the Oscar voter today (a guy who once-upon-a-time won an Oscar for Best Short Subject 48 years ago and he has not made a movie for 30 years) and he goes: “Try telling the NBA to hire White, Latino, Chinese or Eskimo players!” .. first of all, you dumbshit, the NBA does hire White, Latino, and Chinese players…. and it’s fucking ugly for you to act like you think the NBA is all black players. Secondly. the very first fuckin line of your letter says: “I resent being lumped in with racists” and then 5 sentences later you’re making dumb casually racist jokes about Eskimo ballplayers? har har har. Get the fuck out of here.
Then there’s the “casual racial bias” voters. The ones who say: “I couldn’t watch Straight Outta Compton, I don’t like that music, it’s too loud. ” …Really? LOUDER THAN YOUR FIFTH ROW CENTER SEAT AT THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA? Because that’s loud. No. What your saying has nothing to do LOUDNESS, you old liar. What you mean is it all sounds like NOISE to your antique ears. You just simply don’t want to hear it — (and by the way, does your TV not have any volume control?)
So that’s my idea of casual racial bias. It’s not :”Fuck no, I can’t stand black people.” …it’s just: “No Thank You! I cannot listen to the racket those black singers make.”
There are dozens of other Concrete Examples like this.
How do we know if an Oscar voter is so self-satisfied with her own comfy life that she cannot see how stupid she sounds when she tells her “Asian friend” that she doesn’t have the “credentials” to join the Academy?
The comfy casual racially biased Oscar lady will say some silly shit like this:
I don’t think ignoring ‘Straight Outta Compton’ or ‘Creed’ fall under the whole ‘casual comfy racial bias’ description. I am yet to meet someone with these two movies in their top five of 2015. And its not like they were appreciated and honoured everywhere except the academy. How do you decide who in the academy is racist and who is not. Are we so sure the new ones included in the academy are or will not be casually racist? I agree with you, The whole ‘Obama is President so there are no racists’ argument is so moronic. Ofcourse that dint solve the problem n issue at large here and people who expected that or still believe that are equally dumb and stupid. I am saying the studios and production companies and executives etc are ‘casually racist’. Deal with them. You cant say that the judges are unfair in any competition without participating. And demanding recognition for mediocre projects well because other mediocre projects are honoured as well from time to time is wrong on so so many levels( Nolan, Fincher, Linklater, PTA etc are yet to be honoured) . Precious, The help, 12 years a Slave etc have been recognized coz they were good movies and were appreciated greatly with rewards and awards.
Jordan and Del Toro won or were nominated for critics awards. Elba is nominated for every major acting award except the Oscar. Compton showed up on many of these lists too.
The implication at this point is that any acting winner isn’t really a worthy achievement, because there was not a fair and level playing field for everyone. It will be interesting to see if Rock renders the room uncomfortable for anyone recognized as well as the room in general. If it’s a bunch of jokes of all about how the whole thing is racist, what white actor is going to want to go up and receive an award for that? They will be representing the room’s white preferences.
I am looking forward to see how it goes.
Don’t worry, Rosa Parks, If The Revenant is your favorite movie nobody is going to force you to make The Revanant sit at the back of bus.
Furthermore, the ballots are anonymous, so nobody ever needs to know what movie you ranked first and what you ranked last.
So now you know: Nobody is going to “consider” anything you do as pushback, even if you write to tell everybody how you voted (in your imagination).
Having a favorite movie that is not Creed or The Big Short is not pushback.
Try reading this article again.
Pushback is when people try to tear a movie down. It’s not a hard concept to grasp.
So please stop worrying — unless you want to piss on Creed, nobody is going care what you do with your imaginary ballot.
The Blind Side and Extremely Loud got nominated for BP Oscars, so this merit talk is funny. There are other worse examples if you look through AMPAS history.
Let’s see – every Best Picture/Director/Actor/Actress/S.Actor & S. Actress selection this year of the New York Film Critics, the National Board of Review, the Los Angeles Film Critics, the New York Critics Online, the Boston Film Critics, the London Critics, the Las Vegas Film Critics and the Critics Choice Awards were all White. Where’s the outrage, boycotting, voting reform and membership witch-hunt for each of these organizations? Guess the ‘best’ clearly deserved appreciation from what critics know is ‘the best.’
I almost feel sorry for them until I realize most of them don’t employ poc or women (besides Pitt). If Rock is as scathing as some think he will be it’s going to be hard to be in that room.
I’m not pouting.
you can vote for more than one, more than one can get nominated, but aren’t you supposed to rank them?
Blind about what?
Although common sense tells us Will Smith wouldn’t have anticipated a nomination for Hancock, Hitch, Wild Wild West, Bad Boys 2, I Am Legend, or any of the cornucopia of mediocre flicks he’s been in, it’s not entirely impossible that Concussion was another matter in his and/or Jada’s mind, making this year different.
I liked the cover because they said “Us” meaning they are accepting their role in the lack of inclusion.
The backlash is the worst I’ve ever seen. I agree with you about the winners being tainted. I believe some nominees are even scared to show up.
I agree. They’re definitely pariahs this year. They’re probably all praying they don’t get their name called. Maybe some of them just won’t show.
Thanks for the reply, Alfredo. I see more what you mean now.
The population of the Untied States is 63% White. There will probably never be 37% of Oscar nominees who are non-White. (that would be roughly 1 of every 3, non-white… 2 of every 3, white)
Alfredo, I’m not looking for a set number of non-white nominees in any category in any year. Nobody in their might mind is asking for that.
It’s just this: We all know how we could have avoided this entire mess this year.
If only 1 out of the 20 acting nominees had not been white. There would’ve still been grumbling (rightfully so), but just 1 or 2 nonwhite faces would have prevented all this turmoil.
Doesn’t even matter who (although my top hopes would have been for Abraham Attah, Benicio del Toro, Idris Elba, Mya Taylor, Michael B Jordan — in no particular order)
if any 1 or maybe 2 of those (or any of 10 other great options had been nominated, none of this would be happening.
To the Oscars voters who are now wailing and crying like spoiled brats:
You brought this on yourselves. All you had to do was watch Beasts of No Nation or Tangerine. But nah, you had to all swarm all over Trumbo, didn’t ya?
So welcome to the mess you made, Oscar voters. Several hundred of you fucked it up for all the others. Now get out of the way while smarter people try to fix things.
(Alfredo, your English is perfect. If I misunderstood your full meaning, that’s my fault.)
Who would want to win an Oscar this year? The only story history will remember is the backlash. I know a lot of people of every race who can’t even tell you who won last year. Any nominee/winner is going to be subject to bad publicity. The all Caucasian smiling winners circle pictures will be mocked all over social media.
There should be inclusion for people who are not straight Caucasian males. I completely agree with Duvernay. We have to remember that at its core Hollywood is just a good ol’ boys clubs no matter what face they put on.
I touched on this when I said: “Nobody cares about that but Jada.”
You’re an expert in willful blindness.
I think one answer to this question is to look at the larger context. In the same way that today’s award nominee possibilities are limited due to the state of the industry (as many people have noted), so to the original state of the industry when the Academy was created was also limited by people’s understanding of what “counts” as excellence.
Why hadn’t more vaudeville players of color risen up to become movie executives the way so many white vaudeville players had? How is it that so many European immigrants and their descendants were able to build huge studio lots out there in Southern California on what had originally been Native American land?
I don’t expect Mayer and the other founders of the academy to have had the same social consciousness that we can see today. But looking back, we shouldn’t pretend like there were no people of color who were there. We should admit that they were there and had already been erased. And all the rules that the white folks dreamed up already had that erasure built into them as premises, and assured that the erasure continued as long as possible. And what TODAY’s academy is trying to say is that it’s no longer possible and no longer acceptable.
Great. Another guy who’s mad about Black History Month.
Great article Sasha. I’m personally not a fan of the Variety cover, I find it pandering and, embarrassing. Change is desperately needed to reinvigorate the AMPAS membership to have the types of open minds to give opportunities to the non-status quo performers and films. The push back we’re seeing now is going to get worse over the next couple of weeks. The four winners in the acting categories will have their wins tainted by the mug slinging this year, and ironically, I’m glad my favorite actor has been tossed aside to the back burner in this mess. He deserves to be recognized in a less volatile year. :/
I’m going to see The Big Short this weekend to judge for myself if it will be the film to beat the overhyped Spotlight. I’m sure Chris Rock is up to the task to host the Oscars, but I don’t envy him one bit. They need him more than he needs that gig.
I’m in full agreement, Jacob.
Hopefully this is the year when we can please stop saying “Best Screenplay! Best Director!” every time we hear Tarantino is ready to write down another one of his sick fetishes.
Ryan, I’m imagining some of the studio bosses are reading this and thinking: “I want us to go back to the original rules!” LOL!
That makes sense. I guess I imagine them teaming up with at least one person that still knows how it’s done. Maybe one of the studio bosses that visits them once a year during campaign season?
Having seen the H8ful Eight, I wouldn’t have nominated it for anything except maybe Jennifer Jason Leigh.
For me the movie was nauseatingly contrived, and perhaps even more nauseatingly violent.
Sorry if my ideas are not 100% clear. English is not my native language. Maybe it’s not a high number of nominees but compared as before 1985 it’s much more. Surely is not the amount that most would want but comparing to the complete history of the award I think there was a progress.
My point, in part, is that having two years with no minorities in acting categories (not saying director because Iñarritu is there) for me is not big deal if we consider years where minorities have been nominated and also won.
I want to know, giving an example, what would a fair year. At least 1 of 5 nominees in each category is black or latino? 2 of 5? if one black or latino gave a good performance, this actor would have more chances over white actors becuase he is black?
Are we giving recognition for the work alone or do we check which race the actor is before analyzing the work?
It’s tiresome to hear lame remarks. As if it’s impossible to vote for The Revenant and Creed BOTH. We try to have a serious discussion and there’s always somebody trying to reduce the issue to childish pouting.
“I dont think academy is racist.”
The Academy isn’t racist. An unknown number of members are though.
Obama is President. Does that mean there are no racists in America?
If you don’t think a handful of racists in an otherwise fair-minded group are a problem, I direct your attention to supporters of Donald Trump.
Besides, it’s not hateful racism we’re talking about. It’s casual comfy racial bias.
I’m starting to think you’re right. Maybe they never should’ve created these Oscars to begin with.
“the Academy is forced to nominate him or his wife will call for a boycott.”
That’s not quite what happened.
Anyway, the Academy has failed to nominate Will Smith for approx 20 of his movies over the years and it never prompted Smiths to boycott before. This should tell you there are other reasons this year.
Since 1985 there have been 68 nominations for black, latin or asian people for director and actors categories. I really don’t understand that outrage about the Academy.”
I’m going to trust your count of 68 is correct.
That means 91% of nominees in those 5 categories have been white.
Pretty much a match with the disproportionate 94% of Oscar voters who are white.
(why are we counting from 1985? Let’s play again and this time do all 88 unfair years. Non-white people existed in Los Angeles prior to 1985.
“When the awards began in 1929, and they were just creating the academy, I’m curious to know, who was supposed to create the academy, and who was supposed to “write the rules” at that point?”
The rules of membership in the Academy have changed a dozen times over the years. They have changed with changing times. As they should. That’s normal. Why would an off-the-cuff rule first written in 1927-’28 still be enforced today?
Rules? Here’s how the rules worked in 1928, the first Oscars.
1. Louis B Mayer organized the Academy in order to try to keep employees from unionizing. Mayer invented the Oscars.
2. Mayer put a dozen hand-picked people together in one room and they discussed who should win Best Director. They chose King Vidor. They called up King Vidor and told him that he won.
2a. (some say that there were only 4 people who decided the first winners (Doug Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Sid Grauman, Joe Schenck – with Mayer hovering over them.)
3. Middle of the night, Mayer heard who was winning Best Director and he rushed to the meeting room.
4. Mayer hated King Vidor’s movie because it showed a toilet in one of the shots, and he thought the movie was overall too bleak and depressing (It was a masterpiece called The Crowd)
5. So they had to call King Vidor back: “Sorry. You’re not winning after all. Mayer doesn’t want you to win. Better luck next time.” (There never was a next time for Vidor.)
6. Frank Borzage won Best Director for 7th Heaven. Because Louis B Mayer thought it was uplifting, and that’s what Mayer wanted the award that he invented to do: be uplifting.
Academy Rules? They change the rules to suit the circumstances. They always have. They’ve been changing the rules for 88 years and one oft these days maybe they will get it right.
I think that’s how many people feel about it. Tired. Who’s tiresome?
Jada obviously did. The sour grapes have been pouring out of her ever since that morning. To deny this is just wilfull blindness.
To me, Idris was in a film that didn’t have the same opportunities. NOT because of the ethnicity; but because the film did not have the push to be seen by nearly enough members. How many people could walk down to their local cinema and see the film? Not nearly enough. Not nearly enough members were even aware of the film. On the one hand yes, that says something about the academy members; on the other hand, it’s no different from an endless number of titles in the past decade that have not been pushed out in front enough to get people to see the film. It’s not an issue of race.
“I’m tired.”
You’re tiresome.
“Somebody please admit, that at least a portion of this entire issue was
brought up because completely and utterly entitled Will Smith was not
nominated”
Nope. Nobody I know gives a shit that Will Smith was not nominated and that includes the 10 million people I know on Twitter. I never saw one tweet that said: “What?! No Will Smith?!”
Nobody cares about that but Jada. I doubt even Will himself cares.
Let me ask you: who was supposed to “write the rules to begin with”?
When the awards began in 1929, and they were just creating the academy, I’m curious to know, who was supposed to create the academy, and who was supposed to “write the rules” at that point?
I’m definitely curious to get your take on this.
Sorry, we can’t do that.
Field of Dreams is a far better fantasy film than Driving Miss Daisy is a comedic drama film. Let’s be careful about what we’re shuttling out of the rotation. I know; Field of Dreams is WHITE though. If you build it, sowhite.
Doesn’t it?
So, if I loved Revenant, if i felt it was the best work of cinematic art of year, my vote for Revenant is considered pushback, because I didn’t vote for Creed.
i’m tired.
that’s being completely presumptuous on your part. What you’re saying is exactly what Ellen said at the Oscars; “Either you vote for 12 years a slave as best picture or you’re all racists”.
What’s different?
“I can’t imagine that 6,000 people watched Hateful Eight and didn’t nominate it”
Right. Keep telling yourself that. Tell yourself that Tarantino has a new movie out and all the people who would vote for it would skip watching it.
Redic.
That was not a suggestion . what i am trying to say is boycotting is not a solution. If the people who have issue with their work being ignored discuss & raise the issue with the studios and production companies not with the academy.Its not a quota system. Shaming someone for something that is not their fault is extremely wrong and disgusting . I dont think academy is racist. Two great Mexican auteurs and a great asian director deservedly won major awards in the last few years.
Let’s be real. Somebody please admit, that at least a portion of this entire issue was brought up because completely and utterly entitled Will Smith was not nominated, and his completely and utterly entitled wife Jada started complaining loudly about it.
I feel kind of bad for DiCaprio. Clearly he’s part of the problem, right? I mean, he was nominated for his totally WHITE film. The one with just about zero females in it, zero ethnical diversity (at least we haven’t heard an Native American backlash that not enough American Indians were hired for that film, or that the RIGHT Native Americans were hired, etc), and he’s ground zero for who is going to win during this WHITE Oscars. His picture is right there whenever the 20 are shown as the culprits for all this.
Did you not like Ray’s direction?
It is kind of funny that a film with such a layered, thought provoking discussion of race, is NOT a part of this discussion. And that the “Lincoln Letter”, which turns various characters on a dime in that film, has so much to say about race in America, and yet nobody is mentioning it, except Spike Lee for crying out loud.
Yeah, that’s a fantastic solution isn’t it, now have all the ethnic folks refuse to watch movies that have caucasians in them. Don’t watch Revanant. Don’t watch Big Short. Don’t watch Spotlight. Don’t watch Room. Don’t watch Carol. Don’t watch Bridge of Spies.
Jesus this whole thing is stupid.
Ops. After last details revealed it seems this Nate Parker is no more the guy you’d like to root for. That’s what happens when you idolize someone you don’t know. Awful story.
So
Cannes?
I kid
Michael B. Jordan won the Forestieri. Seriously. He was so far and away the best leading perfromance by a male in a Hollywood picture.
Hunnam?!?! I hope he doesn’t have to get all fat for the role…mi papi Charlie.
The Academy give away their prejudice by not recognising POC but recognising white actors and filmmakers in films by or about POC. Creed and SOC have two nomination. Guess what colour they are.
Voting freely means they can show their prejudiced. The Academy is not sacred of the talent being diluted, what you and they are really scared of is that purity of the Academy’s make might be diluted by admitting more women, POC and gays. As usual white men have give up their monopoly and privilege kicking and screaming.
You’re comparing NAACP Image Awards to the Oscars? There reason NAACP exists is most down to fact that they are not recognised for awards like the Oscars.
I’m surprised that no one has brought up the NAACP Image Awards. These awards only nominate people of color (notice nobody is screaming racism that whites aren’t allowed in their awards system), and this year they had a shit selection. For Best Actress and Best Actor, they nominated the leads from the atrocious ‘The Perfect Guy’ which has a 5.4 rating on imdb, 21% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 36% on Metacritic. This is proof that black actors and actresses aren’t being considered for good roles as much, because if they did, you wouldn’t see the Perfect Guy receive any nominations, especially for Best Acting.
Thank you.
Ok, let me share something that I’m sure you already know. Since 1985 there have been 68 nominations for black, latin or asian people for director and actors categories. I really don’t understand that outrage about the Academy. It’s obvious that the problem is the lack of good roles and opportunities for minorities in Hollywood. If, from 500 films released in one year only 10 has good roles for minorities, the Academy cannot be forced to choose from those 10 only because there are minorities there.
Also, the Smiths are pathetic. Will Smith has a good performance in years and the Academy is forced to nominate him or his wife will call for a boycott. Really?
Cheers from Perú!
But really only Elba kinda got snubbed. He was never a lock. He was always a fringe possible nominee. He was left out because his film was made my Netflix not because he is black. Michael B Jordan was not snubbed. He was never gonna get nominated. Straight Outta Compton wasn’t snubbed either. It was in the same boat as Sicario, Inside Out, Star Wars, etc.
Wonderful article, Sasha! I agree with every single word. Thank God there are someone like you covering the awards season in its depths. And let the changes happen! God knows we need it.
It’s the last year the Academy members can vote freely. I hope they take the chance to go full cinema, giving the big prize to The Revenant or at least Mad Max. We’ll have plenty of message movie winners from next year, plenty of major snubs to include politically correct candidates. Oscar’s magic is fading, it’s all about politics already.
It’s not like the Academy doesn’t like films about and by POC and the prove is that they have nominated both SOC and Creed. They do actually recognise films by and about POC, it’s just that they recognise the white actors and filmmakers in those films.
In this whole mess with naive people forgetting that all the celebrities speaking against the Oscars clearly have personal vendetta I kind of agree with Whoopi Goldberg. She said if you are so upset about being snubbed at oscars stop watching the movies without African American actors the whole year instead of bitching only at the end of the year or the so called snubbed celebrities (The Smiths) have production companies and they can make good movies with African American cast and crew. You simply cannot give awards for work that is not there. Boycotting Oscars wont help. Boycott the studios and the Big guys if you have the balls. Lets see how dedicated these guys are to the cause.
‘I loved this site but now I find myself hesitant to click awards daily on my most visited tab because I know it’s gonna be the same shit.’
You think it’s Awards Daily that’s at fault? Or could it be that Sasha’s only reflecting a genuine reality that exists for so many, bringing attention to a topic that NEEDS the same shit written about it time after time because, otherwise, it’ll just wither away as the 94% white Academy keeps pulling THE SAME SHIT year after year.
I step outside my fron door every day and it’s the same shit for me. The same stares, the same under-the-breath remarks, the same shouts of “gay” and “faggot” on a crowded street and the same total lack of concern from everybody else on that crowded street. The same shit will keep happening every day in the same shitty way unless something is done about it. Sasha’s doing something about it, tirelessly writing articles that not only keep bringing attention to a very important cause but that also keep a roof over her head, and her daughter’s head, and Ryan’s head, and ofc little Taji’s head. I’ll be here to both read and support this same shit every day. If you don’t wanna read it, don’t. You can fuck off to Hollywood-Elsewhere, though I must warn you – it’s the same shit over there every day too, only of a very different nature…
fuck this
Love your point about ‘the club’. The only thing that makes me feel comfortable about these rules changes (aside from the hope that they’ll have a positive impact) is that they were instigated by a woman of colour. But otherwise, yep, it does feel like a rather self-congratulatory move by a bunch of heterosexual white cismales expecting to be applauded for simply moving with the times, and considerably too late as well! Apart from the hundreds of members who are likely just outraged.
I get what you’re saying about how easy it’d be to meet the eligibility requirements, but I’m not so certain. There are many members who haven’t worked in decades and don’t know anyone who’s worked for decades either, and would likely find it very difficult (what with the limited talent they possess anyway) to find work in the industry today, competing with people who are more familiar with its procedures rn.
honestly I didn’t even get through the article because I kept seeing pushback over and over. This season has become a bore. Too much politics for something not that serious. There are bigger fish to fry in this world than who gets chosen to play a part and who doesn’t or who gets nominated. A black man is the central character of the highest grossing film of all time in the United States but no one mentions that or the fact that a huge corporation like Disney made that decision. && Sasha I find it ridiculous that you bang on your chest as if you are such a huge advocate for minorities. You sure talk about em enough but if I remember correctly your fervor was palpable for Paul Dano but not so much Idris Elba in the supporting actor category. You spoke of him but at some point you quit. && I’m not being rude whatsoever it’s just become too much. I loved this site but now I find myself hesitant to click awards daily on my most visited tab because I know it’s gonna be the same shit. Skin color that, black people weren’t nominated, where are all the blacks? Jeez as if they’re the only underrepresented minority in the academy. Whatever happened to discussing films as art and entertainment? Filmmaking is an art not a political debate. The sooner you people realize that the better off you’ll be. Until then you’re gonna continue to see the world as black and white and honestly that’s not how I live my life nor would want to. oh and one more thing I’ve seen every film that qualifies as a “black driven” film that should’ve or could’ve been nominated and out of them I think Tangerines’ Mya Taylor is the only worthy one who SHOULD HAVE been nominated but of course the academy wasn’t going to go for that. Todd Haynes being passed over was a joke also but oh wait this is about people’s skin color right? If that’s it I should stop now, but Oscar Isaac did great work in Ex-Machina as did Benicio Del Toro in Sicario and Cary Fukunaga did an exceptional job too. He’s going to find himself nominated sooner or later. Point being is inclusivity should be what you’re fighting for but your opinion has become so muddied when you say things like “The Big Short and Mad Max were the only two films w speaking roles for black people”. I mean that says it all, you have been and only speak about that one minority. && before anyone thinks I’m some racist white person think again, I’m Guatemalan and I’m gay. How’s that for a minority? Just my two cents.
Ryan has made this distinction before, but it’s worth repeating. The Academy is not necessarily racist, but its members reflect their racial bias. As Rod Lurie wrote in his Hollywood Reporter piece: ”I ran into several of my fellow Academy members at Art’s Deli. All men, all 70 or older, all white. Each but one said they didn’t even bother watching F. Gary Gray’s terrific ‘Straight Outta Compton.’ The one who had seen it dismissed it with a wave of the hand. “Too loud for me,” he said. “I didn’t make it all the way through.” I believe the kinds of movies that get Academy support are directly connected to the fact that the organization is dominated by one generational demographic. … That means that while the Academy might support historically minded or socially liberal films about the black experience – films like the great ’12 Years a Slave’ or ‘Precious’ or ‘Ray’ – you can forget them getting behind a film about modern black culture, like ‘Compton.”’
Oscar voters don’t seem to realize why a 94% white Academy is not exactly a level playing field. …
Academy voters don’t want to be called racist. But when they’ve come up with an all-white slate of actors TWO years in a row, how is that slate any different than one put up by ”real” racists?
Also offensive: When white people win Oscars, it’s ”obviously” for merit. But when people of color can’t even get nominated, it’s because they’re not ”deserving.” And when they dare speak up about a system that’s shortchanged them for decades, Oscar voters now claim THEY’RE the victims.
Inclusivity. Inclusive. Including. All great words. I agree wholeheartedly with Ava. It’s a mantra; a creed, an approach. That’s all it would be, And that would be a lot!
(I always upvote comments that say how right I am) (Thanks, Buster)
that typo is my fault, so it’s me who needs to thank you, unlikelyhood.
“…when you’re dealing with an award with a finite number of nominees doesn’t including one film automatically require the exclusion of another?
I’m going to present a helpful way to look at this question.
Because sometimes it’s good to stop speaking in the abstract and use concrete examples.
For example, yes, you are right:
In 1992 we might NOT nominate Scent of a Woman for Best Picture in order to nominate Malcolm X
In 1989 we might have to deny Field of Dreams for Best Picture in order to nominate Do the Right Thing.
Are either of those two Alternate History scenarios that heartbreaking to white people?
Now please consider this:
Straightt Outta Compton and Beasts of No Nation could BOTH have been nominated for Best Picture this year and NO other movie that DID get nominated would have to be excluded.
Fruitvale Station could have been nominated in 2014 and and NO other movie that DID get nominated would have to be excluded.
End of Watch could have been nominated in 2013 and and NO other movie that DID get nominated would have to be excluded.
Take a look at those examples. Now who wants to argue with me about “quality” and “deserves” and “worthy”?
Sasha – friendly correction – “The resentment from the white community is palpable: they make it clear that they like people of color infringing on their territory” should be “The resentment from the white community is palpable: they make it clear that they don’t like people of color infringing on their territory”
Other than that, thanks for fighting the good fight. And also next year maybe advocate for the Jordans and Attahs higher on the “predicted” list – I think your expectations affect voters.
Ryan makes a great point here. Nobody would’ve been offended if Elba was snubbed, or if Coogler had been snubbed, or if Jordan had snubbed, etc. When ALL of them get snubbed, however, it’s pretty fishy. There’s no shame in losing a coin flip….when you lose 12 coin flips in a row, something ain’t right.
Of course the Oscars are a bit of a zero-sum game. Even if the Academy decides to return to a hard 10 Best Picture nominees and possibly add slots to the acting categories, only x amount of films and performances can get nominated. DuVernay is focusing on the tenor of the discourse. The conversation of change doesn’t need to take on a strident, Highlander-y “There can only be one!” tone.
Oscar TV rights are the Academy’s primary source of income. My guess is that advertisers let them know they don’t like being associated with a program believed by many to be racist. Why should they? There are plenty of other good ways for them to advertise.
“She wants to be clear that no artist seeks to replace another or want to take anything away from anyone’s achievements. She doesn’t like to hear change phrased in ways that tears down great films just because they might revolve around white characters. ”
That sounds great, but when you’re dealing with an award with a finite number of nominees doesn’t including one film automatically require the exclusion of another?
“Hollywood is changing”
Charles Hunnum just got cast as a Mexican drug lord
Joseph Fiennes just got cast as Michael Jackson
Cary Fukunaga was the biggest snub for me. I thought BONN would be this year BOTSW and would receive the same kind of love (although Zeitlin is white..hmmm could that be it?).
Ps. Also thought Mya Taylor was great.
Oscar campaigns are called “campaigns” for a reason. They are political. People with money and power influencing people’s votes with pubic relations, ass kissing and booze. The movies are never judged merely on their merits alone, never. And the politics begin well before a film’s premier and well before it is even filmed. Whites are privileged every step of the way. That’s politics. Films are saturated with politics before they are even pitched.
“is the outrage due to Idris Elba’s snub? or Compton not getting in best picture? coogler not best
director? What other major awards did people honestly expect films with black artists in it to get nominated for?”
It’s not only about black actors and it’s not only about black filmmakers.
First of all, nobody on this site ever said Will Smith should get an Oscar nomination.
Benicio Del Toro is BAFTA nominated for Sicario and he’s won or been nominated by many other groups this year.
Cary Fukunaga has 3 Spirit Awards nominations (producer, director, cinematographer), he won at the Venice Film Festival.
Michael B Jordan and Ryan Coogler have both been nominated and won awards for Creed.
Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor gave performances as good or better than some of this year’s white actress nominees.
F. Gary Gray – director, Straight Outta Compton
Abraham Attah – Beasts of No Nation
or
Teyonah Parris – Chi-Raq
or
Phylicia Rashad or Tessa Thompson – sup. actress, Creed
that’s a dozen good options.
can we not even get ONE of them?
it’s not even all about race.
Carol is regarded by dozens of distinguished groups as THE BEST movie of 2015. What’s a gay director like Todd Haynes have to do get nominated? Direct a Gay Lawrence of Arabia? (oh, wait)
I saw the Danish girl tonight and there certainly doing something about the transgender community. I thought tdg was great and I’m not homosexual, i’m straight but I certainly thought it was a thoughtful entertaining piece of cinema and had a important message to see about art and people of transgender types. I give it 4 stars.
the boycott is a outrage. i’m glad the academy is doing something about diversity in Hollywood for next year, nominate all the black nominees you want but could we please sit back and relax and enjoy the academy honoring the achievements in cinema this year accept the fact that there are only white nominees, see what chris rock does as host and the academy president says at the ceremony.
Great article Sasha! You’re right that we’ve all got a lot of work still to do to get us there.
What’s struck me this week is how many times I’ve heard people say “they’re changing the rules”, apparently without any recognition that the rules were all written by white men to begin with. That’s where the real struggle will be. Not just letting women and people join “the club” when the gatekeepers approve, but completely changing the way the club works so that it can become “all of our” club.
The other thing that strikes me about the backlash regarding academy member’s voting privileges, in particular, is the way that people’s anger is so hot that they can’t see how easy it would be to meet the requirements.The loopholes are enormous! Get yourself cast in just one movie, and you can vote for a decade! Pool your resources, and all your buddies can be safe for a decade too! But they can’t see those practical solutions at this point for some reason. They just know they’re mad.
That variety cover is sick!
Also, there’s a FYC poster on this page for Mad Max that feature Furiosa wearing sunglasses and holding an umbrella. Unless I’m losing it.
i completely agree with you thats its a Hollywood issue rather than an oscar issue but i guess people need a scapegoat and wt better than the oscars to aim at even if it is slightly misleading to the much bigger Industry issues that have always been there and i don’t get why all these people are suddenly realizing it now.
Might have been said before, but I’m sorry- is the outrage due to Idris Elba’s snub? or Compton not getting in best picture? coogler not best director? What other major awards did people honestly expect films with black artists in it to get nominated for? Will Smith Concussion? But I don’t remember much hype or people saying he’s gotta get in.
For every one snubbed that I mentioned, there’s Paul Dano, Michael Keaton, …Ridley Scott / Speilberg in director, Carol or even Sicario or Inside out for best picture… Tarantino / Sorkin for writing… all non-blacks who were also left out.
I get it the industry would be way way better off with more balance, and more people of color in powerful positions / directors / studio heads, and better roles offered to lead black actors/actresses ,etc..
But I dont see how this should be such an Oscar issue, if anything it’s an industry issue and people are just boycotting/attacking the oscars since it’s the industry’s main “final” event of the season. But to me, really…the nominee list is fine. For every black name left out, there’s a white name that should have got in just as much, like those I mentioned (Paul Dano for supporting especially! c’mon! ) 🙂