Minorities shut out of acting nominations |
| The headline of the Contra Costa Times (SF Bay Area) says it all. |
IT'S IRONIC that the nomination for the 2015 Academy Awards were announced on Martin Luther King's birthday. The civil rights hero might be turning over in his grave about now.
Based on a 2012 report by the Los Angeles Times, of the nearly 7,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, 94 percent are white, 77 percent are male and 86 percent are age 50 or older. The Academy is the perfect example of institutional racism that builds upon itself year after year, decade after decade, until it becomes so ingrained that it's impossible to undo because the very culture that perpetuates the racism doesn't even know its existence.
That might explain the snubs of some the actors and crew that worked on THE minority film of the year, the critically acclaimed Selma. The movie did get a Best Picture nod, but not its director Ava DuVernay, nor its star, David Oyelowo, who portrayed Dr. Martin Luther King.
Oh, for the sake of diversity, the Academy did nominate the song from Selma, "Glory" by John Legend and rapper Common so we will see some faces of color on the Red Carpet this year.
Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy, responded to the criticism for the lack of diversity. The academy president, who is African American, said the voting results points out the need to hasten the academy's drive for more inclusiveness and diversity. The outreach to women and artists of color is a major focus of the academy, she said.
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African Americans were not the only ones shut out of the nominations, there weren't any Latinos either, who because of their coloring are allowed to play a wider range of roles. So the largest minority group in the country have no one representing them. Certainly, there were zero Asian or Asian American movies or actors nominated.It's a white industry, it just is
Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy, responded to the criticism for the lack of diversity. The academy president, who is African American, said the voting results points out the need to hasten the academy's drive for more inclusiveness and diversity. The outreach to women and artists of color is a major focus of the academy, she said.
Although the majority of the Academy is made up of old, white men, the real culprit is the lack of movies featuring minority characters. I know I write about all the productions featuring Asians and that might seem like a lot, but of the hundreds of films released in America in 2014, only a handful could be classified as "minority" productions. Of the thousands of movie roles in those motion pictures, significant roles played by minority actors can be counted on one hand.
The Academy could only choose from the movies that were released theatrically in 2014, therefore, the choice of minority productions and actors were rather slim. Increase the production of so-called minority films, or give more work to minority actors would widen the pool.
However, the likelihood of increasing the number of so-called minority films are not good considering the attitude of studio honchos as revealed by the hacked emails of Sony executives that included some racist remarks. If the Sony decision-makers are typical of other studio heads, then the future looks dim.
(A couple of observations here: The Sony executive whose emails were hacked, Amy Pascal, still has her job; and can't the Japanese-owned company institute some diversity practices?)
The Asian Pacific American Media Coalition said the responsibility for diversity should be industry-wide. In a statement, the coalition said:
"It behooves Hollywood -as an economic imperative, if not a moral one - to begin more closely reflecting changing face of America."
Boone agreed and said, she hopes the Academy "continues to make strides towards becoming a more diverse and inclusive organisation, we hope the film industry will also make strides toward becoming more diverse and inclusive."
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| Yellow characters may have hurt The Lego Movie's chances for an Oscar. |
(A couple of observations here: The Sony executive whose emails were hacked, Amy Pascal, still has her job; and can't the Japanese-owned company institute some diversity practices?)
The Asian Pacific American Media Coalition said the responsibility for diversity should be industry-wide. In a statement, the coalition said:
"It behooves Hollywood -as an economic imperative, if not a moral one - to begin more closely reflecting changing face of America."
Boone agreed and said, she hopes the Academy "continues to make strides towards becoming a more diverse and inclusive organisation, we hope the film industry will also make strides toward becoming more diverse and inclusive."
Selma supporters were not the only ones unhappy with the Oscar nominations this year. Makers of The Lego Movie were sorely disappointed that their production didn't get nominated for an award in the animation category. If only they had painted their Lego characters white.
Oscar's diversity problem explained in two minutes in the video below produced by Vox.com
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