I remember when Spike Lee was accused of anti-Semitism as displayed in his film, "'Mo Better Blues," with the depiction of shylocks "Moe and Josh Flatbush," but Lee objected, stating that since "Hollywood is run by Jews," he could not get any anti-Semitic content through the studios.
Later, Mr. Lee added a Jewish detective to his film,
"BlackKkKlansman," stating that, "“Jewish people are No. 2 on the list as far as the Klan goes. "
I suppose Lee learned something during his rise to fame and wealth. Perhaps not to see people as stereotypes.
If so, despite our prevalent PC culture, perhaps Mr. Lee could pass on his learning to modern day Brooklyn, from his Upper East Side home, since anti-Semitism is again on the rise.
3
The Oscars were literally founded as a PR event to boost ticket sales. Of course they aren't more than that. Coupled with Hollywood's special exemptions from EEOC laws in the 60's, it's resulted in fanciful, ridiculous dreck from the industry, even when they are doing their "best" work. I'd say the awards don't matter, except they do. Irish film historian Mark Cousins dismissed American studio films as "the shiny bauble." Awards or not, not all these people are going to be Varda or DuVernay, but in the long run if we don't fund the portrayal of reality in our films (dependent on silliness like the Oscars) we aren't going to have much of a cinema. The nearest gauge of actual film merit that exists is the national film registry.
2
It is now time to mandate that X number of nominations must go to non-white males in all categories. Since all that seems to matter to the Times and other “woke” publications is race and gender, let’s just pander to that. Since the Oscars are a joke anyway, let’s make totally irrelevant.
4
The greatest director in film history, Stanley Kubrick, never won a BEST DIRECTOR Oscar. Why? It's a very simple answer: He was not part of the "Hollywood Establishment". They break their arms patting themselves on the back. People like George Clooney. That kind of Hollywood Establishment. Steve McQueen was not part of it, either. When he presented an award once, it was all because they asked him to (politely).Perhaps the most iconic actor of the latter 20th Century, McQueen was nominated once; for "Best Supporting Actor" in "The Sand Pebbles"; however, he could have cared less. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
4
This right here is why the PC culture is receiving push back & rejection. How about not worrying about race, gender, etc and award deserving people. Period. Some years may be more POC & some years not. Just keep it real.
8
'Sal, how come you ain't got no pictures of any brothers on the wall? Buggin Out
' If you want some pictures of any brothers on the wall, then get your own restaurant? Sal
' I don't see no Italian Americans in your restaurant' Buggin Out
from ' Do The Right Thing" by Sheldon Lee aka Spike.
2
Barbara Stanwyck never won an Oscar, Greta Garbo and Judy Garland never did...and many more. I'll stop there.
The Oscars ceased to have any relevance for me years and years ago.
It is a publicity event. It raises the ante on a performer, work or product of the movie business. Period.
Unless you're in, you're out.
It's like high school...the cool kids decide if your life and work is good enough. If it's not, you are shown the door until their #whitesands shift.
When enough talented people of color and genders walk away and make their own Big Cool Event the Oscar cool kids will be downtown looking for YOU scratching their heads wondering what happened to their racist, bigoted, illegal class system.
Walk away. Quit watching that boring show with that tortuous format.
There are books to read and real creative minds to connect with.
3
Perhaps they could set up a parallel "diversity" set of awards, where no nominee could be a white male. "The award for best diverse director goes to..." So guaranteeing at least half of the awards each year would go to people other than white men.
5
Perhaps the only way to satisfy minority filmmakers is to guarantee---let's see, how should we go about this---that not only is a minority-made film always nominated, but that a minority-made film wins on a regular schedule. This is where it gets tricky---how often is enough?
The important thing: Everybody gets a trophy.
2
I think the hashtag should be #OscarsSoMale. Seems like as in many aspects of American society, racial minorities have made more progress in Hollywood than women.
1
A female relative directed some movies years ago. I saw all of them. And they weren't that great.
And a few reviewers pointed out the flaws--pedantic, wooden script, etc.
But most bent over backwards to find things to praise--it's what led me to avoid anything described as lyrical--simply because the woman was a director.
It's the same impulse that led a Times columnist to call for an Oscar for JLo in Hustlers.
Movable standards in the name of inclusivity means Oscars that are really participation trophies. Maybe some think that's a move forward, but it's not going to foster respect.
5
Spike Lee said: "It’s been a battle from the beginning: Hattie McDaniel, Sidney Poitier."
^ Mr. Lee makes a valid point about how the Academy always has been resistant to change. It was extraordinarily difficult for even McDaniel and Poitier to win their much-deserved Oscars.
However, Lee's comment also inadvertently reinforces the tiresome narrative that noteworthy black artistry in cinema begins with McDaniel winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1939 and Poitier winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1964.
It is dispiriting to note how our Baby Boomer-centric culture ignores any black actors who were famous prior to 1946 when the Baby Boomer generational cohort (born 1946 to 1964) was hatched. When one reads The New York Times, one mostly reads about McDaniel, Poitier, etc., since those are the artists with whom the Boomer readership is familiar.
It appears the pre-Boomer world of American cinema where Evelyn Preer, Paul Robeson, Nina Mae McKinney, and others were major box office stars has been entirely forgotten due to Boomer myopia. Will this forgotten world ever be rediscovered? Perhaps, but only after the Boomer generation has died out and another generation more curious about the past rewrites this false narrative.
3
Here’s another red herring article.
Why don’t you write about the racial make-up if those who own Hollywood’s movie studios?
Answer: 100% White?
1
Sophistry and barely concealed reverse bigotry of the first order.
9
Interesting discussion, but I think it omits 2 important points. The first is that movie critics have a big impact on narrowing down the slate of films that are considered Oscar-worthy. A recent USC study showed that 78% of movie critics are male and 82% white, statistics that certainly impact reviews and potential nominees. Second, the comments assume that race and gender are the only factors other than artistic quality that influence Academy Award members votes. Anyone who has ever read the Hollywood Reporter’s “Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot” stories knows that a myriad of other factors, also having nothing to do with the quality of a movie - who has or has not won before, the production company, the genre of the film, etc. - influence members’ votes. I appreciate the call for more diversity in movies and awards, but changing the membership of the academy won’t remove it from the broader world. Nor will it stop those voting members from ignoring quality and making really bad choices.
1
Wait till it comes out on Netflix!!!!
Nonsense, hashtags don't change industries and Hollywood had already changed.
The inconvenient truth is that most white people prefer to look at movies with white leads, and minority people prefer to look at movies with leads that look like them. In this regard, multiculturalism fails. We identify more with people who look like us. I am sure Netflix can confirm this by analyzing people watching patterns.
Oscars are so white because more people in the western wolrd want to see movies with the blonde blue-eyed lead.
No amount of forcing and coercing will change what people
spent their money to watch.
9
@European in NY I'm not sure why anyone feels guilty about this since despite talking about"people of color" Blacks are the largest and most powerful minority in the US and when given clout definitely don't give much thought to promoting more invisible minorities. Also, it says 82% if leads are white. Whites make up 70% of the population. Not that much of over representation. Unlike the NBA. Also Blacks aren't underrepresented in film. Hispanics and Asians are though. So why do all these articles revolve around the most represented minority?
4
Speak for yourself as a white person who prefers to watch movies with white leads with blonde hair and blue eyes. People of colour have been watching films and TV shows with white leads for decades. Us simply asking that we see ourselves represented AS WELL is a problem for you. Interesting.
1
Let's drill down here. According to the woke, the best way to fight racism is by promoting racist thinking to advance a psycological perspective of reality in which we focus on a persons race or gender instead of their individual creativity and positive contributions to the world?
And in the process let's accuse the majority of being racists even though most are good decent functional humans just trying to survive & live a good life. Add in all the mixed marriages and other factors that objectively prove that racism, at least in America, just isn't as bad as many people claim it to be.
The people I know who've traveled extensively all over the world tell me the USA is one of the least racist countries on Earth. 40 years of anti-white, anti-male, anti-facts identity politics is literally the root cause of the division in the USA. It took the place of rational debate about policy in trade for endless cultural issues, ultimately compelling the swing voter to reject woke style Liberalism.
Without individual merit at the top of the list, without a commitment to being color blind, Trump and the GOP media will make sure Liberals and Progressives never sway enough voters to hand over power.
The hard reality here is that as dysfunctional as Conservative idelogically can be, at least their profiling is based upon reason, such as defending law enforcement instead of subjugation to PC concepts in which police should welcome having their lives threatened by criminals as one example.
4
It constantly amazes me that Hollywood seems to want everyone else in this country to play by social norms Hollywood itself seems incapable of embracing. What a pretentious bunch of overpaid, self-congratulatory hypocrites. Oh, and then there's Harvey Weinstein.
3
The Oscars already have separate awards for actors and actresses, so the obvious solution to the problems raised in this article is to have separate awards for best black actor/actress, best black male director and female director, best latin actor/actress, best asian actor/actress, best lgbtq actor, etc.
It only makes sense.
20
I have a naive question... but what if the best films just happen to be by white males... should they be ignored just to give a nod to a woman or a black? Or should EXCELLENCE be the key criteria instead of gender or colour?
There are always injustices at the Oscars. The Parasite is Korean, but is still nominated as a best film. And Little Women is nominated, even if its director isn't... so that pretty much proves that not being male or white is not the absolute and only criteria for the Oscars.
Back in 1994 Joan Campioin won Best Film AND Best Director for The Piano - and this was well before anyone was making gender or colour an issue. Did she win because she is a woman? Nope - because her film was simply and obviously the best! And that is the way it should be.
Articles have been written complaining that a lot of men don't want to go see Little Women. I certainly won't go. Because it was a chick flick made by and about women? Not at all... I read the book and I adored the 1994 version with Susan Sarandon and Winona Ryder. Why insist on people seeing another version when this one was so perfect AND also made by a woman? I don't choose a film by Political Correctness, nor should anyone.
More to the point, women will never be satisfied until MOST of the films nominated are by women, whether they deserve it or not. When women make films as technically innovative as 1917 or as original as Jojo - they too will be nominated. Until then... make better films!
49
@Ken What are you talking about? Jane Campion/The Piano won neither Best Director nor Best Film (these went to Stephen Spielberg/Schindler's List). Only one woman has won for Best Director, Katherine Bigelow.
You seem to think that the Academy Awards (or any awards) are awarded by some objective authority that is able to judge who or what is "the best" - this is not the case, it is a group of select people, with their personal tastes and conscious and unconscious biases, who make these decisions. One need only look at the list of anodyne and forgettable Best Picture Winners to see this (e.g. Driving Miss Daisy, Crash, Argo, The King's Speech, etc.)
No-one is asking for special treatment, merely for a level playing field where all films/directors etc. are judged on their merits. But as long as certain films and genres are privileged (i.e. given more funding and promotion or believed to be more legitimate, e.g. war films/biopics cf. foreign-language films/women-led stories) then there can be no level playing-field upon which to compete.
42
Jane Campion didn’t win an Oscar for best director for The Piano (she should have, as The Piano is a masterpiece). What you wrote is ‘fake history’. The only woman who has ever won an Oscar for best director is Kathryn Bigellow, for Hurt Locker. Let that sink in.
8
Race continues to 'trump' everything in America that has been a reality of America since Slavery in America.
In Hollywood the history of the "race card" is as old as the film industry couple with this reality is the various faux narratives that only merit is the basis for awards and not race. In this reality only 'Whites' opinions matter on what is 'best'.
White America created the" race card' in America and has practiced it for centuries in America including Hollywood.
There are endless excuses for the continued presence of racism and exclusionary practices in Hollywood.
BLM
12
Ah yes let's bring back racial quotas. I'm sure that will help soothe racial tensions.
8
With respect and love, it's ludicrous to call this a social justice campaign. I am older, female and Afro American. What this is is a waste of time. Art criticism is essential, but art bullying is not. Social justice is aimed at lifting up those in need of elements of living. Social justice is not demanding entertainment awards. What this campaign has wrought are mostly mediocre films and television shows I find boring and predictable. So what if white male stories predominate? Would the opposite provide affordable housing, feed those hungry, stop voter suppression? No.
14
@Blessinggirl very true
Trade group that it is, the Academy has neglected and spurned the greatest filmmakers of all time since its inception, so viewing #OscarSoWhite as a "social justice" movement could only make sense to people whose grievances overwhelm all other perspective.
How about you try the factory floor or the call center instead?
Poor Spike! Poor Ava! Some of us would just love their lack of privilege.
Do the Hollywood types, white and non-white, male and female, really not see how lucky they are to be working at all with such resources, and how arbitrary the material rewards? Are they Sophocles or Shakespeare?
4
If this was about genuine concern for diversity and under represented minorities being heard why is it that as long as Blacks are well or over-represented we see the demands for diversity cease? Why is it when they have excessive clout and representation, which is very common, you do not see them practicing what they preach- which is giving voice to other groups who don't get as much representation. They do exactly what they complain Whites do- which is focus on their own concerns and grievances beyond and above every other group who they behave very dismissive and flippantly towards if it gets in the way of their own self promotion.
5
The media, education, and political structures love to repeat the Orwellian slogan “diversity is our strength” ad nauseum, but throughout history diversity has always been a weakness destabilizing and destroying once unified nations. When asked for the advantages of diversity, the first answer invariably is diversity of food (as if recipes were not readily available to all). The disadvantages are legion: low social social trust, cultural incoherence, high crime rates, lack of community, and continuous conflict based on immutable characteristics (see Harvard social scientist Robert Putnam’s study from 2008). Let’s stop this charade, face the obvious, and figure out a way to break up the country amicably into a number of new nations based on unity of identity, values, and purpose. Most Americans are exhausted and want a divorce at this point.
2
I grew up in an "all Black", community. I never go to see a " Black", movie. Those movies just don't interest me. The commercials for the movie seem to show a pandering or a slang for a certain group of people. And the movies seem to want to show the usual "suffering", of the Black life versus something interesting.
2
I find it incredible that we are creating measures of ideological purity for our art. If women want more Oscars for Best Director, they should go out and earn them. Same goes for every other category of human being. This is Maoist. No one seems to care about the freedom of judges to pick whomever they please.
7
The Oscars have become so PC that I can't take any of the awards seriously.
6
Actually, the Oscars, like all award shows are well beyond their “best before” date. We, the working class, are tired of seeing the “lifestyles of the rich and useless” clap each other on the back, regardless of race, creed or color, and tell us how wonderful they are. Viewership is way down and we really don’t care about you. All these shows need to go away like Victoria Secrets did.
5
It's perfectly natural for people of color to feel left out by films featuring white actors. Everyone wants to see movies featuring people like themselves.
But since most of the paying audience is still white, most movies are going to feature white actors. And most of their stories are going to be told from a white point of view.
Climbing the financing ladder from low budget indie to cast of thousands epic the effect is probably even more pronounced.
So white actors and white directors will have more dogs in the hunt, which will make them more likely to win.
That is not racist. Declaring that a certain proportion of winners must be minorities is racist.
4
Outside of seeing actors off screen, all dolled up and acting like the elites they pretend to be, only an infinitesimally small number of people truly care about who wins at the Oscars. What Hollywood says or does is inconsequential to the rest of the world, but don't tell them that, they're very sensitive hedonists.
5
Their movies entertain us, while they entertain themselves with this.
4
In a perfect world, the Oscars would recongnize the BEST of that year, whether involving white folks, women, blacks, Chinese, Hispanic wall climbers , Lesbians or anyone else. It would recognize "Great Films" not great White Folks, etc. I do not believe that an a film is better than any other because it was made by Laplanders. Get Real! Actually, the film that moved me most over the past 15 years was the Mongolian / German Film "The Weeping Camel". The Camel was a light shade or brown and everyone else was Mongolian.
1
The reason Hollywood has lost its credibility and influence on the morality of the American people is because it promotes moral values and identity politics which it does not itself practice. In short leading by example is not Hollywood's modus operandi. As much as Hollywood has tried to infiltrate into determining who aught to be elected while very successful in electing Bill Clinton and Barack Obama has failed miserably in defeating or even demonizing Trump.
Foul mouthed Hollywood stars like Robert Nero, Madonna and others just seemed mean and divisive but with little moral credibility to be taken seriously.
#OscarsSowhite and the stories of Spike Lee, Ava DuVernay exposes the inbuilt immorality and hypocrisy of Oscars when it comes to race in America.
1
Professing that any entity is racist or sexist because its members are all white men and not representative of society at large is equally racist and sexist. To end discrimination based on race, sex, ethnicity or sexual orientation, one must make decisions that ignore all those identities and judge people on the merit of their accomplishments, just as is done when awarding Nobel prizes or positions on any professional sport team.
1
An awards contest about art is always going to be controversial. If you are try to force diversity into the movie business and you’re not careful you will only succeed in turning the awards into a joke. There is no easy answer but making sure that everyone has a shot at the capital needed to create art is about all you can do.
Social justice campaign? Well-paid entertainers handing out statutes to each other seems a rather frivolous social justice cause. If the interest is in films there are many interesting ones made each year all over the world showcasing every conceivable skin color, gender, point of view, and so on. If the interest is in marketing mainstream consumer goods then maybe apply to business school.
5
Any organization that picks How Green a Was My Valley and Braveheart over Citizen Kane and Babe really does not have a rational basis for the awards it bestows. The academy seems poised to try to do something about the lack of diversity just as I am losing interest in the Oscars.
2
I think for actors, the casting is based on the screenplay. Some roles are surely interchangeable ethnicity-wise, but I imagine most aren't. So for more diversity I recommend writing more screenplays with more diverse characters. Because the movie starts with the screenplay.
For directing and producing jobs, I think that's probably based on experience and I would bet women and minorities are behind in this area. If so, then these groups just might have to do more to earn their stars. With so much content now, I'd say it's probably easier to break into these jobs than it was 20 years ago, but still challenging of course. I think then the 'nominee' list will become more consistently diverse. I believe all movies will improve with that much more influence. And I do hope they do.
We could sure use some better movies these days.
1
As I read about different industries, I naturally compare them to mine. I am in the nuclear industry and it is overwhelmingly white and male (I am a white female). This in part is because the nuclear submarine program, the training ground for many was only open to males thus limiting the opportunities for women. For minority males, I believe the problem is more fundamental, failure of equal funding of primary and secondary education to ensure preparedness of the rigorous testing. This continues to be a fundamental cause that is manifested in industries from the nuke world to medicine to Hollywood. The manifestation for these people may be failure to be recognized for their art output, but the underlying issue is far more serious. I encourage these people who have a voice in the NYT to look beyond who gets nominated for a SUBJECTIVE award and talk about the root causes of why we are where we are.
5
@MHB
The disparity has nothing to do with funding, which is essentially equal. The whites and Asians you see in the engineering field simply worked much, much harder to get in their positions. The culture of African and Latino Americans needs to change radically from birth to embrace education with every breath. Go to an inner city school, observe classrooms, talk with teachers, and you’ll know why these kids can’t cut it. The culture has to change, it’s ridiculous to think it has to do with funding.
1
@MHB There is equal funding for minority schools.The best exam school in New York spends less money per student than some inner city schools.
I remember the #oscarsowhite year, but I remember what happened the following year even more, not for the fact that there more Black nominees but because of the embarrassing over the top virtue signaling that every person who came to the stage seemed obligated to take part in.
And let's be honest here, and stop blasting the lack of diversity among the nominees and admit that these pieces are based on the headcount of Black nominees. There's very rarely any mention about a lack of Hispanic, Asian, Gay or Trans performers who were denied a nomination because of their minority status.
7
I remember the #oscarsowhite year, but I remember what happened the following year even more, not for the fact that there more Black nominees but because of the embarrassing over the top virtue signaling that every person who came to the stage seemed obligated to take part in.
And let's be honest here, and stop blasting the lack of diversity among the nominees and admit that these pieces are based on the headcount of Black nominees. There's very rarely any mention about a lack of Hispanic, Asian, Gay or Trans performers who were denied a nomination because of their minority status.
I am perplexed by this article on diversity. The only diverse voices in the conversation are coming from African-Americans where are our other hyphenated underrepresented groups?
14
Wow. These comments!
People, please! The industry, and the voting body that picks the nominees and winners, are not reflective of the society they seek to portray. The society they shape through their powerful medium. See Brit Marling’s op ed in this paper today for more on this ...
Let’s make a little room please. Let’s welcome other perspectives and stories. Let’s acknowledge that we’ve been fed a somewhat limited diet for many years and that it’s time to expand our tastes and welcome our neighbors to the table.
Take a breath. Listen and watch. We’ll all benefit.
7
@Traveler You are of course right.We should embrace diversity.I love Pam Grier .Samuel L Jackson is my favorite actor.This has nothing to do with the color of their skin but with their talent and my taste.No to Affirmative action in Art no racial quotas in Oscars or proffessional sports or in life in general.
It's the world we live in today: "It" makes no difference how talented a perfomance you give, direct, write, film, (or the worst), produce (pay for with money). Virtually all nominations and awards are given to the inside "Hollywood Establishment". Why do think Stanley Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock never won a "Best Director"Sadly, in today's world, every single introduction on a morning, afternoon or late night show is preceeded by the following statement: "Please welcome the Academy Award Nominated (or) Winning ______" (fill in the blank). As Colin Farrell once said, "They mean everything and they mean nothing." Lastly, they mean "you have a key to any door". By the way, I said that.
What exactly did OscarsSoWhite change? All I see are white male centric stories, even if the actors are of darker shades of pale. Even when the stars might be non-white, the stories are riddled with white male story lines, and the backing characters are all out of a teen white-male POV.
The depth and breadth of the White male POV in Hollywood has yet to be truly dented. Sure a few "black", brown centric movies and shows have been made, but the underlying story lines and archetypes are founded in white culture. Be they classic Greek archetypes, or European...the foundational aspects of Hollywood products are white male first, and then a thin veneer of brown, or female, or Asian is brushed on...
Follow the money. Who holds it, who is willing to spend it? And those points of contact are where the story lines are ultimately being decided. Even if there's a darker veneer, its got white tint in it...
3
There are too many white actors, too many white male producers, too many actors who are not handicapped playing characters who are, actors of Japanese ethnicity are playing citizens of a South American country. What should be done? One could go down that silly road about finding a female actor with a missing left hand to play a character with a missing left hand; or issues of "cultural appropriation...actors playing against ethnicity. Pity poor Leontyne Price in the "Magic Flute", under current guidelines she would not have been in the opera at all and the world would have missed a terrific Pamina, not to mention being pilloried by the press.
But the answer(s) to all these imponderables depends on why a specific movie is made, who is willing to produce and direct it, who will pay to see it, and the quality of the actors' performance. There has not yet been written a movie script that can artistically and financially pander to every whim of political correctness. Perhaps the Oscar awards are too general, perhaps the Academy needs to juice up the award categories to encompass every political and social stripe.
Like it nor not movies are produced for an audience willing to pay to see them, not to massage the personal prejudices and political/ agendas of members of the Academy. On the other hand, these are the Academies awards and if they want to go further down that road to the detriment of the film industry, there is a Yellow Brick one just around the corner.
6
I'm seeing both sides of this. On the one hand, there isn't always a good field of films for a given year no matter who is nominated. This is the problem with annual awards. Your film is rewarded or punished based on whether you hit a competitive year. Who thought the Seahawks would go 11-5 and still end up in a wild card game? So too with film. Look at 2012 compared 1939.
There's also politics involved that go beyond race and gender. Martin Scorsese is perennially dismissed. The Irishman is probably his last opportunity to get the nod from the academy. They might give him the award even though his film isn't necessarily the best film or even his best film. Hard to argue Scorsese doesn't deserve more recognition for his impact on cinema though. He's the guy who got passed over for Dances with Wolves.
Finally, there's just poor judgement. Filmmakers don't always know a good film when they see one. Which film do you think stands the test of time better? Shakespeare in Love or Saving Private Ryan? The Big Lebowski wasn't even nominated. I can guess which film gets the most the most screen time in college cinema courses though.
The same principles more or less apply to gender and ethnicity. The specific year is irrelevant. You'll have good years and bad years. The real problem is more women and men aren't given the opportunity to make Oscar competitive films in the first place. You can't have a diverse showing if there's no diversity to show.
12
I work in an inner city hospital where the vast majority of people working here are women and most of those women are of various ethnicities. If you watch tv or films based in a hospital it always looks like it’s set in Minnesota even when it’s supposed to be NY or Chicago.
These background roles are likely how people start out in the industry and I’m sure the crews are likely just as white. If you never get a foot in the door you’ll never be CEO.
11
This constant hand wringing about a self congratulatory love fest is so wildly unimportant in the world that we inhabit right now. Just think if the media focused on say the annual petroleum industry awards. The Oscars are no different than any other trade group awards...ie they are meaningless and not worth thinking about.
38
The Oscars have become the marketing standard for American films. This is nothing new, however, the credibility of the Academy is dubious. I've watched for years, but this year I'm skipping it in hopes of finding something with more class and a sense of artistic integrity. So, Oscar, don't call us, we'll call you. . .
5
Saw Just Mercy starring Jamie Foxx, Michael Jordan (also a producer) - an incredibly important story and powerful film.
It was the second week of release. The theater audience was 90% white.
There has been relatively little public buzz about this film.
Everyone should see this movie.
10
This is not special to Hollywood. I haven’t a formal survey, but I suspect that if you look at government offices, university faculty lists, corporate boardrooms, you’ll see the same. Often, when you look from afar and see diversity, zoom in to the top (top execs, to democratic presidential contenders, tenured faculty only, etc) diversity fades away. Not that the problem is based at the top, but that population-wide disparities will manifest most obviously there—like a top carnivore accumulating pollutants, even small obstacles accumulate along the way to success.
But granted, Hollywood has such a visible role in society, so it’s easy to see this general process there.
3
@j
White Males are in charge. Dr. King and others spoke about this for decades and even though it is black history month we know that this time next years the same discussion will be happening around the Oscars.
New names of men in charge but the same old tired songs. We have lived our entire lives trying to kick the door open and for us who finally get inside, we become the oppressors. When Colin started kneeling how many minority sportscasters stood with him? You can count the number.
How about everyone instead of going to the movies, help register people to vote, get politically involved and take control of your real life and make a difference.
1
Who cares? Really cares about the actors and directors and screenwriters who are feted by these award shows and are all doing quite well for themselves regardless of race or ethnicity?
How about worrying that our best school systems are so overwhelmingly white? How about worrying that minorities are underrepresented in more lucrative STEM careers? And,even, how about worrying about the persistent economic inequality that affects minorities... and also poor, rural whites?
I understand, as a Hispanic woman, the elation of seeing our stories represented on the big (and small) screen and of having our storytellers recognized. But in case these Hollywood folks have not noticed, the country has bigger problems. And their complaints sound frivolous and alienating to many.
31
@bm1877
Soooo...just why did you take the time to write a comment about the Academy Awards? By all means, let's worry about the bigger problems, but that doesn't mean we can't also take art and entertainment seriously.
1
There will be times when the awards may get skewed for a certain group. The make up of the voters needs to change reflect true winners. Also, I. Slice there are many diversity champions who should invest in stories of with minority actors to improve the pool. The only snubs are feel this year are the director of Little Women and JLo.
This is such a contrived, lame “controversy.” It is not the job of Hollywood studios to make everyone feel happy and included and represented. Their job is to make money.
Nor is it the job of the Academy to make sure that the “right” movies/actors are nominated for and win awards — “right,” of course, being the ones the woke activist scolds tell us we’re supposed to like.
If there’s actually a market for the movies that the angry woke activists claim (with no evidence) viewers want, then they should open a studio that makes those movies. It’s a free country, and the studios of old do not constitute an oligopoly. Dreamworks did it.
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I wish the article had explained the criteria for a nomination and for a win. “Best” is subjective, but are there guidelines or criteria that the members are required to consider, or are nominations and awards based on “feels?” If the Academy can’t provide an objective definition of what is considered the best, or has no objective criteria that are used in reaching its decision, it will always have this problem.
1
A publication recently spoke anonymously to some people in Hollywood about whom they’d voted for. The actress they spoke to said she was voting for Quentin Tarantino and Once Upon a Time... because he’s a friend of hers. The female director was quoted as saying that, during the balloting to nominate people for Best Director, if you were “white and male” she would not vote for you.
There are no standards.
14
I hope Once Upon a Time... wins. That movie was magical.
9
Bottom line here if you think that is provable discrimination in the Oscar org and/or Hollywood. sue, just like countless women and people of color have done since app. 1970.
If not start another Oscar group that you think is fairer.
People can decide which one they want to watch.
16
Dee Rees deserves an Oscar. I am so sick of seeing black women filmmakers get passed over for the Oscars. Just give Dee Rees an Oscar already.
2
@Rax Sadly, deservings got little to do with winning.
Did you know Oscar voters are not expected to watch the movies they vote on?
All these comments about movies should be judged on the merits of how good or bad they are. They make sense only when the judges actually watch them.
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@Justin They not only should watch all the movies but take a quiz after to show that they paid attention.Mandatory drug testing should be included like in the Olympics.Remember when you are buzzed your judgement might be impaired
1
I think it's great that this is happening and I think it's a long overdue step the Academy should have taken years ago. If films being produced and awarded Oscars are primarily filtered through a white male perspective, then it doesn't matter how accomplished films by non-white creators are. The edge will almost always go the way white men prefer. Only with the presence of multi-cultural, multi-gender production and Academy membership bodies will this change.
5
This is really a total nonsense.
Film makers are no different to other professionals, and their work should, must be evaluated only on its own merits.
Their skin colour, gender, political leanings should have absolutely no relevance to the success of their works.
Forcing the issue, issuing quotas along those lines will render any awards ceremonies worthless, because merit is not the deciding factor.
If non white filmmakers/actors are unhappy with the outcomes then they must work harder to improve the quality of their works.
Would you rather be operated on by the best surgeon or one that had been selected due to box ticking requirements but may cut off the wrong leg?
work harder!
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@Invictum With rigorous social and government pressure and oppressive and inhuman laws, you can apply enormous pressure and discriminate for example white individuals or males by pretending it becomes more "just" to the individual by doing so. In the end, the best person should do the job, and lately I have seen plenty of episodes in TV series directed by women, some of them whom I have actually wondered if they got quoted in. In the UK 3% of the population is black, but I can wager they get around 10-15% of the important roles nowadays. It is clear and bigoted discrimination. The only way out is to judge people by merit, and that doesn't not involve this nonsense. Also, in the end, the better films make more money so I suspect this will auto-correct itself in 10 years or so, unless of course Bernie Sanders wins, and AOC, the queen of identity politics, can fight for laws that says it is racist to grow cauliflower... yes, she is seen in video footage saying so.
Editor’s note: This comment has been anonymized in accordance with applicable law(s).
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@Invictum
There is no objective best when it comes to movies. Choosing a best picture is a completely subjective exercise, and the members of the Academy are not even required to see the movies on which they vote. But the Oscars are important in that a nomination or a win can pave the way to future work.
Female and non-white filmmakers are working hard and are making fine films. The problem with representation in the Academy is this: ask any man which movie he would prefer to see – a war movie like “1917” that features plenty of action and male heroism, or “Little Women”. Most if not all would choose “1917”. There’s nothing wrong with that – people like what they like. But does that make “1917” a better film than “Little Women”? No, but if the Academy is 68% male the chances of “Little Women” being recognized as best picture are diminished.
Nobody is asking for quotas here. But they are asking why the work of female and non-white filmmakers and performers is so often overlooked by the Academy. It is a valid question and to tell the questioners to “work harder” is condescending beyond belief.
1
@Invictum If I was a child with brain tumor twenty years ago I would see Dr Carson at John Hopkins
Am I mistaken, isn't Antonio Banderas in line for a best actor nomination in Pedro Almodóva's film "Pain & Glory"? I believe this is the first time an actor has been nominated for an Oscar in a foreign language film. Certainly worth mentioning in the context of filmic cultural diversity?
I
7
I should have done my research first. Not correct. But still perhaps a nod to cultural diversity.
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@Jane Doe
Sophia Loren’s Best Actress win for “Two Women” may be first. A great performance, I’ve not seen anything better (male or female) to date.
Statistics presented by The Economist show blacks are over-represented among Oscar winners, but this compares the precent of Oscars won to the racial ethnic demographics of the entire U.S. population. This isn’t the right yardstick. The Academy awards go only to movies screened in Los Angeles County theaters. So, the question is what percent percent of eligible movies have predominantly white casts and white directors. It may be that white actors and directors are underrepresented. No one know whether Latino Americans are underrepresented or not because there is no data the ethnicity of actors and directors, We don’t know have many Irish Americans or Italian Americans actors there are either.
https://www.economist.com/prospero/2016/01/21/how-racially-skewed-are-the-oscars
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@William Case
"We don’t know have many Irish Americans or Italian Americans actors there are either."....
I agree and there is a reason we don't have those statistics. It seems with each generation of Americans, with increasing mixing of families and cultures, or, the fact that people are becoming less inclined to identify themselves by race, religion, or ethnicity, such distinctions, it seems, should be becoming less relevant. As such, we might all be better off both at the awards shows and in the workplace.
2
Remember " The Alchemist ". At one point in the Prologue, the Alchemist picks up a book about the legend if Narcissus..... Yeah, that should have been written for Hollywood and its immature but super rich denizens.
2
To be honest, all these political issues going on and on in the movie industry has really detracted from the glamour and the interest of a lot of movie goers. Now every Hollywood celebrity has to make a politically correct speech, to try to state that they are on the "right" side, where before, we could go to the movies and enjoy good entertainment, every scene is a political message of sorts. It is not quite art anymore. And I believe Hollywood is really shooting itself in the foot in many ways. People are tired of these rich preachers. Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman are movie stars because they are amazing actors, superstars as human beings, and against this kind of talk and accusations, just check YouTube interviews. Denzel has clearly asked interviewers where fathers of black people are when this issue was raised by race baiters. He told the interviewer that he himself growing up was the only one with a father present among his friends, and all his friends later ended up in prison. Blame is sometimes hiding the real problem, even damaging the people it is supposed to help more, as it distorts and doesn't focus on the most serious issue: the lack of fathers among black people. That lack affects everything for black people. I guess it is easier to be angry at others due to the color of their skin.
Editor’s note: This comment has been anonymized in accordance with applicable law(s).
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I’m latino, brown, and have been in the business for ten years now. As crazy as it may sound, I have never met a woman or African American director in person. In fact, I rarely see African Americans or latinos coming when I put together my crews. Every time I try to get the most inclusive crew possible but they just don’t show up, and it is not my job to literally looking for them and offer them jobs. White kids show up in droves smiling at the opportunity of carrying cables to start building a career in the industry. It is a strange thing to see and I always wonder why. Maybe they think is demeaning or that they deserve something better. I don’t know, but as a writer/director still making my way and still dreaming of oscar glory, my experience is that if you have to get out there and work for it. Nobody is gonna come to me and give me a director’s gig because I’m a minority. I have to earn it. The bad thing is that there is a lot of competition. Good competition. People who makes incredibly good stuff and most of the time better than mine. So, whatever their color, it is fine if they get Oscars nominations and I don’t. Honor the best and thank them for inspiring you to be better next time. But no one is gonna give anything. Go get, be the best, and earn that nice statue for your living room.
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Thanks for sharing your experience, @Gordon Milcham. It seems like there are two ways to “make it” in Hollywood:
1) being well-connected to people in positions of power so you’re more likely to be considered for jobs. (This is why we see so many children of Hollywood actors catapulted to the screen— e.g. Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jaden Smith, Zoey Kravitz.)
2) starting at the bottom and working your way up
Both ways privilege people with more resources, and in America, that’s white people. People of color tend to gravitate towards fields where people like them have succeeded in the past. Being a pioneer is risky, and the costs of failure for people with fewer resources can feel prohibitive.
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@Gordon Milcham I have noticed the same thing you do.having worked with disadvantaged minorities I think that they have it drummed into their head at an early age that they are being deprived of something other people have handed to them. There is an attitude that things should come to them often because it is impressed upon them again and again that somehow they are shortchanged and others have handed to them something that they're not. It makes them passive under the belief that that is normal. This puts them at a huge disadvantage. Feminists often encourage women to see things in a similar light.
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@Gordon Milcham
Thanks Gordon, I'm one those white kids that started off carrying cables and anything else I could do for very little. A big thanks to you and directors like you that give us all a chance in this business. We may not have your creativity but we're just happy to play a small part in whatever it is you guys are making.
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Gender bias and racial bias are SO often conflated, as they are in this article. Can your reporters and editors be more precise, and help steer the public conversation towards clarity on these separate issues?
Thanks.
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Pure malarkey. I thought these awards were suppose to be based on talent, creativity, etc... so I have an idea, make two or three categories for each award. One for black, whites and all the rest. This equality stuff is really getting out of control. The best should win. Regardless of race, creed or color.
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@Unbelievable
What is the best though? What is the objective definition, the objective criteria? There are none. “Best” is subjective and that is the problem.
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Everyone has prejudices, clearly so the writer of this article. I wish the conversation around these issues would recognise this as it would lead to a better discussion without choking it with politically correct artificiality.
Editor’s note: This comment has been anonymized in accordance with applicable law(s).
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We obviously need racial, ethic and gender quotas for all Oscar categories. And while at it do the the same for NFL coaches and quarterbacks as well as Fortune 500 CEOs and Board Members.
Jeff
Tenafly
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@Jeff Yes, and while we are at it, let's start discriminating black players in NBA too, and have a quota of only about 13% of them in the league to perfectly represent the population. All is fair in fascist states, right?
Editor’s note: This comment has been anonymized in accordance with applicable law(s).
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@Sam no one anywhere is this article has mentioned quotas, to imply so is a rhetorical hallucination
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My parents were on the board of the naacp. My father went to jail for standing up to the police over their treatment of black concert attendees. I was beaten up repeatedly in high school for my refusal to join he race chorus.
This climate of gender and race-based pop culture everything, with its demonizing of whole swaths of wonderful people simply because they are “white” or “men” is disgusting. Not quite on par with the President but darned close, and worse still likely to get him re-elected.
The New York Times with its endless absurdist click bait opinion pieces pretending to be reportage is shameful. Maybe there should just be a new site section titled “woke,” so loyal readers can more readily avoid the venom.
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The term “woke” is a joke. I don’t care what color you are or how many use it, it’s a poorly chosen word for what it’s supposed to represent. People who use it sound stupid to me, regardless of how intelligent they may be. Epic dumbing down.
We are Politically Correcting ourselves to death.
@Mia I completely agree with you.
This is a flagrant and open advocacy for racial quotas... let that sink in. Not about content of character, not about meritocracy, not about quality, not about market demands... but simply and ONLY viewing through the lens of race. On the face of it, it sounds ... well... racist.
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@Mystery Lits no one anywhere is this article has mentioned quotas, to imply so is a rhetorical hallucination
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Movies, books, and TV present white people as heroes and villains and normal and genius and kind and cruel and everything in-between. People who look like me - a brown woman - are either invisible or shown as one-dimensional stereotypes or caricatures or exist only to support the story of their white friend.
This has an impact in the real world, in the court room, and in other countries that consume American culture. It has an impact in dating, at the office, and everywhere else.
The Oscars are a great platform that can promote stories of all kinds. It can elevate stories as art, and thus embed them into our social consciousness.
This isn't about being politically correct, but about correcting a system that doesn't reflect reality, yet still greatly affects it; it's about systemic racism in which people in power get to elevate art made by people in power. What is so wrong about wanting something better?
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@N: Don't want better - write your own.
Question: in an African country, where 95% of the people are black, how many stories about white people do you think are created? Write your own... like James Baldwin, like plenty of others. In a country with 12% blacks, it isn't surprising that most of what is on screen is white; if you don't like it - write your own, produce your own, direct your own. little by little your voices will be heard.
And just because a story is about a black or a woman or a gay person doesn't make it automatically Oscar material. You and everyone else seems to think that it should get top honours JUST because it is black or gay or whatever. Sorry, but that isn't necessarily how it works.
Yes - there is discrimination. Spike Lee should have won an Oscar for Do The Right Thing. But it was a story that made a lot of people feel uncomfortable. But the same year, Driving Miss Daisy- with Morgan Freeman as one of the two stars - won Best Picture (even if it didn't deserve it). And Denzel Washington won Best Actor for Glory. So even if Spike Lee was robbed - other blacks were seen and heard.
If we start lowering standards JUST to give awards to blacks or women or gays or whatever - QUALITY will suffer. 12 Years a Slave, Moonlight - stories with blacks do get done. And are even recognized as Oscar material. You shouldn't complain. Brad Pitt is white and male - and still hasn't got an Oscar yet!
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@Ken please read up on 100 years of history of excellence in self-produced cinema by African Americans, going back to Oscar Micheaux in 1919. And thanks for the suggestion to make our own we hadn't thought of that.
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The writer and many commenters seem to be unaware that the movie business is, well, a business. That is, movies are supposed to make money, lots of money, for their investors.
There are many multi-millionaire blacks and other people of color, and, of course, women. Why don't they all get together and finance movies about, starring and directed by, POC and women?
Is it possible that such movies might make no profit, or only a small profit, for their investors because the demand is limited?
Isn't it the financial return, not racism or sexism, that dictates which movies are made and which people are cast in them?
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To be honest, all these political issues going on and on in the movie industry has really detracted from the glamour and the interest of a lot of movie goers. Now every Hollywood celebrity has to make a politically correct speech, to try to state that they are on the "right" side, where before, we could go to the movies and enjoy good entertainment, every scene is a political message of sorts. It is not quite art anymore. And I believe Hollywood is really shooting itself in the foot in many ways. People are tired of these rich preachers. Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman are movie stars because they are amazing actors, superstars as human beings, and coincidentally mostly against this kind of talk. Denzel has clearly asked where fathers of black people are when this issue was raised. He told the interviewer that he himself was the only one with a father present among his friends, and all his friends later ended up in prison. Blame is sometimes hiding the real problem, even damaging the people it is supposed to help more, as it distorts and focuses on the wrong, very serious issue: the lack of fathers among black people.
Editor’s note: This comment has been anonymized in accordance with applicable law(s).
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@Sam We will really need the glamour while enjoying life in the neofascist climate change-denying hellscape. Also connecting this article to black fathers is just wow. Thanks for this comment.
Am I missing something? I thought that Oscar nominations and awards were based on talent and merit, and not gender, ethnicity, or religious belief considerations.
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Why do they need awards for movies anyway? Isn't validation in the marketplace enough? Those not selected and those selected who loose now claim the process is biased and that their loss is due to a corrupt system and not the result of a second place effort. If that's true, then why participate? Write the script, make the movie and let the market decide whether your efforts merit attention.
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As noted by researchers, never anywhere in the world has a percentage in ethnicity been even near perfectly represented in different categories of work, education or interests. This goes even in countries in Asia, where Chinese immigrants or second level immigrants are much more focused on computer sciences than the native population while native populations have a focus on socials sciences etc That in itself is not a sign of oppression, not by a long shot, rather the unpopular truth that there are differences in focus that develop over time. Also, 14% of the population will never have even 10% of the film industry as long as said population has a severe problem with missing fathers (75%) in their lives, something terribly detrimental to their development. Why don’t we start talking about the problem there, as solving that issue will make them much more successful in all areas.
Editor’s note: This comment has been anonymized in accordance with applicable law(s).
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I am a fairly established screenwriter. I currently have 3 feature scripts in active development at 3 different studios. All 3 of them have women directors attached. Two of those women are women of color. In two cases, they refused to even consider a man. In one case, they passed on a much more experienced male director to give a shot to a female director with barely any credits.
This week, a male producer called me about a spec script of mine we are about to go out with. Said he thinks we should pass on a well-known male director dying to attach and focus on attaching a woman because it will be much easier to sell.
I can't speak to Mr. Lee's or Ms.DuVernay's views from the top of the food chain. But for the tens of thousands of us who are much smaller fish, the changes in the business are nothing less than a tidal wave.
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@Sparky What you are talking about is clear discrimination. That is bigotry, that is coming from this kind of ongoing talk. Besides, what does those choices tell us about the prejudices of those people involved?
Editor’s note: This comment has been anonymized in accordance with applicable law(s).
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@Sparky My condolences. Giving a script to people ONLY because of their gender or colour does not augure well for quality productions.
In the past Hollywood has switched directors on a project on many occasions - because the person originally in charge wasn't getting the job done. Other times, Hollywood has insisted on editing the film in ways that were not the original director's intention... with horrendous results.
What if your script could be done by someone tried and true - of any colour? Isn't the person most capable of getting a good result the one you want? Of course, there is unknown talent out there, so perhaps you will end up being lucky. Everyone has to start somewhere. But choosing a person for their colour or their gender does NOT sound to me like a winning prospect.
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@Sam. I pray for the day when we are able to simply choose the best script, best director, best actor etc. based only on merit and talent not on gender, ethnicity or any other attribute. But Identity politics is so powerful in our culture that I believe in my industry we are a long way away from that.
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Great format to this piece. The difference voices partaking in this conversation was very illuminating!
I would expect there might be a decade or so of the pendulum swinging back and forth. Eventually those who are set in their ways will give way to the creative kids today (given the average human lifespan).
The fact that we have kids growing up with representation is such a beautiful thing. I remember hungering for it, and to see it unfold before me, it’s quite emotional - even if it’s a decade late.
Thank you for those trailblazing (it can be painful people telling you that you’re crazy, or you’re imagining things day in day out) and those giving space to new voices (hey, it’s not easy having the humility to try to fill in blind spots - we see you, our allies!).
There will be plenty for naysayers, but the arc of history...
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The prospect of walking on eggshells when there are few or fewer members of various minority groups in evidence in any enterprise is absurd and tiresome. We now have, as a response to this perceived injustice, an emerging hard and fast rule that all television commercials must have a person of color in evidence, preferably upper-middle class persons of color living in white minimalist decors. Thus, we now have black children with white grandparents, a tsunami of inter-racial marriages, all living in an imaginary land of racial harmony bathed in affluence. Television and other mass media have never gone to great pains to show things as they are--for anyone--let alone minorities, but we seem to have entered a new era in the uses to which this tool may be employed. Who gives Madison Avenue its marching orders? What, beyond being excoriated by Spike Lee, et al., are the penalties for non-compliance?
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@Vincent Amato : Show African-Americans as middle or upper economic class then one is glossing over the harsh reality of the economic plight of most African-Americans.
Show African-Americans as lower or lower middle class and you are stereotyping African-Americans in a negative light.
Either way someone is going to be offended.
And on it on it goes the liberal perpetual motion guilt machine.
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@Vincent Amato Yes it is horrendous to market products or show different kinds of families that actually exist. Sorry to burst your bubble but not all black people live in poverty in the ghetto.
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The only objective measure of a movie’s quality, its ability to communicate and connect with an audience, is the box office.
End of story.
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Well said and so true. Except for the “end of story” comment.
@Jinbo Did you know Oscar voters are not expected to watch the movies they vote on?
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How about we judge movies on whether or not we like them? The color of an actor can be either irrelevant or central depending on the character being portrayed. For example a Black James Bond couldn't work unless he was operating in Africa. Just like a Black medieval knight never works any better than a white African warrior would. Some roles can be played by any color actor. Movies reflect the society that makes them and white people still out number everyone else in America. To judge a movie based on color is no better than judging a person by the same standard.
Maybe we should have Oscar categories based on race? Or say 14% of winners must be Black because 14% of Americans are. See my point, it's absurd.
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@Sean What makes you think that a Black James Bond couldn't work?
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@Sean James Bond isn't real. I thought everyone knew that.
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@Sean
'James Bond' is designated '007' and a fictional agent of MI6, the real and functioning British secret service. There are many black agents and operatives working for MI6, so it is extremely plausible to have a black agent with the 007 designation. A black 007 agent could technically work in most countries in the western world, especially as there are few western countries without a black population.
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Commentators like to misidentify the issue - but without diversity throughout every institution, including creative ones, products of diversity don't get made in the first place or in strong enough numbers to compete. The problem isn't that a diverse director or film wasn't nominated - it's that there aren't enough being made to get nominated and they're not getting made because the people making the decisions keep making the same status quo movies over and over. You can't compete when you're not allowed in the race in the first place.
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@Megan Sorry but the idea that whites are allowed to make movies and others aren't is simply absurd and wholly disconnected from reality. No creative industry would reject talent, profits and credibility by rejecting women or non-whites who actually have something to say about the human condition that connects to the collective.
I think a lot of people who read about this issue and claim that diversity shouldn't factor into award decisions are missing the point. I have seen most of the films nominated for Best Picture this year (I haven't gotten around to The Irishman or Joker). It is my personal opinion these films deserve their nominations. They're expertly-made and say something meaningful about the human condition.
The problem isn't that these specific, overwhelmingly white and male movies, were nominated. The problem is that films featuring other demographics and their stories weren't produced on the same level or frequency. They never had the chance to compete, because they either weren't made or weren't released as Oscar vehicles (I contend that Lupita N'yongo would have received a nom had Us come out later in the year).
White men are not the only demographic capable of writing and directing amazing films, so why do they have such a monopoly in the "auteur" category? You need not look too deeply into the systemic issues of privilege to find your answer. More efforts should be made to elevate women and POC in an industry that has shut them out of leadership positions for decades. In an era of content bidding wars between streaming services, there's more than enough room at the table for different stories. This isn't putting untalented or unqualified people on a pedestal they don't deserve. This is correcting a painfully obvious blindspot.
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@Elizabeth : There are plenty of rich POC who could fund other producers, projects, directors, actors, but they don't and they won't. They want Hollywood ( read white people) to fund them. When the director of A Wrinkle in Time lost 100 million dollars on the film, her answer was "So what! Disney can afford it!" Nobody wants to lose 100 million, nobody.
@Elizabeth Lupita N'yongo is a fine actor, as her performances have shown, but "Us" was kind of a dud of a movie
The Oscar for best actor in a leading role should go to President Trump for playing an outstanding role as "best victim."
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It's a false issue. You can't make moviegoers go to films because they are politically correct. And you can't force the Academy to nominate films because they are politically correct. We know that the Academy has nominated films that are politically correct. And we know that the media praises films based on political correctness. But that doesn't validate the issue. Nor does it mean that they should win awards.
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Sorry Martyy, it’s not a false issue. When large swaths of our population are not represented in our storytelling “machine, including millions of people who fund those movies with their tickets, we’re not seeing the best stories. We’re seeing the “best stories” of a small percentage of the male population with access, money, and power and white skin. That’s neither fair nor honest nor good.
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@marrtyy
The writer and many commenters seem to be unaware that the movie business is, well, a business. That is, movies are supposed to make money, lots of money, for their investors.
There are many multi-millionaire blacks and other people of color, and, of course, women. Why don't they all get together and finance movies about, starring and directed by, POC and women?
Is it possible that such movies might make no profit, or only a small profit, for their investors because the demand is limited?
Isn't it the financial return, not racism or sexism, that dictates which movies are made and which people are cast in them?
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@marrtyy
what is a politically correct film? a boy coming of age
and into his own (moonlight)? a leader of a movement that touched millions (selma)? an cop doing an undercover operation? (blacKkKlansman)? i hope you're not equating stories about people who aren't white as being politically correct? cuz, wow, so many layers of bias.
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No one should be excluded because of their race, and no one should get preferential treatment because of their race.
If it is determined that an actor deserves an oscar for their performance, race should have no bearing on this decision.
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@mgrant Agree. However, if the voting body is 94% white and 77% male, then what kind of movies do you think they prefer to consider?
The voting body should look like the movie going populace, which will have a wide view of what is interesting and award deserving.
I get tired of not seeing women of color in lead roles.
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@mgrant
The writer and many commenters seem to be unaware that the movie business is, well, a business. That is, movies are supposed to make money, lots of money, for their investors.
There are many multi-millionaire blacks and other people of color, and, of course, women. Why don't they all get together and finance movies about, starring and directed by, POC and women?
Is it possible that such movies might make no profit, or only a small profit, for their investors because the demand is limited?
Isn't it the financial return, not racism or sexism, that dictates which movies are made and which people are cast in them?
10
@mgrant
The Oscars already have separate awards for actors and actresses, so the obvious solution to the problems raised in this article is to have separate awards for best black actor/actress, best black male director and female director, best latin actor/actress, best asian actor/actress, best lgbtq actor, etc.
It only makes sense.
2