It’s that time of year again. It’s Oscar season. Since we were in class when this year’s nominees were being announced, you can check out the full show below:
To summarize, here are the nominees:
The nominee list has sparked much debate and criticism. Consider: are there actors who you might add to this list?
The criticism has also led some to argue that this is “just an awards show.” Is it? Why are we discussing the Oscars? Thinking about yesterday’s introductory discussion of celebrity, image, and visual culture, what do the Oscars mean?
On the surface, it may just be an award show, but the list of nominee’s also demonstrates a wider scale of discrimination. Critics who argue that the Oscar list of nominations says nothing about our society as a whole are refusing to look at the bigger picture. Given that the Oscar nominee’s are handpicked by people who work in the film industry, there is no reason that actors of various backgrounds aren’t included (in terms of race, sexual orientation, and gender). This report by the BBC (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35348062) shows the demographic of the academy members who are voting for the nominees and unsurprisingly, nearly 94% are white. This unpublished “top secret” list of members perpetuates racial inequality, because the majority are the ones doing the picking and choosing. One solution lies in having a representative membership.
I was just about to post that article for those statistics, but you beat me to it, Timaj! I feel like the Oscar voters are not representative of the average movie fan and what they actually like and watch.
I wonder if expanding the number of nominees (again, it used to be 5, I think) would help, or would the Academy just put in more obscure “Oscar bait”?
Is it bad that I’ve only seen one of these? (The Martian, which is actually really good.) I’ll probably end up renting Bridge of Spies. I was going to make a joke about how obscure “Room” is, but I actually am familiar with the book.
Has anyone else seen more of these?
The Oscars have never made much sense to me because lets face it, Leonardo Dicaprio- one of the best actors who has been in so many wonderful movies (Titanic, The Departed, Blood Diamond… and now the Revenant) has never WON. This is why I usually never partake in watching because the movies that I like or find enjoyable to watch rarely make the cut. It’s sort of similar to how I feel about the Grammy’s, there are so many snubs that occur. However I feel like when I heard about this I had a reaction a little bit different than some in that I thought about how the Oscars represent the pinnacle of film and that there are always going to be snubs when it comes to trying to give an award that so many actors/directors/producers deserve.
The power of social media is what is bringing light to issues like this which I think is a good thing however I worry about the influence of media on these issues because sometimes there can be misrepresentations or misinterpretations. However, I think it was a little dramatic to “boycott” the oscars as Jada Pinkett Smith called for because I think that doesn’t do anything to further change the issue at hand. I read that Idris Elba (who I believe should have been nominated) and David Oyelowo both think the right method to combat these issues is to go head first and have a real conversation about change. In addition, a lot of people within the industry have had to overcome numerous obstacles (and all colors of skin and genders have their own personal struggles) but in my opinion the way in which you deal with adversity really defines your character.
http://www.eonline.com/news/732272/david-oyelowo-and-idris-elba-speak-out-against-the-2016-oscars-and-hollywood-s-diversity-problem
Personally, one of the most interesting people in this story is the Academy Of Motion Picture, Arts & Science President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. In this particular situation, it’s interesting to see a person of color defending/ representing an organization that is claimed to lack inclusiveness. To be fair, she is the president of an organization whose voting members are majority white and male, but despite the fact that she doesn’t look like many of the voting constituents, she still has to represent them as the leader of that organization.
Boone Isaacs commented that she was “both heartbroken and devastated about the lack of inclusion” and many have thanked her for her immediate response to the issue. Many consider her response authentic and are lending credibility to her claim that serious changes are on the horizon. The bigger question in this discussion is the matter of who makes the decisions. It is possible to think that a voting board constituted by majority white and male vote, recognize and nominate actors who are both talented and diverse. However, the decision of this voting body didn’t include that diversity. To say that the voting body needs to change is one issue, but it is equally possible that this voting body made up of it’s current members, recognize and nominated talented and diverse people.
Here is Saturday Night Live’s take on the Oscar controversy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ospx7tXWYbI