Posted on 01/21/2016 7:14:35 PM PST by Citizen Zed
When Sidney Poitier became the first black actor to win an Oscar for best leading man in 1963, much of America was scandalised as the actress Anne Bancroft presented him with the award and gave him a congratulatory kiss on the cheek.
To many, such inter-racial contact was taboo.
Today, when so many of the most successful people in showbiz -- and in all other walks of life -- are of ethnic origin, such a reaction seems grotesque.
...
The Academy should not follow the route of positive discrimination, or stipulations on how many nominations should go to minorities. That would fatally devalue the awards. Indeed, there is a slight suspicion that such a policy was pursued -- albeit unofficially -- in 2001 when Denzel Washington won best actor for Training Day (about Los Angeles drugs enforcement officers). The actress Julia Roberts, for example, worked feverishly behind the scenes for him to become the first black actor to win the award since Sidney Poitier.
...
The fact is that the history of film is full of movies and performances involving people of all races who should have been considered for Oscars but who weren't.
Sometimes, I play a little game -- listing my favourite 20 movies and then working out which won a best-film Oscar. I usually get half wrong.
The one I always get wrong is Singin' In The Rain. It was beaten, in 1953, by The Greatest Show On Earth. And who remembers that?
As for Singin' In The Rain, it wasn't even nominated for best picture. And it had a cast full of white actors!
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Al Jolson won it didn’t he?
Inger Stevens was secretly married to a black man or at least it was kept very hidden. Wondered if that social pressure led to her suicide.
Are they "successful" because they are good? Or, are they successful because they are token minority that was chosen to be in the film for "diversity" reasons?
90%+ of the minority roles in Hollywood were created just to put a brown face in the film. People wouldn't notice if they were not there...and wouldn't care.
That was the best scene in the movie, and it had a lot of great scenes.
From Wikipedia about Narcissus:
He was the son of the river god Cephissus and nymph Liriope. He was proud, in that he disdained those who loved him. Nemesis noticed this behavior and attracted Narcissus to a pool, where he saw his own reflection in the water and fell in love with it, not realizing it was merely an image.
Davis faced a great deal of bigotry in his life. For example, he could perform with the Rat Pack at the Sands in Las Vegas and other such resorts, but he could not stay there. I believe it was Frank Sinatra who finally said he would not perform unless Davis was allowed to stay at the resort.
It's unfortunate because Davis was a huge talent. I suppose eventually, it was his talent that people began to focus on, not his skin color, and that allowed him to be successful.
I’m not going to re-argue the Civil Rights movement with you - that wasn’t my point. It was simply that America didn’t stop when that kiss occurred. Perhaps the south came to a grinding halt but the rest of the country didn’t even think about it. My family, hardly The Durrs of Montgomery, were watching that night - as was I, a little tot - and it was simply two luvvies doing what luvvies do on Oscar night.
“Sidney Poitier, who won an Oscar for his performance in Lilies of the Field, was the first black actor to ever win one of the gold statuettes:”
Not quite true, Hattie McDaniel won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1939 for “Gone With the Wind.”
Sorry I digress in a way,
My dad worked 3 jobs including being in the U.S. navy so we could live in a great neighborhood, regardless of skin color, and thank god he did, cause I visited where he came from and it was not pretty. I thank god as flawed as I am that my family worked as hard as they did also I am thankful I am free to date who I wish without the Government telling me whom to see, who are like me culturally and politically, also friends who are mostly white, not that it matters, but have been a great influence in my life and are almost like brothers, however I respect your opinion.
In New Jersey as well. Racism in the 50’s and 60’s was very common there when I was growing up.
Just give everyone a “participation Oscar” and the problem goes away ...
Glad for you. It was not the government that set our standards of behavior when I was growing up, it was our parents. Curfews were strictly enforced, my parents had to approve of everyone I dated or I didn’t go out, choice of apparel was closely monitored, etc. Most everyone I knew got married soon after high school. Married life is a whole lot easier if the two people have the same views on responsibility, whether to raise children or not and how, which church to attend and how to spend income. None of my high school friends ever got a divorce and the only kids I ever knew who were from a single parent family were only because a parent had died. Not saying there weren’t disagreements or loud arguments ever. But at least we agreed on the basics - religion, finances and family structure.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.