Posted on 01/13/2020 8:35:19 AM PST by EdnaMode
Until Issa Rae and John Cho announced “Harriet” star Cynthia Erivo as a nominee for best actress for the 92nd Academy Awards, it was looking increasingly likely that the Oscars were heading for a repeat of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy that drove the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences four years ago to aggressively begin diversifying its membership.
Instead, Erivo saved the Academy from the embarrassment of yet another slate of all-white acting nominees — but just barely.
This year’s Oscar nominations for acting still managed to shut out a wealth of highly regarded performances by actors of color who did earn nominations for several other lead-up awards.
Those include Awkwafina in “The Farewell” (best actress winner at the Golden Globes and nominee at the Critics’ Choice Awards), Jennifer Lopez in “Hustlers” (best supporting actress nominee at the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards, SAG Awards and Independent Spirit Awards), Eddie Murphy in “Dolemite Is My Name” (best actor nominee at the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards), Zhao Shuzhen in “The Farewell” (best supporting actress nominee at the Critics’ Choice Awards and Independent Spirit Awards), Lupita Nyong’o in “Us” (best actress nominee at the SAG Awards), Alfre Woodard in “Clemency” (best actress nominee at the Independent Spirit Awards) and Jamie Foxx in “Just Mercy” (best supporting actor nominee at the SAG Awards). Some awards pundits had also pegged Song Kang-ho in “Parasite” as a potential surprise Oscar nominee for best supporting actor.
The Academy membership almost followed in the footsteps of the BAFTA Film Awards, which nominated an all-white slate of acting nominees for this year’s ceremony — a move Marc Samuelson, the chair of BAFTA’s film committee, called “infuriating.” Samuelson subsequently announced a “careful and detailed review” of the BAFTA Film Awards’ voting process, but Erivo declined an invitation to sing at the ceremony.
“The reason I didn’t perform is because I don’t think it’s proper representation, as a woman of color, of people of color in this industry,” she told Variety on Jan. 9 about her decision to sit out the BAFTAs. “Let’s see how (the review) does, whether it affects next year or the year after, who knows, but I definitely think it’s time for change, we can’t overlook it any more.”
The Academy underwent similar soul-searching — and transformation — after back-to-back years of all-white acting nominees for the 2015 and 2016 awards ceremonies. Shortly after the 2016 nominations, then-Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs announced sweeping changes to membership and voting rules, and a concerted effort to increase the number of women and people of color among the Academy membership.
Those efforts doubled the percentage of people of color within the Academy in just four years, from 8% in 2015 to 16% in 2019.
Given Monday’s nomination announcement, it’s clear that the Academy’s recent efforts to make its voting base more inclusive aren’t enough for the organization to recognize a diverse array of filmmaking talent.
Erivo, however, is a double Oscar nominee this year — she also earned an Oscar nod, with Joshuah Brian Campbell, for best original song for “Stand Up” from “Harriet.” So it appears, at least, that the Oscars will get the benefit of Erivo’s peerless voice at its ceremony.
They still do the Oscars?
I hope we as a society will look back at this era as a short blip of madness. This identity politicizing cannot come to an end soon enough.
Was that the stupid program I clicked past last night? The one with self-absorbed hypocrite celebrities professing to love the world and peace? Every one of them had a liberal mantra that they mouthed.
The Oscars has nothing going for it this year. Unlike the Grammy’s where at least one can find 10-15% of the show actually entertaining.
It might have been the Critics Choice Awards.
But all the Beauty Queens are black. And all the commercials. That should count for something.
‘But all the Beauty Queens are black. And all the commercials. That should count for something.’
and all those commercials showing lawbreakers as white men ought to help as well...
unless Ricky Gervais is hosting, then i’m just not interested.
On my honor, I have not heard of any of those movies. I do not normally watch or care for most modern movies, but usually recognize a title.
Not this time. Where the heck did this crop come from?
Cracks me up. They are demanding affirmative action oscars.
No host.
“saved the Academy from the embarrassment of yet another slate of all-white acting nominees”
Does the Essence Awards ever get “saved” from the embarrassment of yet another slate of all-black acting nominees?
The big awards nominee is about a guy in whiteface - The Joker. How racist can you get. LOL
Is that the one where the members arrive in private limousines 20 feet long, wearing dresses they paid five and six-figure dollars for, wearing jewelry they paid five and six-figure dollars for, spending money they were paid under capitalism, then go inside and bash conservatives for using too much of the planets recourses and not being communists enough?
As they further descend into liberal madness, I consider the Academy Awards (or any other of Hollywood's self-praising ceremonies) as a group of losers giving out awards to losers for being losers.
Well, if it turns out he’s white (eeewwww!) then they should take away his nomination.
When will this nonsense end? I’m waiting for a law to be passed that no white person can ever get anything that a POC also wants. I think we’re almost there, anyway.
Just give them all a Participant Trophy and call it a night.
I am not defending these hypocrites.
However, the dresses theses women wear are typically given to them or they are a loner. That is why the hosts always ask the “stars” WHO they are wearing.
The very expensive jewelry is almost always loaned to them along with a very large MALE bodyguard in an Armani tuxedo.
They are there to guard the jewelry.
The whole idea is that some rich woman sees Charlize Theron(or somebody) wearing a particular dress and then go out and buy it for $5000. Same idea with the jewelry. Tiffany’s loans them the ice hoping some billionaires wife sees it and wants to buy it.
Versace is trying to sell dresses. It is very cheap advertising to have some internationally recognize movie star wearing your product on international TV. At one point in time, the Academy Awards was one of the highest TV audiences of the year.
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