The Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences has recently been called out by numerous actors, celebrities, and
citizens as being racist for not nominating any white actors in any of the four
acting categories for a second year in a row. Will Smith and his wife, Jada
Pinkett Smith, have made it clear that they will not be attending this year’s
Academy Awards because of the discrimination towards minorities in Hollywood.
Meanwhile, Viola Davis, a black actress who has been nominated for two Oscars
in the last 7 years, stated that the focus should be on acting as a craft and
that there will always be opportunity for those who are talented. There have
been many more mixed opinions on this issue over the last couple of weeks from
people in Hollywood of several ethnicities.
Personally, I do not think that the
Oscars are racist because only white actors and actresses were nominated in the
last two years. Again, the focus should be on acting, not on the color of one’s
skin. ‘12 Years A Slave’ was nominated for 9 awards just two years ago and won
three of those, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Lupita Nyong’o, a
young, black actress. Last year, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, a Mexican
filmmaker, won Best Director for Birdman, and he is nominated for it again this
year for The Revenant (with a likely chance of winning). I could continue
listing more names of similar situations, but I feel that people of color are
in no way excluded from the Academy Awards.
However,
it is important to note that members of the Academy are historically and
predominantly white. Although I do not think that the nominations mean that the
Oscars are racist, there may be a need to create more roles for actors of
color. The Academy should also work on diversifying their membership, which the
president of the Academy, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, has made known to the public.
These are important strides for the Academy to make in order to create a more
level playing field.
This
issue could be analyzed further, but to specify, I suppose I should say that I
do not think the Oscars intentionally try to exclude any minority or ethnicity,
as people of minorities have created some of the best and most creative movies.
Written by: Chris Abele
