If you were tired of seeing your social media blow up over another awards ceremony, you might want to unplug this weekend: because it’s finally the Oscars everyone’s been chatting about, boycotting, and analyzing to pieces.
You may have seen this apt hashtag #OscarsSoWhite rumbling around, as we see a lack of nominations for talented multicultural actors, writers, and directors AGAIN. This happened even though movies like Straight Outta Compton, Creed, Concussion, and Beasts of No Nation came out this year. What took everyone by surprise is that the only nominations for Straight Outta Compton and Creed went to white people (Original Screenplay and Supporting Actor to Sylvester Stallone respectively), even though we saw worthy performances from Will Smith for Concussion, Idris Elba for Beasts of No Nation, and Michael B. Jordan for Creed.
This certainly magnified the greater issue in Hollywood of diversity in front and behind the cameras, as well as the system that allows films to be made and recognized. As we finally see a little more diversity in screen actors, we need to see more scripts that provide great roles for them, directors and producers to create the films, and studios to sign off on them. And then we need Academy members who honor their votes to the best in the craft over their buddies.
How Does Oscar Voting Work?
The way the votes work are that the Academy (the roughly 6,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) nominate fellows who deserve to be recognized for their work — actors vote for actors, editors vote for editors, and so on. These nominees are announced in an elegant fashion and the same people cast their votes to select a winner in categories like Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Original Song.
So think of this like your high school’s Homecoming Court nominations: friends are going to support friends in order to get them the nominations. But unlike high school, only those worthy enough of being members are allowed to make the nominations — which leaves a lot of old Hollywood with voting power. Although the current Academy president, Cheryl Boone Issacs, has been handling the situation as best as she can, you can tell by the leadership that there is still a need for more diversity.
Out of the 51 Governors of the 17 branches, 33% were women. Although this is higher than I expected, it is still not parity. With more diversity in leadership gives more representation of the variety of voices in Hollywood and America.
Our increasingly multicultural country desires movies that tell a variety of stories and that represent more of America today. We can see that the gap movies have yet to fill is being capitalized by TV. In old Hollywood, TV was secondary to film: the artistry, the quality, and the variety of entertainment. With numerous cable channels, premium cable, and alternative hosts of content like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, there are more opportunities for stories to be made. Just look at the quality of shows like Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Mad Men, and Transparent? If these were movie concepts, do you think you’d see it in theaters?
TV has become an elevated arena where you see skilled directors, actors, and writers are showcasing their work. Netflix and Amazon are being known, within the industry, as very agreeable partners to work with in developing and running a show, allowing the show-creators to have more control over their own work. We are in a new Golden Age of TV where the creativity is able to shine and we get to enjoy a variety of quality entertainment.
As Consumers, What Can We Do?
Support movies and TV programs that give us something different than the “same old, same old.” Talk about it with your friends. Suggest TV shows or movies to them that they may not have considered before. Of course, you can still enjoy summer blockbusters that everyone gabs about, but perhaps there’s an independent film you’ve been curious to see as well.
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So Internet, I’ll be watching the Oscars (just because I want to see what Chris Rock brings in his re-written show) and popping over to the live-stream of #JUSTICEFORFLINT hosted by stellar people like Ryan Coogler (director of Creed), Ava DuVernay (director of Selma), Hannibal Buress, Janelle Monae and more. They’re running a fundraiser for the people of Flint, MI who are in desperate need for clean, fresh water to live. (Pop in next Wednesday as I pull a full analysis of how the government failed the people of Flint!)
Until then, cheers: Amelia
Amelia Enberg 