Year after year the Oscar nominations are released and with it the lack of diversity. It became so severe that the hashtag #oscarssowhite started trending in 2016. Lately, it might appear like we have been improving with major wins for movies like 12 Years a Slave, Moonlight, Roma, and this years Parasite. Still, those few wins are not enough when so many minority films continue to be snubbed.
A few of this years snubs being: Last Black Man in San Francisco, Dolemite is My Name, The Farewell and Hustlers. With it being 2020, one would think we would have more diversity in the Academy and the media is not shy in speaking out on this issue.
It is extremely concerning that we still have to be calling the Academy out on this. It seems as if the Academy refuses to get on board with the changing times and is still holding onto its old traditions. They should really be ashamed because as movie lovers, they should be most aware that a major component of story telling is its diversity.
The art of story telling should not be limited to the same old American traditions. Movies made by people of different backgrounds teach us about different walks of life, and can also raise a light on important issues. Movies by great directors like Pain and Glory (Pedro Almodovar), Blackkklansman (Spike Lee), and Little women (Greta Gerwig) teach something that not everyone might relate to but can learn from due to the minorities who are telling their perspectives. These films are important and should be recognized just as equally as the ones that are nominated.
Like I previously said, some past winners do show some improvement, but we are still far back. One thing I can say is, how moved I am to see how the media refuses to stay quiet about this. Amanda Dobbins from the podcast, The Big Picture, spoke about the trend the Academy tends to have when nominating people of color, saying that they tend to only be nominated when portraying slaves or are in situations where they are not in power. A big snub that is going around in the media is Lupita Nyongo’s incredible performance in US. Although, they did nominate Cynthia Erivo for her role as Harriet Tubman in Harriet.
In all the Oscar snubs listening and reading I have done, I felt Amanda Dobbins’ comment was very honest and it was something I had not been aware of. This is also why I like reading articles from The Washington Post or The New York Times. I feel they have been persistent on this topic and do not hold back on the Academy’s actions. I especially appreciate how the media is not just talking about how one-sided the Academy is, but has also been cracking down on what their excuses really are for these snubs.
