Oscars So Wh...Wait, No They're Not!!!

                 For the last two years, the Oscars have had only white nominees for acting. This has led to a controversy about how the voters are less inclined to vote for minority groups when it comes time. But are they really or is the finger being pointed the wrong way? It seems as though this lack of diversity issue only comes about when black actors don't get nominated for an Oscar. Hell, the three people truly speaking out against this topic are Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee. Is there a connection to the fact that Mr. Smith did not get nominated for his performance in Concussion? A good performance, to be sure, but not Oscar worthy. Is there another connection to the fact that Lee's film, Chi-Raq was left out at the Oscars? It was a well intentioned film that should be respected but certainly not up there in the big leagues. The answer to this is a resounding "of course." This year, host Chris Rock and nominee Mark Ruffalo both have decided not to boycott the Oscars. Clearly this has something to do with the fact that Ruffalo is nominated and Rock was not  in anything set to get him a nomination in 2015. What I'm saying is that the Oscars are not a racist program but before I definitively state that, I'd like to look at the history of the Oscars to show why this is.

                The Oscars, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, an organization run by a black woman, mind you, has been around since 1928. It has changed somewhat over the years but all in all, has still kept the same tune. For example, although it used to be that the Oscars straight up awarded a nominee for their body of work that year rather than a singular performance, the Academy does still do that to some degree. I'm not just talking about the honorary awards (this year, by the way, they are giving it to Spike Lee, a black man.) Rather, Jack Palance may not have won for City Slickers if it had not been for his entire field of work. The most drastic change in the Oscars over the years is their ability to honor all different types of people. Can anyone honestly say that an African American or Hispanic would have been nominated in 1930? Of course not! Nowadays, the best get honored, no matter what the color of their skin. If the Academy voters were truly racist, why have there been wins such as Forest Whitaker, Octavia Spencer, Lupita Nyong'o, Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, Monique, Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Foxx and Halle Berry and nominations for Gabourey Sidibe, Viola Davis, Don Cheadle, Terrence Howard, Will Smith, Ruby Dee, Taraji P Henson, Barkhad Abdi, Eddie Murphy, Djimon Honsou, Quvenzhane Wallis and Queen Latifah since 2000 alone? If the Oscars were truly racist, they'd make sure none of these nominations or wins existed.

                   This brings me to a point I'd like to express in some length. Over the weekend, I debated someone I didn't even know (they commented on a mutual friend's post) on Facebook about this subject. First, they pointed out that Idris Elba was a huge snub for Supporting Actor in Beasts Of No Nation, a film very few saw and a category with a few dozen people who could have been nominated. He also pointed out that Abraham Attah should have been nominated in the category of lead actor over Bryan Cranston's performance in Trumbo. Valid point. Cranston is a terrific actor but that performance wasn't very good. However, would more people not have replaced him with another child actor, Jacob Tremblay, an incredibly gifted performer, in Room, regardless of skin color? I mean Tremblay got a lot more talk across the world. If the argument is that they would have voted for Tremblay over Attah because of skin color then I guess most of the world is racist. Last year, David Oyelowo was admittedly a big snub for his brave and absorbing performance as Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma but the 2015 Oscars featured a couple dozen possibilities for a Best Leading Actor nomination. Oyelowo was one of many snubs that year. Ava DeVurnay, a black woman, also didn't earn a Best Director nomination for Selma but once again--stacked categories. My point is--this would be a much stronger argument if there was a performance from a minority to point out from the last two years and go--"now they gave the best performance in that category hands down."

                      The weakness of this argument also shows when this person on Facebook brought in the idea that Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu was a "token Hispanic" nomination for this year's Oscars for his direction of The Revenant. The Facebook Arguer (as I will call him from now on) said that Emmanuel Lubezki did all the work as cinematographer and Inarritu is getting none of the credit for what made that film so great. However, upon doing just a minute worth of research, I found a pile of reviews that did nothing but praise Inarritu for his direction and co-writing on the film. It's as if people who argue this topic just say what they want to hear. When I tried to point out that not enough people saw Beasts Of No Nation to really have built up its awards contention, The Facebook Arguer replied with "No one saw 45 Years and yet (Charlotte) Rampling got nominated." Okay, but 45 Years has only been in New York and LA up until the day you were arguing that while Beasts Of No Nation has been available on Netflix for months. The Facebook Arguer then declared himself the victor of the argument and even had a buddy of his back him up. What's up with people I don't know wanting to argue with me about this? It's almost like what I'm saying about this subject is so valid that it intimidates them. If these are the representatives of this debate, it's no wonder no one's taking this seriously.

                       Lastly, the boycotting of the Oscars by Will and Jada and Lee sounds much more meaningful than it is. It's not like the Academy is sitting there going "three of the thousands of celebrities who show up to this are boycotting it and may make a few of the millions of regular viewers not watch..what ever are we going to do?" In actuality, no one cares. Sure, Will and Jada and Lee have made the Academy work to diversify their voters and Rock's monologue is now going to be a speech about this topic but let's face it--it's just so they can stop hearing people whine like little children. In actuality, it's a free country, you're grown adults and no one cares what you do. Will and Jada and Lee are the equivalent of a four year old who acts up by pointing out to their mother how much they're misbehaving. To complete this article, I'd like to give you a tweet from actor David Krumholtz--"That moment when somehow, inexplicably, Hollywood isn't nearly liberal enough. #OscarsSoWhite is ridiculous and racist in itself." Indeed, Mr. Krumholtz. Now keep trying to get the Academy to throw a few token minorities into the mix, regardless of whether or not they were the best, Will, Jada and Spike.