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The Oscars Are Super White Again

January 15, 2016 | WTF | Lex Jurgen | 0 Comments

A black activist invented the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite to signify how the vast majority of big Oscar nominations are going to white actors in white films. You know, white films, your default search category on Fandango. Inventing a hashtag is far simpler than penning an intelligent essay and gets you invited onto more talk shows. People who view everything through a racial prism lamented the fact that Straight Out of Compton wasn’t nominated for Best Picture, because the Academy usually nominates one black themed film they’ve never seen to keep people off their back. Last year was Selma. For whom shall Oprah cry?

The #OscarsSoWhite people suggest that white people in Hollywood feeling super guilty about their awesome privilege should admit more minority members to the Academy and for those members watch a more diverse array of films to potentially support. But the voters don’t even watch most of the films now as it is. It’s a volunteer thing. They watch the two or three everybody else is watching then just vote for what they hear is good, films their friends worked on, or films they think reflect well on the industry or are made by Spielberg. It’s lazy uninvolved tribalism. It’s also how we pick Presidents and our favorite sports teams.

You could get your own awards completely skewed by cultural and racial identity. Something like, I don’t know, the NAACP Image Awards. It’s big shit in Hollywood every February and it’s black only films and shows and actors nominated for every category. Will there be Cosby jokes? There will be none. Phylicia Rashad will win an award.

Black artists tend to work in the comedy and action genere, also known as the movies people actually go to see, and never ever get nominated. It sucks to only have to make tons of money. If you make a movie about a historical black figure or experience, you will get nominated. Rap groups don’t count. I hear the Rosa Parks bio pic is scheduled for 2019. Bet the house on whoever plays Rosa. This game isn’t that complicated. Quit shouting at it.

Photo credit: The Hollywood Reporter/Miller Mobley

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