Anyone who knows me even a little already knows that I have a huge love for movies. Yet there’s one thing most of them probably aren’t going to know about this love of mine and that’s how much I’m disappointed with this years Oscar nominations that were just announced last week.
If you’ve tuned into the news at all lately, then you’ll most likely know why I’m disappointed. Spike Lee and Jada Pickett-Smith have been the most outspoken about it for the same reason as I, and each has already pledged to not attend the Oscar ceremony this year because of it. I don’t blame them given the fact there isn’t a single nomination this year in any category where the individual is non-white.
Look, I watch a lot of films, some of them are great, some not so great, and some pretty terrible. But within them all there has been a wide diversity present from Black to White to Latino to Asian to well, I’m sure you get my point. But the ones I and so many other movie reviewers who saw as a great this past year, that also had that very same diversity present within them, were totally overlooked for this years Oscars.
I find this extremely frustrating given some of the talent I saw this past year emerge in film including from movies such as Straight Outta Compton, Concussion, and Beasts Of No Nation. Yet none of them obviously made enough of an impact with the Academy who are the ones that actually guide the Oscar nomination process.
This seems so ironic to me because if there’s one place I feel that diversity would absolutely show up in, it’s Hollywood. But I continue to see how most of the movies being made are geared for straight white actors and even when one of them is essentially made for mostly non-white actors, it tends to be forgotten about when the major awards season rolls around.
I often think Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X would have a tremendous amount to say on this appalling lack of diversity if they were alive today. And how many people just like them have worked just as hard to help make our country become the equality-based melting pot it is. Yet, it seems as if there still is quite a bit of inequality going on and maybe even some passive racism because things like the Oscars seem to continue catering to an all-white society.
And truthfully, it shouldn’t have to be so groundbreaking when an actor or actress of color gets a big award nomination and ends up winning it. With the diversity our country has, shouldn’t it just be a regular thing to see plenty of them receiving nominations and ultimately winning? Alas it doesn’t appear so, at least not with the Oscars when you take a look at them throughout the past few decades.
So I don’t blame Spike Lee or Jada Pickett-Smith for taking the stance they are with this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. While many are saying they’re being overly dramatic and too radical, I say good for them for taking a stance to prove a point. And while I am a white individual, I can safely say I’m tired of everything being so whitely-run. I truly believed that Obama becoming President might have been the tide we actually needed to finally move in a more equal direction. Unfortunately, it looks as if we still have a lot of work ahead of us in this country and it begins with things just like the Oscars.
The bottom line is that God didn’t create an all-white world. God created a beautiful melting pot of many different races, where some of which have an incredible talent to act and deserve to be recognized for it. While it’s too late for this year’s Oscars to see that happen, I’m hopeful that all this frustration being aired by so many in Hollywood right now might actually create some momentum for next year’s. But even more importantly, I’m even more hopeful that one day our country and our world for that matter, will truly start honoring the diversity it has within it. Because in all honesty, don’t you think that God would want that for us as well?
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
