Screengrab from YouTube
LOS ANGELES, USA – Too white and too male. That is the charge facing the prestigious Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after it unveiled its nominations this week for the 2015 Oscars race.
The phrase #OscarsSoWhite soared up the Twitter trending topics within minutes of Thursday's nominations for the Oscars, the climax of Hollywood's annual awards season.
Not a single non-white actor or actress was shortlisted in any of the four main acting categories, although the Martin Luther King Jr movie Selma did make it into the best picture race.
This year's Oscar nominees are so white, they just became the frontrunner for the 2016 Republican nomination. #fallonmono #OscarsSoWhite
— jimmy fallon (@jimmyfallon) January 16, 2015
The drama, starring Oprah Winfrey and Britain's David Oyelowo as the Nobel Peace Prize-winning black civil rights leader, has been judged best film of the year by the Rotten Tomatoes review aggregator website.
The movie, released just as huge protest rallies were held across the United States over the shooting of unarmed black teenagers by white police officers, had an exceptional 99 percent positive rating on the website.
#OscarsSoWhite everyone in the room will clap extra loud for #Selma to prove they aren't racist
— Aamer Rahman (@aamer_rahman) January 17, 2015
That is better even than the 98 percent for coming-of-age drama Boyhood, which topped wins at the Golden Globes last weekend and earned six Oscar nominations.
"To nominate it only for best movie and best song, that is disgraceful," said Tom O'Neil, founder of the Goldderby.com website, which keeps close tabs on all the main movie industry prizes.
It is only the second time since 1998 that not a single African-American actor was nominated.
I don't know why ppl are so shocked about #OscarsSoWhite .Did people forget about those emails from those Sony execs? pic.twitter.com/bqeEQK157e
— Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) January 15, 2015
"It's due to the lack of diversity of (Oscar) voters themselves, 93 percent of whom are white, 77 percent male and with an average age of 63. This is not representative of the real world," O'Neil told AFP.
Stuck in the past
Sasha Stone of Awardsdaily.com said the Academy was way behind the rest of the industry.
"It's very frustrating to work in a business that seems so stuck in the past," she said.
Among those left out were acclaimed screenwriters and authors Gillian Flynn and Cheryl Strayed, whose book was adapted into the film Wild starring Reese Witherspoon, both seen as favorites before Thursday.
At least the Academy Awards show this year will be short. Because anything white can't be long. #OscarsSoWhite
— Jason Frost (@rubiconreader) January 17, 2015
"It is a shame to see the Academy pass up the opportunity to honor the first black woman director," Stone said, referring to Selma director Ava DuVernay.
"They also passed up the chance to honor the female writer for Gone Girl," she added, referring to Flynn.
#OscarsSoWhite They snubbed "Gone Girl" bc they thought the title was actually black slang.
— skittles. (@chasemylovex) January 15, 2015
"Selma was an excellent movie that acted and directed itself beautifully," joked actor Joshua Malina.
Tom Nunan of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television noted that last year the Academy gave its best picture prize to 12 Years a Slave, along with best supporting actress for Lupita Nyong'o – who is black – and best screenplay.
Stone added: "There is the sense that they paid their dues last year when '12 Years a Slave' won this. They now feel ok about choosing the subject matter that suits them, usually period pieces featuring white British men."
This year the top-tipped films include Boyhood, made over 12 years following a child's growth; the dark comedy Birdman; stylish caper The Grand Budapest Hotel; and Clint Eastwood's American Sniper.
Apparently to @TheAcademy, in 2015, only the stories (some made up) of white people are relevant. #OscarsSoWhite pic.twitter.com/ZQFfV1hQSt
— Nerdy Wonka (@NerdyWonka) January 15, 2015
They also include The Theory of Everything, about British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, and The Imitation Game, about code-breaking mathematics genius Alan Turing, a fellow Briton.
The Oscar nominees are so white, Matthew McConaughey took one look and said, "All white all white all white." #fallontonight #OscarsSoWhite
— Fallon Tonight (@FallonTonight) January 16, 2015
Some have nonetheless defended the Academy, stressing that it elected an African American, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, to head its Board of Governors, and that actors like Forest Whitaker, Jennifer Hudson, Octavia Spencer and Mo'Nique – all black – have won Oscars in recent years.
"I have not seen the evidence of closed doors based on people's color," said Nunan, noting that Friends star Jennifer Aniston failed to score a nomination for her "role of a lifetime," in Cake, while animated favorite The Lego Movie was also left out.
I bet it's because LEGO figures are yellow. #OscarsSoWhite
— Simu Liu (@seemseems) January 17, 2015
"I certainly do not believe there is any kind of racism in approaching who gets attention and who doesn't at the Academy," he added.
But he said: "There should be more work done to involve more diversity."
African-American lobbyist and leader Al Sharpton meanwhile commented: "The movie industry is like the Rocky Mountains: the higher you get, the whiter it gets." – Rappler.com
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