Ever since the Oscars nominations for this year were announced, social media has been trending with #OscarSoWhite. Actors of colour did not receive even one single nod from the Academy this year even when there were some really amazing movies like “Straight Outta Compton” and “Creed”.
Even though, these movies did get some nominations, but all the nominees from these movies were actually white. It was expected that this year Michael B. Jorden, Will Smith and O’Shea Jackson Jr might get a nod for their amazing performances but none of them received any recognition from the Academy.
After the Oscar nominations were announced, it was expected that the Chris Rock might step away from his duties as a host. But it looks like he is here to stay.
Chris Rock will host Oscars after all
The show’s producer Reginald Hudlin told Entertainment Tonight at an NAACP Image Awards luncheon that the comedian has scrapped his material. “As things got a little provocative and exciting, he said, ‘I’m throwing out the show I wrote and writing a new show,’” he said.
“You should expect [#OscarsSoWhite jokes],” Hudlin said, adding “And, yes, the Academy is ready for him to do that,” he added.
The largely white, male and older makeup of the 6,000-plus film industry professionals who belong to the Academy has long been cited as a barrier to racial and gender equality at the Oscars.
“It’s unprecedented for the academy to make this kind of drastic overhaul,” said Tom O’Neil, editor of the awards-tracking website Gold Derby. “It’s a very dramatic announcement and a very welcome breakthrough.”
The change in the program have been unanimously by the Academy’s governing board on Thursday. These changes include a program to “identify and recruit qualified new members who represent greater diversity,” and to strip some older members of voting privileges.
A lot of actors are already talking about it
Actress Jada Pinkett-Smith has already announced that she will be boycotting Oscars this year. Her husband Will Smith, who had nominee buzz for his role in “Concussion,” told “Good Morning America” that he’s skipping the ceremony with his wife. “We’re uncomfortable to stand there and say that this is okay,” Smith said. According to them, they don’t want to bring up their children in a world like this and they want to do everything to get equality for the future generations. Filmmakers Spike Lee and Michael Moore will also be no-goes.
Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon, wrote about it on her Facebook page and she called for more Academy diversity, while Charlotte Rampling, a British best actress nominee this year took a complete U-turn on this discussion and told a European radio station that the diversity debate is “racist to whites.” Michael Caine, a two-time Oscar-winning British actor, said black performers should be patient about Oscar recognition.
While we are not the ones to decide whether Christ Rock should boycott the Oscars or not but we do think he needs to address the issue on the show.
In response to the uproar, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Friday announced sweeping changes to its structure, governance and voting processes as an attempt to increase its diversity and calm the criticism.
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