In a great article in Esquire, https://tinyurl.com/4uz4hmwz Idris Elba talks about his life, his tremendous career, why he stopped describing himself as a Black actor and his views on how to deal with racism in Hollywood. A well written interview worth reading.
Taking the points made by Elba to another level, when the Oscar nominations were announced in January, some of the most prominent omissions were films made by and starring Black women. Succesful films -Till, Saint Omer and The Woman King were left out of the Oscar nominations for Best Actor or Actress, Supporting Actor, Best Director and Best Film. Angela Bassett did get a nod for Best Supporting Actress. The BAFTAs were not much better with only Gina Prince-Bythewood getting a nomination for Best Director. After the #OscarsSoWhite debacle in 2015 the Academy promised changes. They did make an attempt to become more diverse in their membership. In 2020 a furor arose once again when only one Black actress made the lists. Het here we are eight years later from #OscarsSoWhite and the results show zero improvement. The hashtag is still very applicable. Just as disgraceful is the fact that not a single female director or their film made the list.
Let’s be clear–I do not believe that an actor, director, cinematographer or any other filmmaker should be included just to have a token Black in the mix. Nor am I saying that these films necessarily deserve the top prize. They do, however, deserve recognition via nominations.
The problem in my opinion lies not in the organization but rather in the systemic racism of the members. It is their inability to appreciate and understand the Black experience. Want further proof? Gina Prince-Bythewood spoke out in The Hollywood Reporter https://tinyurl.com/2f255yd3 against what she believes was a very loud statement by the Academy. In the article she related that:
“I am currently a producer on a project, and the executives were adamant that the director we chose be a Black Oscar-winning director. While that sounds great, who would that be? In the 95-year history of the Academy Awards, no Black filmmaker has ever won best director. No Black woman has ever been nominated.”....
These films were not snubbed. “A snub is if it missed out on a category or two. .... Not one single extraordinary performance was recognized. And when has that happened for a successful film that hit all the so-called markers? It’s not a snub. It’s a reflection of where the Academy stands and the consistent chasm between Black excellence and recognition.”Ms Prince-Bythewoods article should be a must read for all filmmakers, cinephiles and moviegoers. As an author and teacher I have the ability to reach out to a limited group and explain the realities of the film industry. I hope that you will both reach out and speak out to your friends and families and also let the actors, producers and studios know of your dissatisfaction of their actions (or “lack of” might be more accurate).
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