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onenote

(42,374 posts)
Fri Jan 16, 2015, 02:36 PM Jan 2015

IMO, the issue should be less about diversity in Oscar nominations and more about diversity in roles

Yes, Selma is a very good movie. So good, in fact, that it was nominated for best picture. But does that mean that something nefarious was at work in Ava Duvernay not getting a Best Director nomination? Well, if you consider the fact that eight movies are nominated for Best Movie but there are only five Best Director nominations, then someone is going to get screwed. Even when there was more of a correlation in the number of best movie nominations and best director nominations, there were instances in which a movie was nominated for best movie but not best director (or vice versa). There are many instances in which a movie wins best picture and loses best director (and vice versa). And there is always someone outraged by that result. But the reasons for the result cannot be pinned on any one thing.

In Duvernay's case, in addition to the numbers game (8 best pictures/5 best director nominees), there was the controversy over the portrayal of LBJ. There also was the fact that she was essentially a first time director (her two previous indie films were not widely distributed or seen). I think one could make the case that Angelina Jolie has as much right to complain about being overlooked (and her movie being overlooked) as anyone. And who amongst the nominees (and non-nominees) should not have been picked? Inarritu, the first Mexican director to be nominated for best director? Why? These things are subjective as hell. Explain Bennett Miller getting a nomination for best director but his film, Foxcatcher, not getting a best movie nomination? He was the fifth best director but the movie he made wasn't one of the 8 best? Grand Budapest Hotel got a best actor and best director nomination, but no actors were nominated -- did he just direct the scenery? On the other hand, Wild scored two best acting nominations, but didn't crack the top 8 movies or top five directors -- did they nominated actors just direct themselves to these nominated performances?

Get it? Its subjective, its irrational, it always has been, always will be. When was the last time an Asian American or Hispanic American was nominated for a top acting award.

For the record I thought David Oyelowo's performance was worthy of an Oscar nomination, but I didn't see all the other movies for which actors were nominated so who am I to say that he deserved a nomination more than any of them or any of the other non-nominees who may have give "Oscar-worthy" performances?

But to turn (finally) to my main point: what is getting lost in the controversy over nominations is the issue of the lack of meaty roles for talented non-white actors. How often does an Asian actor or a Hispanic actor get nominated? Why were most of the top African-American actors -- the ones that have garnered nominations in the past -- not featured in top notch movies this past year? Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson, Viola Davis, etc.

The number of nominations doesn't fluctuate with the number of movies made. If there are lot of good movies made, but minority actors don't have roles in them, its going to be hard to get an Oscar nomination unless there is some sort of set-aside (the Best Minority Actor category?) Please, no. No. No. No.

So if Al Sharpton wants to meet with studio heads, fine. But he should be talking about roles, not nominations. And he could and should have been having that conversation earlier. Because its not as if giving Ava Duvernay and/or David Oyelowo a nomination this year would have changed the basic fact that opportunities for good roles in top movies are limited for minority actors.

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