I don't normally get excited to watch the Oscars. It always seemed like something that was for older white men, because that's who dominated throughout the many years that it has been a thing. Starting way back in 1929, Black people and women have always been delegated to the back burner from the start. The first black person to win an Oscar was in 1940. A woman by the name of Hattie McDaniel won for her supporting role as Mammy in the iconic movie, "Gone with the wind".
Since then, people of color (Not just black people) and woman have always had to fight for respect to some degree. There were a lot of black and women nominees this year, though! I want to specifically focus on race with this post.
Jada Pinkett Smith shook up the industry back in 2016 when She fronted a movement with the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. She posted a video detailing about the lack of diversity in the industry in general, but specifically, within the Oscar ceromonies. A lot of people DID NOT EF WITH HER because of that. It even looked like Jada would be blacklisted from the industry after speaking out the way she did. The lack of support from other black celebrities was despicable to me! I was like dang Jada out here putting her career on the line FOR THE CULTURE and like hardly NOBODY is backing her besides known black rights advocates such as Spike Lee. That didn't sit right with me at all and thats why Ive always had the utmost respect for the Smith Family.
Fast forward to the oscars 2017 and there were 7 minority actors who were nominated. 6 Black: Denzel Washington (Fences), Viola Davis (Fences), Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures), Naomie Harris (MoonLight), Ruth Negga (Loving), Mahershala Ali (MoonLight)
And one Indian (Dev Patel: "Lion"). Was this a result of Jada Pinkett's boycott or the fact they these movies really did deserve the accolades?
I honestly believe it to be combination of both.
The oscars released their nomination list for the upcoming 2018 awards ceremony and it is another year of diversity!
Mexican film maker, Guillermo Del Toro, is leading with a whopping 13 nominations for his masterpiece , "The Shape Of Water". Jordan Peele's Social economic horror thriller is pulling in 4 nominations: 1. Best Picture
2. Best Screenplay
3. Best Director
4. & best actor for Daniel Kaluya, the star actor of the film.
I read the screenplay for "GET OUT" myself, and I must say, its brilliant! Personally, I want him to definitely win for Best Picture and Best Screenplay.
If Peele wins for Best Picture, he will be the first black director to ever do so.
Denzel Washington picked up another nomination for his "Roman J Israel" portrayal.
Mary J Blige (Mudbound) and Octavia Spencer (The shape of water) picked up nominations for the best supporting actresses category.
Mary actually made history this year too! Not only is she the first person to EVER be nominated in the actress category and music category simulatenously, but the first ocscar nominees for a netflix original movie! Go head Mary, you better get it !
Dee Rees, one of the black writers for "MudBound", is up for best adapted screenplay and Kumail Nanjiani is an asian american writer who is nominated for "The Big Sick" in the same realm.
Some other mentions from the latino community are Carlos Sadanha, director of best animated feature "Ferdinand"; Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez were nominated for writers of the original song "Remember Me" from the disney film "CoCo" (Somehow white people directed & wrote a movie revolving around Mexican culture) lol
But yes, As I said before, I normally dont watch the oscars but this year, I definitely will be tuning in! Jordan Peele is literally about to be one of my favorite directors, and I hope that he wins at least the screenplay award, but best picture would be epic!
This year will be the 90th year of the ceremony, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and you can catch it on March 4 via ABC!
Thanks for your ear as always!
-Max Ataraxis