The popular vote?
And the award goes to…
In 2014, the 6,028-strong Academy was revealed to be 93 per cent Caucasian and 76 per cent male, with an average age of 63. That year, 12 Years A Slave won Best Picture, but 2015 and 2016’s failure to recognise any minority stars in the acting categories – #OscarsSoWhite – left Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs “heartbroken”. After a huge intake of new members, almost half of whom were women and/or of colour, half of 2017’s top prizes went to black talent: Moonlight took Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor; Viola Davis won for Fences. Diversity at last, but Casey Affleck shrugged off claims of sexual harrassment to win too, offering a trailer for the #MeToo movement.
With Time’s Up taking centre stage at the Globes, it’s the Oscars’ turn to reflect the times. The Academy exists in the epicentre of the epidemic and will be the place to make a statement. Important nominations for the likes of Get Out and Lady Bird were a step in the right direction, especially as it looked like this year might end up being another whitewash and/or sausage fest, and Tiffany Haddish’s nomination announcements (with Andy Serkis) undercut the stuffiness we’ve come to expect. Host Jimmy Kimmel, however, will have his work cut out striking the right tone on the night.
For all its celebration of innovation, the Academy and its ceremonies remain conservative. Attacks on Trump in 2016 were softballs, not rants. Brie Larson didn’t clap when bestowing Best Actor upon Affleck, but she hugged him nonetheless. Director Elia Kazan, who named names during the McCarthy era witch-hunts (see Trumbo), was even gifted an honorary Oscar in 1999, albeit dividing the audience: Streep stood, Spielberg sat, Ed Harris refused to applaud. So, will the onus be on the A-listers to represent the spirit of the zeitgeist accordingly? It’ll be must-see TV, for sure. EM