OSCAR WHITEOUT 2: DIVERSITY A NO-SHOW
For the second year in a row, no actors of color are nominated
What this year’s Academy Awards nominations boast in well-reviewed blockbusters and A-list stars, they lack in diversity across most major categories.
For the second year in a row, all 20 slots in the lead and supporting acting categories went to white actors. Last year’s “whiteout” (the first since 1998) sparked social media outrage and inspired the Twitter hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, which was revived Thursday in response to
this year’s picks.
“I thought I was watching a sequel,” says Gil Robertson, president of the African American Film Critics Association. “It’s almost the exact same scenario, but more offensive.”
“It’s a whiteout,” says Erik Davis, Fandango.com managing editor. “The Academy Awards need to do a better job at acknowledging the diversity in Hollywood right now. There are some great performances and films out there that are just being underlooked.”
Among them: Idris Elba’s menacing turn as an African warlord in Beasts of No Nation. The British actor earned Golden Globe, BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for the role, and 21 out of 24 experts at awards prognisticator GoldDerby.com expected him to receive a supporting actor nomination.
Earlier this awards season, Will Smith picked up a Golden Globe acting nomination for football drama Concussion, and Creed breakout Michael B. Jordan won a National Society of Film Critics Award for best actor. Still, both actors were snubbed by Oscar.
Reaction to the lack of diversity came fast and furious on social media. “Why did the Oscars announce all the white nominees first?” Globes host Ricky Gervais quipped on Twitter. “All white Oscar nomi- nations are another example of the lack of diversity in Hollywood,” tweeted Al Sharpton.
The oversights might not seem surprising, considering the membership of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: 94% white and 77% male, according to a 2012 Los Angeles Times study. Since becoming the Academy’s first African-American president in 2013, Cheryl Boone Isaacs has made strides in shifting those demographics. More than 300 new members were invited to join last summer, many of different races, ages and ethnic backgrounds.
Speaking with USA TODAY, Isaacs expressed her frustration with this year’s picks, calling them a “missed opportunity.”
“I was disappointed,” Isaacs said. “A lot of great work was done this year. However, we are not stopping. We are not deterred. We are moving forward. ... That needs to happen not just within the Academy, but the entire motion picture industry.”
Black filmmakers Ryan Coogler ( Creed) and F. Gary Gray ( Straight Outta Compton) were on the bubble but were left out of the director race. The only minority among the five male nominees is Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu, who won last year for Birdman. The nominations Creed and Compton received were given to white men and a woman: Sylvester Stallone, a best supporting actor hopeful for Creed, and Compton writers Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff for best original screenplay.