The
current uproar vibrating in the film industry echoes last year's
furor: the list of Oscars nominees for this year, as it was last
year, is lacking in diversity. This lack of diversity in the 2016
Oscar Awards nominations has also ignited calls for a boycott of the
awards ceremony next month, by black entertatiners.
An
infograph shared by Entertainment Weekly shows the diversity makeup
of the 2016 Oscars nominees: 95.3% White; 2.3% Asian and
Hispanic/Latino. African Americans are not represented.
This
controversy comes at the heel of the recent Martin Luther King, Jr.
Day, a national holiday in honor of America's foremost Civil Rights
activist and hero, who fought for racial equality through his
non-violent resistance movement in the 1950's to until his life was
cut short by an assassin's bullet.
Significant
Voices of Discontent
Spike
Lee, Hollywood black director, producer, actor and writer, criticized
the Oscars nominations for being too white two years in a row, and
called for affirmative
action
to address the problem of racial diversity in Hollywood. He was
earlier reported as planning to boycott the awards ceremony, but
later reports quoted him as saying he never used the word “boycott.”
Lee sent his message to the Academy via his Instagram account where
he wrote he would not be attending the Oscar Awards cerremony, for
neither he nor his wife “cannot support the lily white” awards
show.
Nevertheless,
his criticism over the non-inclusion of colored actors in this year's
nominations, just as it was last year, was shared by other Hollywood
celebrities as well.
Stars
who have lent their voices against the lack of diversity in the
Oscars nominations are high-profile celebrities, including actress
Jada Pinkett Smith, who said through her video message on Facebook
she would not be attending nor watching the ceremony. She made the
announcement on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Jada's actor husband
Will Smith who had been expected to win a nomination for his role in
the film “Concussion” did not get any.
Actor
George Clooney likewise joined in the discussion and said there was
more diversity 10 years ago with many more African Americans
nominated and “I
don't think it's a problem of who you're picking as much as it is how
many options are available to minorities in film, particularly in
quality films."
Lupita
Nyong'o, who made history as the 2013 Academy Award Best Supporting
Actress, said she was “disappointed by
the lack of inclusion in this year's Academy Awards nominations. […]
I stand with my peers who are calling for change in expanding the
stories that are told and recognition of the people
who
tell them."
Producer
of Straight Outta Compton, Will Parker, weighed in through his
Facebook post, saying the lack of diversity was “embarrasing.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton wanted Americans to “tune out” the Awards
next month.
Academy
Response
Cheryl
Boone Isaacs, the Academy's first African American, and third woman
president, said she too was “heartbroken and frustrated' at the
nominations' lack of diversity this year and pledged to work on the
Academy's diversity issue. While expressing sadness over the lack of
inclusion of people of color among the nominees, Isaacs acknowledged
the “extraordinary achievements” of those nominated.
Isaacs
vowed they in the Academy will “conduct a review of our membership
recruitment in order to bring about much-needed diversity in our 2016
class and beyond.” In
her lengthy statement in response to the nominations controversy,
Isaacs compared the period in the 60's and 70's when “it was about
recruiting younger members to stay vital and relevant. In 2016, the
mandate is inclusion in all of its facets: gender, race, ethnicity
and sexual orientation.”
Diversity
in the Academy Membership
The
profile of Academy members is deemed mostly white and male, although
under the leadership of Boone Isaacs, efforts to increase diversity
have been noted, such as inviting for membership a greater number of
people who could help in the diversity initiative of the Academy.
Invitations were given in 2015 to women,
foreign-born artists and people of various races, ethnic backgrounds
and ages, according to the Variety. This
is most important in diversifying the Academy's membership, as most
Academy members have voting rights for the Awards.
Based
on a profile study made of Academy members in 2012, 94% of the voting
body was White, 77% of the voters were male, and only a dismal 2%
made up the Black members. As many observe, it is the membership
make-up of the Academy, and to a greater extent, the make-up of
Hollywood itself that influences the Oscar Award nominations'
diversity, or lack of it.
Credit
should be given to Boone Isaacs for her diversity push, but others
are still yearning for more tangible results. The Academy, and so
with the entire Hollywood, its diversity should reflect the nation.
Hollywood
Beset with Lack of Diversity
Job
opportunities for women, minorities in front of and behind the
scenes, have long been identified as dismal. In a recent study by the
Center
for the Study of Women in Television and Film,
only little progress was noted regarding the gender make-up of
Hollywood directors, writers, producers, editors and
cinematographers, with an increase that only matched that in 2001.
Women did not have as much challenge in 2015 being producers as
struggling to be directors and cinematographers, the study found too.
In general, only 19% of women held top jobs behind-the-scenes in
2015.
Another
study, the 2015 Hollywood Diversity Report, by the Ralph J. Bunche
Center for African American Studies at UCLA,
which analyzed the bottomline in the American film industry covering
the period 2012-13, shows minorities still underrrepresented in many
Hollywood jobs despite having posted some gains. They posted small to
modest gains according to this study.
As
the country's population continues to become more diverse, minorities
– who comprised 40% of the population in 2013 – are expeced to
become the majority. From lead roles to film directors, writers and
other behind-the-scenes- jobs, minorities were outnumbered.
One
significant finding of the study is film and TV shows that reflect
the nation's ethnic and racial diversity were more likely to become
successful at the box-office. It concludes by saying there is a
“disconnect” between the still prevalent marginalization of women
and minorities in Hollywood and what the growing diverse American
audiences want – to see more diverse content; as it says:
“diversity sells.” Yet, part of the problem could be in the
conflict of interests between individual stakeholders, mostly white
and male, and institutional interests. It is not a simple problem to
fix, but one solution, among many, seen by the researchers is for
guilds to “increase access and professional development for
minorities and women.”
The
Challenge: More Action, Less Talk
With
today's diversity issue plaguing the industry due to racial
underrepresentation, the Academy is called upon to install more
action. Some suggest a change in the membership system of the
Academy, or in the balloting system; the call for a boycott is a
divisive issue as well as not every black entertainer agree with it,
and some have remained silent about the matter.
The
bottomline: efforts for diversity and inclusion should continue
to be in the limelight. Films have strong influence on culture;
films are not only for entertainment, but are also excellent tools or
resource for teaching values, such as diversity and inclusion.
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