A year after host Neil Patrick Harris quipped that the Oscars were honoring Hollywood’s “best and whitest”, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled yet another all-white slate of acting nominees Thursday, prompting a dismayed revival of the “OscarsSoWhite” hashtag.
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The original creator of the hashtags, April Reign, who is managing editor of BroadwayBlack.com and an editor of NU Tribe Magazine, spoke to the LA Times about her reasoning for creating the popular trend topics a year ago.
The highly regarded actor is yet to be recognised with an Oscar at the prestigious ceremony, but his Golden Globe-winning performance has put him in the running once again.
That’s not to mention John Boyega’s impossibly charismatic turn in “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens”, Will Smith in “Concussion” and N.W.A. biopic “Straight Outta Compton”, which was named best picture by the African American Film Critics Association.
DiCaprio’s British co-star Tom Hardy received a best supporting actor nomination.
Just as issues of gender parity were reaching critical mass in Hollywood, the movies on offer featured encouragingly diverse and potent leading roles for women, a fact acknowledged in the nominations for best actress. But many expected “Straight Outta Compton” to be nominated for best picture, and numerous handicappers had Idris Elba for “Beasts of No Nation” and Benicio Del Toro for “Sicario” as likely for best supporting actor.
For a disheartening second year in a row, the all-white nominees in the major categories – actor, actress, supporting actor, supporting actress and director – threaten to render the Oscars irrelevant to the audience it so desperately needs to stay alive.
Sorkin wasn’t the only writer who got snubbed.
His competition includes fellow Globe victor Matt Damon for “The Martian”, Michael Fassbender for “Steve Jobs”, Emmy favorite Bryan Cranston for “Trumbo” and last year’s Best Actor victor Eddie Redmayne, nominated this year for “The Danish Girl”. The other nominees were “Amy”, “Cartel Land” and “The Look of Silence”. “A lesbian love story, a brutal story of survival and everything in between”.
Last year’s lily-white nominations made it clear the Oscars needed to evolve. Two indie upstarts, Open Road (“Spotlight”) and A24 (“Room”), notched their first best picture nominations. Pictures shows Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa in “Creed”.
In the lead actress category, the picks came in as expected with nods for Cate Blanchett (“Carol”), Brie Larson (“Room”), Jennifer Lawrence (“Joy”), Charlotte Rampling (“45 Years”) and Saoirse Ronan (“Brooklyn”).
“It does feel great especially when you worked on something for this long a period of time”, the 41-year-old actor said earlier today at the movie’s London premiere.
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The other five Best Picture nominees – The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, Room and Spotlight – are also films with broad public appeal, ranging from thrillers to romances.
