A diplomatic answer, to be sure, but not one that really speaks to the issue of unfairness most fans and movie lovers feel at having numerous same white actors nominated year after year.
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Despite a pledge not to repeat last year’s all-white nominations, the Oscars seem utterly disconnected once again.
Among some of the snubs, Will Smith’s performance in “Concussion”, Michael B Jordan in “Creed” and Idris Elba for “Beasts of No Nation”.
“It’s business as usual at the academy“, said Gil Robertson, president of the African-American Film Critics Association, on Thursday.
The only note of diversity in the lead categories is Mexican director Alejandro G. Inarritu for “The Revenant”.
This year, many say, they’re simply too white.
The 2016 Oscar nominations are in, and perhaps even more so than in recent years, the list presents very little in the way of diversity. All of them acted circles around his mumbling Rocky Balboa character (which, by the way, makes him one of those rare actors to be nominated twice for playing the same character). This stems mostly from the fact that Straight Outta Compton didn’t get a much expected nomination for Best Picture. “I can’t be mad”. ThinkProgress, a liberal blog, echoed the sentiment of many who were surprised that black actors and filmmakers were shut out of the race.
In accepting her Emmy award, the first time a black woman had won Best Actress in a Drama, David gave a rousing speech condemning the history of limited roles for black women and said bluntly “You simply can not win an Emmy for roles that aren’t there”. “That is one of the necessary components of making or getting that type of progress done”.
No black actors/directors nominated for the second straight year.
“Besides, The Academy is still resting on its recent laurels for awarding all those people of color who contributed to the successes of Twelve Years A Slave, The Help, Precious, and of course Selma’s original music score”, she said.
Going Clear, Alex Gibney’s Scientology expose for HBO, was arguably the most talked about documentary of the year, but the film was snubbed in the category of Best Documentary Feature. Additionally, Creed director Ryan Coogler did not crack the mostly white pool of nominees.
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In the January 14 announcement, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences listed 23 total producers for the eight movies picked in the best-pic race; seven were women.
