Who will win big at The Oscars?
The Oscars are one of the biggest nights for the entertainment industry. The Oscars are the biggest awards for films. That being said they have a great influence on film community and popular culture. It is big news when nominations are announced. People celebrate hard work, the general public gets an idea of what movies to watch, and non-nominees have to accept the loss. This year is no different. Except there is a big controversy over the lack of diversity in nominations.
Many critics have taken note of the lack of diversity. There has also been a public outcry on the whitewashed Hollywood. Even SNL has poked fun at the current situation. It is well known that the majority of nominations go to white males. There seems to be a lack of representation for anyone else. This may be the basis of the arguments that people are putting up with this years nomination selections. This may all be true but it seems like Hollywood is taking a turn for the better. Last year 12 Years a Slave won best picture along with a supporting actress award. This year Selma is nominated for best picture. Should there still a conflict?
Although Selma still got nominated for the biggest award, there are plenty talent that did not get nominated. While it is true that all the nominations are for white people, one has to understand that the academy has to look past race and look at raw talent. This makes it hard for anyone who is not white because the majority of films feature mostly Caucasian casts. This makes an indirect requirement for anyone who is not white that wants to be nominated to work extra hard. Hollywood unfortunately believes that only white casts sell tickets. Until this false practice dies, it is going to be hard to create a diverse nomination list.
Will Selma win big at this years Oscars?
The truth of the matter is that there is a lot of talent up for the awards this year. All the nominated films are great, and all the talent deserve their nominations. One would hope that the academy would not choose one nomination over the other over race. But it is impossible to know because of how talented everyone is. That being said should the Oscars be representative of every community or should race be looked over in favor for just talent? If you ask anyone about the Oscars they will have an opinion about someone who should have been nominated. Everyone has someone who thinks that they should have been nominated instead of someone else. This year we have a community that feels under represented. With this being a reoccurring problem, one has to wonder when other communities will start to speak out. There are other minority groups that are not represented in the Oscars either. It is something that is never fully addressed and many people feel cheated.
It is unfortunate that race still becomes in issue but who is causing this conflict? Is the academy being biased or is the public pulling the race card? The facts are that the academy has a track record of nominating white males. One can see why this is offensive. There is plenty of talent that is not white or male. On a brighter note, there has been major steps in the right direction. In the recent years there has been a burst in diversity with films like The Help, 12 Years Slave, and Selma. Whether anyone is in the wrong is for you to decide. As Red Mist once said, “Wait ‘till they get a load of me.”
-Miguel Gonzalez, film blogger
