Both Spike Lee & Jada Pinkett Smith have allegedly announced they will boycott the Oscars this year in protest of the fact that no black people are nominated. I’m not sure if it’s just “black actors” or “**all **black people” including directors and cinematogrophers, etc.
I thought about posting a poll with choices like, “I approve” and “I don’t approve” but it seems to me this issue is more complex than those simplistic choices allow. So, I would ask the following three questions. Please feel free to answer any or all of them or to just state your own personal opinions.
Do you think this is a matter of “sour grapes”?
Do you think there are really no black people this year who performed better than all the white people in their category?
To put it even more directly, do you think this is about racism? Is the reason no black people were nominated due to the fact the people who make the voting choices are racist? I mean, is the truth that these people just don’t like blacks? After all, Americans did vote for a black president. I can’t see how the reason for blacks being shut out is **primarily **due to racism. In the USA, how could that be the truth given that Americans voted to make a black man their president?
What do you think?
P.S. I wasn’t sure whether this thread belongs in Cafe Society or in IMHO and the mods may want to move it.
I think point 3 is a misunderstanding of the way racism works. Racism isn’t people going: “muhahaha I won’t vote for Samuel L. Jackson because I hate black people.” (Well mostly it isn’t, there’s probably some of that around, too, just in small and quiet amounts.) Racism is the way our society is structured, which leads to films being made largely for and by white men, which means that the roles that are likely to win Oscars go to white men. It’s about power, money and who has a voice.
Personally, I think it’s a good reason to “boycott” (scare quotes, because what am I actually doing when I boycott the oscars?) the oscars because they have men and women in separate categories, which is ridiculous. If women were grouped with men they would never win anything, just like black people now, and at least we would notice this ridiculous situation.
I can see how lack of racial diversity in the nominees is troubling, but I don’t see how this is helpful. Should they start nominating a token black actor just to avoid being boycotted?
The whole oscar system is seriously broken anyway.
If there’s any racism going on, who are the racists? The studios who think people won’t like movie with black leads? Are they right?
So you want a category called Best Black Actor? Wow, now *that *sure would make me think the Oscars are racist.
The Oscars have **always **had separate categories for Men & Women, as have the Tonys, Emmys, and pretty much every award show that presents acting awards.