Every year, millions of people from around the globe tune in to watch the Academy Awards. Not only does this annual awards ceremony celebrate the best in this year’s film; it features celebrity red carpet looks, interviews and more. Any popular culture buff worth their salt has a countdown for awards season, and the Oscars is the cherry on top of the sundae.
However, this year there is controversy over the annual affair. For the second year in a row, minority and black members of film were massively underrepresented in the nominations, if not completely shut out. Out of the 20 actors and actresses nominated this year, every single one of them is white. Even the acclaimed film “Straight Outta Compton,” which chronicles the journey of famous black band N.W.A., only got one nomination — for its two white screenwriters.
Ultimately, the only non-white nominee in the entire ceremony is reigning Best Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu for “The Revenant.” However, this “whiteout” of sorts is not a good sample of this year’s critically acclaimed films. Notable snubs include Samuel L. Jackson for his starring role in “The Hateful Eight,”Will Smith in “Concussion” and Michael B. Jordan for “Creed.”
This apparent racism and lack of minority representation is already causing major resentment toward the Academy. Celebrities such as Spike Lee, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith have called for a total boycott of the awards, while #OscarsSoWhite is a trending topic on Twitter.
In response to the backlash, the Academy has made massive moves to restructure its voting base with the goal of doubling the amount of minority votes by 2020. To go along with this, the Academy will consider if its voters are still active and relevant in the film business.
It is becoming indisputable that Academy voters are increasingly out of touch with current themes and problems many young and minority viewers relate to, and are nominating films that instead pander to the white experience. According to the Los Angeles Times, the Academy consists of 94 percent white and 77 percent male voters. Additionally, only 14 percent of voters are under the age of 50. This lack of diversity in the voting pool leads the nominations to be lackluster in the eyes of many viewers at home, and if the Oscars don’t massively change their tactics, they will soon be irrelevant.
The argument could even be made that they’re already going down a slippery slope of irrelevancy. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Academy Awards were consistently grabbing large television audiences reaching upwards of 50 million viewers each year. Today, they are struggling to reach 40 million viewers. While this number is still staggeringly large, it is a 20 percent drop in numbers they are used to seeing. When there is no lack of media for us to watch, content producers need to appeal to the masses if they want to stay on top, which is something the Academy Awards are obviously not doing.
The Academy has officially been called out on its racism and lack of relevancy. If it does not quickly fix its problems, or if next year’s nominations are yet again a slew of white individuals, it will have lost the respect of millions.
Samantha is a freshman planning on majoring in communication arts and journalism. Do you think the Academy Awards need to change their ways? Let us know your thoughts. Please send all comments or concerns to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
