The raging #OscarsSoWhite movement over the past couple weeks seems to have finally generated enough pressure to force changes within the organization that distributes the golden statue, which symbolizes the highest level of achievement in the motion picture industry. While no one is overtly claiming this as a victory, the general sense is it’s progress. Mostly, I’ve listened to the vexation of accusers, the silence of the establishment & the apathy of the seeming supporters of the system. Such divergent opinions, yet such ambiguity as to why. As always, a review of history, which continually proves to be the greatest teacher, helps shed some light.
When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science announced the nominees for this year’s awards, it left out every visible minority thespian in a major production who some people (myself included) felt should have made that list. Despite top-tier work by Michael B. Jordan, Idris Elba, Oscar Isaac, Tessa Thompson, Jason Mitchell, Will Smith, Shameik Moore & Benicio Del Toro, not one of them was nominated. Now, while I am certain every nominee announced is deserving (for the record, my money for best Male Actor is on Leonardo DiCaprio for his intensely realized work in The Revenant), this decision made by AMPAS implies to me quite clearly that at the very least, the majority of the members of the Academy suffer from a non-inclusive mentality. Even if unintentionally (I’ll address that in a bit).
Before going any further, some background needs to be considered. Since its inception in 1929, the Academy has been an independent paragon for excellence in the motion picture industry. To be recognized for your work as a nominee meant membership, access to greater industry relationships, a place in filmmaking history & theoretically, more opportunities. This is a business where image truly is everything. Sadly, it’s often the optics imposed upon performers (& directors & writers to a degree) by casting directors, agents, producers & studio execs that dictate opportunities before ability, talent & work ethic are considered. But optics works both ways. Statistics support the notion of racism & sexism within the organization’s structure. Of the more than 6,000 members in the Academy, 94% are Caucasian males with a median age of 67. Members of visible minority groups who’ve been nominated in any category for an Oscar in the 88 years of the award’s existence totals 99 of the more than 1600 nominees to date. That’s a tad imbalanced.
The truth, however, is the accusation of racism in the AMPAS is really only a microcosm of a bigger issue. It’s symbolic of racism in Hollywood which is, in itself, a microcosm for the ever-present shadow of systemic racism woven into the fabric of America itself. It’s the same accusation being made throughout the US in recent years regarding police brutality towards African-Americans mainly as presented in mainstream media. While it’s a very complicated & layered discussion, it’s important to understand the origins of film as it emerged in the United States to have a better sense of what’s really happening.
Hollywood was founded in the early 1900s. America, at that time, was a country steeped in racism which manifested as violence, bigotry & oppression originally towards the Aboriginal People, later towards Africans brought to the western hemisphere in the form of slavery & into the 19th century towards migrating Asians & Hispanics. The American Civil War, the Jim Crow Laws, the Chinese Exclusion Act & Manifest Destiny are just some of the examples associated with the biased exclusionism of American’s founding migrants. What does this have to do with AMPAS & Hollywood? Simple. They’re both institutions reflective of their time. Look at any film made in America from 1890 to the mid-1950s. Portrayals of African-Americans, Native Americans, Hispanics & Asians were grotesque stereotypes & cultural insults at best. Caucasian actors were oftentimes cast in roles of these minorities played to the extreme (remember the Asian neighbor in Breakfast at Tiffany’s? Al Jolsen? Amos & Andy?). You’d be pressed to find a director or screenwriter of diverse ethnicity’ before the 70s. So minority actors could only access film roles designated to them by writers & directors who sought to portray them in the fashion of their choosing or –to be very generous –who ‘didn’t understand their ethnicity’. These types of roles were regularly little more than servants, uneducated dolts, over-the-top buffoons & deadbeats. Essentially, the lowest level of class & civility possible to paint with the broadest stroke of stereotype imaginable for these cultures. One of the first-ever & most celebrated films in American cinematic history, Birth of a Nation by D. W. Griffith, was released in 1915. It seized upon the rhetoric & fears of the country’s general white population associated with blacks at that time. And although the film featured several black characters, not one black actor was hired to play any of those roles. This was the state of affairs in America. Hollywood simply encapsulated & continued to propagate these behaviors because it was very much the norm. And so this is what the Academy was born into as well.
The power of racism in an environment meant to be accepting & in full support of equality yet does not make effort to ensure that balance is evident in every facet, on every level, is like a form of blindness. Such choices are sometimes made not from outright bigotry, but instead unconscious ignorance. In the case of the Academy, to vote for a film or performance, members would actually have to view it. Or maybe the issue is these performances were incomprehensible to members whose statistical identity shows they cannot relate to the characters portrayed. An effect felt by countless viewers (& undoubtedly many members too) who’ve since uttered their frustration with the Academy’s system.
Fast-forward 50 years & what we have now are institutions still grounded in the past. For whatever reason. Our culture & society in North America have changed exponentially. The diversity shift alone speaks volumes. Women, Hispanics, Asians & blacks are CEOs in fortune 500 companies, doctors, lawyers, teachers & even an elected POTUS. Ethnic minorities are found in key positions everywhere –except the decision-making offices of film studios. Yet, we still rarely see these types of individuals reflected in starring roles, following their journeys. Look at the names mentioned previously. They performed as athletes, drug-dealers-turned-rappers, unsympathetic monsters & murders. Of the four award winners in the past 15 years, they were recognized for their roles as violent oppressors (Forrest Whittaker), corrupt cops (Denzel Washington), a widow who embraces her husband’s white, racist executor (Hale Berry) & a brutalized, violated slave (Lupita Nyong’o).
When huge corporations like Time-Warner & Disney began buying up studios in the mid-90s, some felt change was imminent. That these corporations would look to make changes more in line with equal opportunity hiring practices out of legal obligation if nothing else. But, nope, that hasn’t happened. Presumably, in large part, because the studios under these corporate umbrellas have free reign of their day-to-day operations as long as the bottom line is met. So here we are, 88 years after the first Oscars were handed out in a radically different world seeing films being made mainly from perspectives that are not inclined to tell stories about visibly diverse characters all the while hiding behind the notion that ‘those stories don’t sell’. Yet the Fast & the Furious franchise is going into its 8th installment with a concept that has sold huge worldwide to a largely young Asian & Hispanic targeted audience. Meanwhile, Tyler Perry’s work over the last 20 years has shown there is a massive African-American market eager to be entertained by comedic & dramatic films about people of color. Then there’s the critical success of 12 Years a Slave & now the biggest Sundance Film Festival sale in history for the appropriately named Birth of a Nation by Nate Parker just this week.
A quick review of how this works, Hollywood:
Diversity = hiring people from different groups & cultures.
Inclusion = creating an environment where those people can succeed.
The recently announced changes AMPAS is introducing are a step in a progressive direction. Those changes, however, don’t address the bigger issues stemming from Hollywood’s gatekeepers. It’s merely addresses the symptom, not the disease.
Let’s hope someone starts honestly looking for a cure.