As we gear up for the much-awaited biggest awards night of Hollywood and make our predictions about the winners in the most prominent categories - Best Actor, Best Film, Best Actress and Best Director, we can’t help but discuss the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, an offshoot of an absolute absence of diversity in the so-called ‘prestigious’ award show's nominations.
Even before the awards night kick off, the 88th Academy Awards have grabbed everyone’s attention for all the wrong reasons. The hashtags #OscarsSoWhite and #BoycottOscars continue to be used aggressively on social media, after prominent black actors - Samuel L Jackson (The Hateful Eight), Michael B Jordan (Creed), Will Smith (Concussion) and Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation) - despite giving some unforgettable performance - were unfairly snubbed at the nominations.
Filmmaker Spike Lee and actress Jada Pinkett Smith too didn’t take too long to declare their decision to boycott the Oscars and even motivated others to do the same.
But will the 88th Academy Awards be worse than its previous editions? Could be. For last year, many expected ‘Selma’, which dealt with Dr. Martin Luther King’s civil rights campaign in 1965, couldn't win Best Picture but bagged an Oscar for Best Song category.
Despite a huge range of films that have been based on ethnic minority actors, filmmakers and writers this year, the nominations did not look very encouraging.For instance, Ryan Coogler ‘Creed’ featured a black star, but found Oscar nomination in Sylvester Stallone. Similarly ‘Straight Outta Compton’ could win just one nomination for Best Original Screenplay, (which came from white writers).
Hence, it doesn't come as a surprise that the viewers aren't a tad interested in the Oscars 2016 ceremony.
Tonite is the #OscarsSoWhite nite.I will let it pass.next year I will try 2 know how VIP you ought to be to get to that A - list. All whte? — Themba Mthethwa (@ThembamT) February 28, 2016
.@ReignOfApril: As a white indie filmmaker, I support your #OscarsSoWhite campaign and see a real lack of diversity in the indie world, too. — Aaron Howland (@aaronhowland) February 28, 2016
46% of the $1.2B in tix sold at box office come from blacks. Time to put power in our dollars #BoycottOscars — Karen Hunter (@karenhunter) February 28, 2016
everyone is so hyped about the oscars but i will totally boycott them because there are basically no diversity at all #whiteprivilege — milla (@seulgishabet) February 28, 2016
Found a picture of what the Oscars are gonna look like #OscarsSoWhite pic.twitter.com/ts24NT9GfZ — Kyle Hinojosa (@Smenkare_31) February 28, 2016
It seems like every other award show seems to agree that Idris made an award winning performance. #OscarsSoWhite — Gigi (@Gibear) February 28, 2016
Tomorrow is Sunday don't forget to #BoycottOscars by not watching #Oscar2016 #OscarSoWhite #ChrisRock pic.twitter.com/4XxBIqCsV2 — Charlotte Williams (@charluv2011) February 28, 2016
It's gonna be fun to watch a black comedian say something about #OscarsSoWhite. Makes no sense. #Oscars #AcademyAwards — Real Matt (@SchoolerLA) February 28, 2016
Just saw Straight Outta Compton. I get why nobody's nominated... They're all phenomenal. Apart from Paul Giamatti's wig. #OscarsSoWhite — Jason Isaacs (@jasonsfolly) February 25, 2016
While the African-American comedian Chris Rock has been roped in to host the 2016 Oscars, reports suggest that he had made some changes in his script to mock the Academy in the wake of the controversy. Even though he hasn’t spoken about what can be expected from his act at the ceremony, the rumours suggest that he will show no qualms in talking about the issue.
While we all know that Oscars have had a long history of getting it all wrong, will the need to #BoycottOscars really bring about the much-needed change? Will this constant whining about cinematic unfairness really help the actors, directors of colors gives their fans the inspiring models? Will the campaign prove vital in averting popular directors and actors' decision to skip the awards show as an act of protest?
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