The greatest Oscars snub of all

By Sofia Barrett

On January 15 at 5:30 a.m. PST, for the first time ever, hundreds of people gathered for one common purpose: the announcement of the 87th Academy Awards nominees. Announced live by J.J. Abrams (Cloverfield), Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity) and Chris Pine (Star Trek), the nominations for Best Director, Best Sound Mixing, Best Cinematography, and more were highly anticipated. Watched by over 40 million people last year alone, this coveted awards show is often referred to simply as the “Oscars.” This year, however, the nominees were not received well by the film community or the public.

An Oscar “snub” is defined as a talent or performance that should have been recognized by the Academy and consequently should have received a nomination. There have, of course, been memorable “snubs” in the past (namely, Leonardo DiCaprio). The most notable this year include “The Lego Movie” for Best Animated Picture, Jennifer Aniston for “Cake,” and “Gone Girl” for Best Picture.

Aside from the usual snubs (although there were a lot this year), the most resistance from the public came regarding the lack of black nominees. For the first time since 1998, all of the nominations for lead and supporting actors were white. Sure, Selma was nominated for Best Original Song and Best Feature, but where were the nominations for the actors? The screenplay?

Immediately after the announcement, the outraged public turned to social media giant Twitter and started tweeting about it. Later that morning, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite was trending worldwide. Critics excoriated the Academy for its lack of diversity–inside and out. Blacks have been nominated in the past, and even won. But in all these roles, they have played parts that do not put them in a great light. There has only been one African American winner for “Best Actress in a Leading Role,” and that was Halle Berry in 2001 for her role as a “poor southern woman” in Monster’s Ball. Additionally, a Los Angeles Times report in 2012 revealed that 94% of Oscar voters are white, and 77% of them are men. “In the last two years, we've made greater strides than we ever have in the past toward becoming a more diverse and inclusive organization,” Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the first black president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, stated after the backlash. “And, personally, I would love to see and look forward to see a greater cultural diversity among all our nominees in all of our categories” said Isaacs, according to the Associated Press.

Even with these comforting words, there was no escape from the legitimate commentary against the award show’s lack of diversity. The Asian Pacific American Media Coalition released a statement short thereafter asserting that the Oscar nominations “obviously reflect a lack of diversity in Oscar voters as well as in films generally.” Ava Duvernay, director of Selma (who many believed was snubbed for the Best Director nomination this year), argues that diversity among nominees will always be unattainable if there aren’t enough minority actors and actresses out there to be nominated. Regardless of the reactions and the criticism that surround this year’s Academy Awards, there will still be millions watching on February 22.

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