PICKING ONE'S BATTLES: THE ACADEMY AWARDS, REALLY???

PICKING ONE’S BATTLES:  THE ACADEMY AWARDS, REALLY???

I am a white woman.  I am not upset that America decided to vote into office a black President, before installing a woman into the Presidency, even though women are approximately 52% of the voting public.  I am proud that a barrier was broken in the course of choosing our President.  It is my hope that Barrack Obama was voted President based on his policy positions, not simply because he was Black.  In 2015, there were about 20 people hoping to be the 2016 Presidential nominee – one black, two women, and a bunch of men.  There were no gays, no lesbians, no disabled persons, no transgender, no East Asians, no Native American Indians, and no Black women, that I am aware of. Should Americans insist that the potential nominees be representative of our diversity by instituting quotas or boycotting the elections?

The recent hoopla over the Academy Award nominees in the actor categories all being white and the black artists’ response in threatening to boycott the award ceremony seems a bit of a stretch.  Spike Lee asserts that the arts have not caught up to where sports are today as to representing diversity. So should whites boycott the NBA because Black men dominate in playing this sport?  Are we now going to boycott the Nobel Prize awards by insisting they produce more diversity in their nominees and selectees as winners?  Are we going to superimpose ourselves into every contest to ensure that diversity is fairly represented in every competition?  Is that progress or is that contrived manipulation?

I stopped to analyze the 2016 Academy Award nominations and did not find there was any intent to overlook Black actors.  Academy Award nominations are based on that year’s individual performances.  The business of Hollywood in ensuring successful box office profits has been safely relying more and more on re-makes, books, and true stories for today’s cinema.  To that end, four of the best pictures were based on real people and events, therefore, their race, gender and orientation were already defined.  (The Big Short, Spotlight, Bridge of Spies, and The Revenant)  Two others were based on books by native Irish authors Colm Toibin (Brooklyn) and Emma Donoghue (Room).  ‘Brooklyn’ is a period piece set in Ireland in the 1950’s and ‘Room’ is a two character movie about a child growing up with his mother in a 11’ x 11’ cell.  Even ‘The Martian’ was based on a 2011 book by Andy Weir.  The characters were developed in accordance with the books they portrayed.  The last entry is representative of the series re-make genre, ‘Mad Max Fury Road,’ where blockbuster studios rarely deviate from the prior formula.

The next argument is that Black performances by Idris Elba, Will Smith, and Michel B. Jordan were overlooked by the Academy.  ‘Beasts for No Nation’ was a Netflix Original film which had a brief, limited cinema release merely to qualify for Academy consideration.  Idris Elba was excellent, but few people were aware of the movie.  Unfortunately, Will Smith’s wonderful portrayal of Dr. Bennet Omalu in Concussion was over shadowed by the controversy surrounding claims by Omalu that he identified and created the term Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), which was actually identified in 1949 by Critchley.  Whenever there seems to be controversy regarding the validity of a true story portrayal, the actors suffer the consequences at award time.  This is not a Black or White issue, but appears to be universal.  As to Jordan’s performance in ‘Creed,’ the Academy chose to honor Sylvester Stallone’s supporting actor performance as the sentimental favorite and rarely honors two categories from the same movie.

I support diverse communities and opportunities in our country.  I am an Alabama native who marched in Selma in the mid 1960’s.  I am also of the belief, however, that it is irresponsible to judge every issue on a black and white basis, or on a Black and White basis.  Should studios be aware of creating inclusive roles representative of our society?  Of course they should, but not at the expense of translating literature authentically or representing true events fairly on the screen.  One of the main limiting issues is major studios not being willing to take financial risks on original screenplays.  Is it politically correct that three of the best female actor nominees out of five are from the British Isles?  Who is to say?  The members have the right to choose whom they discern gave the best performances this year and their selections should not be mandated by political correctness.  Life is not fair, award contests will not always reflect who is most worthy, and opportunities like The Butler, Selma, and Fruitvale Station may not be as numerous each and every year.  I don’t see it as a need for a boycott but more a call to Black writers/directors, like Ryan Coogler of ‘Creed,’ to be a voice in the solution and create the roles they want to see and get them made.