On Jan. 14, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences announced the nominations for the 88th annual Academy Awards.
But within a few hours of the announcement, social media took over, and the famous #OscarsSoWhite trend from 2015 returned.
The hashtag started after many were disappointed that the movie Selma was snubbed and film lovers let Academy officials know they noticed the lack of diversity – and weren’t happy about it.
The awards ceremony, also known as the Oscars, is considered the most prestigious film recognition in America. And for the second year in a row, the Academy nominated an all-white selection of actors.
The nominations came as a shock to many as several movie critics and analyses predicted actors such as Will Smith (“Concussion”), Idris Elba (“Beast of No Nation”) and Samuel L. Jackson (“The Hateful Eight”) would be shoe-in nominees.
It was even more surprising, since a number of the movies featured told African-American’s stories like “Creed” and “Straight Outta Compton.”
Using the hashtag, many expressed disapproval of the Academy Awards’ lack of inclusion over the past few years. Even some of Hollywood’s elite chimed in to express their opinions on the diversity at the Oscars — or lack thereof.
John Stamos tweeted, “Hollywood, this isn’t about diversity, it’s about talent and you missed out on giving a thumbs up to both today.”
Actress Jada Pinkett Smith, whose husband Will Smith was snubbed by this year’s nominations took to Facebook on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to address her criticisms in a video.
“Maybe it is time that we pull back our resources and we put them back into our communities…into our programs…and we make programs for ourselves that acknowledge us in ways that we see fit that are just as good as the so-called ‘mainstreams,’” she said.
The actress then announced she wouldn’t be attending the Oscars, but wished the best for comedian Chris Rock, who is set to host the awards in February.
Pinkett Smith isn’t the only one who has decided to boycott the ceremony, director Spike Lee announced on Instagram that he and his wife would also not be attending.
In the midst of the controversy, the Academy’s president Cheryl Boone Isaacs made a statement on the organization’s twitter account.
“I am both heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion,” she said.
Boone said that it was a “difficult but important conversation” and that she and the Academy are taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of the membership.
On Thursday night, the group’s 51-member board held an emergency meeting.
The following day, the organization released a statement saying the Academy had “approved a sweeping series of substantive changes designed to make the Academy’s membership, its governing bodies, and its voting members significantly more diverse.”
The Board said its goal was to double the number of women and minority members by 2020.
As the issue continues, more celebrities are weighing in. George Clooney recently shared his perspective with Variety, and has, in my opinion, the best response to this hot button topic.
“… I don’t think it’s a problem of who you’re picking as much as it is: How many options are available to minorities in film, particularly in quality films?…I think that African-Americans have a real fair point that the industry isn’t representing them well enough.”
Clooney also pointed out that the issue goes even further than race.
“I find it amazing that we’re an industry that in the 1930s, most of our leads were women. And now a woman over 40 has a very difficult time being a lead in a movie.”
How can there be more diversity with nominations if there aren’t many films to choose from? In order for more inclusion, the industry needs to start producing films that show more minorities in non-stereotypical roles.
