This affirmative action nonsense calling the Oscars racist is really annoying me. President of the Oscars is a Black woman, hosted by a black person. Voters ranging across the globe from Japan to Pakistan, but the Oscars are racist. No way did Will Smith deserve to be nominated over the actors mentioned. Compton although a good biopic was nowhere near as good as the nominations already made. There were some huge snubs this year, Ex Machina? Hateful Eight? Many good movies that didn't make the cut. I don't believe any of them were for race reasons. I can't stand Spike Lee, and the Jada Pinkett Smith boycott video was as cringe worthy as her performances on Gotham.
So you believe that black people can't act? Because if the Academy Awards are racially unbiased, that's the only conclusion that makes sense given the statistics. Academy members are 94% white. Only 5 black actors have won the leading actor/actress award.
So which fantastic performers were robbed by racism this year? Although the Academy demographics are in desperate need of change, for black actors it is a bit of a vicious circle because they are unlikely to be cast in roles that make them likely candidates for membership. Or at least not at enough of a rate to make any significant impact. I don't know what the Academy's excuse for being 3/4 male is though. Rather than wailing on the Oscars, I think actors should threaten industrial action if directors don't start casting black actors as people, rather than token stereotypes.
Idris Elba and Will Smith this year, David Oyelowo last year. All three put in performances that would have justified a nomination, and for all three to be snubbed indicates something malignant in the Academy Both the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes nominated Elba. The Critics Choice awards and the Golden Globes nominated Oyelowo. There's a reason Chris Rock is hosting this year and there's a reason there's a black woman at the head of the Academy - it's tokenism at its best.
To be honest, I don't know why anyone pays any attention to the Oscars anyway, it's always been a den of cronyism, and was originally set up to prevent actors starting their own union. Even George Lucas slates them for being political and nothing to do with talent. If I were an actor, I'd be boycotting them no matter what the Academy demographics.
Leaving out Will Smith is not that much of a surprise - the generic "hollywood African" accent is not pleasing to the African community and the film itself is a fairly "meh", although it shone a light on a terribly brave man few had ever heard of Elba is a surprise, but no more so than the omission of Ridley Scott, Helen Mirren, Johnny Depp, Quentin Tarantino and Benicio Del Toro
If the year of films only included black people in Norbit, Big Momma's house and white chicks then I can see a case for black people not getting any nominations. But that's not the case. There are clearly some great black actors in great films. By most accounts Elba has put in the performance of a lifetime in Beasts of no nation. And seeing as Dicaprio is going to win anyway it would be the perfect time to put some black actors in the nominations even if that's tokenism.
My guess on the Elba nomination is to do with Netflix being involved - I have no real logic behind that, but they have usurped a lot of industry norms and I doubt that this sits well with the Oscars
The thing is...I hate the Oscar's. These people get millions of dollars and still need a little pat on the back to feel better about themselves. Meanwhile the grunts that work in CGI and all the other facets of making a film get crapped on with no recognition at all. The people that did the CGI for "Life of Pi" won an Oscar (IIRC) at the same time as going out of business because the film industry isn't prepared to pay for that expertise. It's ridiculous.
I would say Elba not having at least a nod is a surprise. But Oscars is always under racial scrutiny, pretty much every year. Also got to remember that Oscars, although they are "the big one", it's still opinions based on a certain group. Leo has been wanting to boycott the Oscars every year but still goes to them, in hopes of winning. To which if the Golden Globes are any indication, he may actually win one. (waits for more Leo-nearly-winning-Oscars-2016 meme)
LOL! Where did I say black people can't act? Huge fan of Denzel Washington, Pam Grier, Forrest Whittaker, Don Cheadle, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jamie Foxx, Will Smith, Samuel L and MANY more. No racial bias whatsoever. Mad Max (Tom Hardy) wasn't nominated, Ex Machina wasn't nominated. What is that racial bias towards Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron? Take a movie like Joy which was overall "meh" but probably Jennifer Lawrence's best performance. Way more "white" snubs in these Oscars than anything else but you don't hear anyone complaining. Have you seen concussion, with Will Smith? Because I have and it was crap. Will's acting in it was crap a poor imitation of Brad Pitts Moneyball. No way near to what he did in Seven Pounds, Focus, I am Legend. Are you saying he should be nominated just because he is black? Get out of here with that nonsense. Did Tom Hanks get a nom for Bridge of Spies? No. ANY of the guys in The Big Short? Bale, Pitt, Gosling? No. Mark Rufallo in Spotlight? No. You don't hear them crying. Did straight outta compton deserve a nomination? Hell no. It was a fictitious biopic. Michael B Jordan did not deserve a nomination for Creed because his acting is actually quite poor. Same as Mark Wahlberg didn't deserve one for "The Fighter". Have a little read around on movie forums, newspaper comments, or radio phone ins. MOST OR ALL BLACK PEOPLE FIND THIS RIDICULOUS. Spike Lee is a moron constantly causing issues where there are none. Jada Pinkett Smith is talentless, only famous for being married to Will. I haven't spoken to one black friend about this who didn't roll their eyes at this and say "Spike Lee again". Also this "boycott" was planned by the director of Selma from last year.
Honestly compared to the other supporting actor roles, Elba really isn't a surprise. Due to the marketing of the movie and not a lot of word of mouth or mainstream value.
Actually there are huge campaigns for Eddie Redmane and Bryan Cranston, Leo as we know from the past isn't very lucky at the Oscars.
he's had some great roles and really came into the fray with "The theory of everything". They were talking about Oscars as soon as the Danish girl came out. But amongst film buffs he's pretty well known and respected. The Good Sheperd The Other Boleyn Girl Les Miserables (The only one watchable in Jupiter Ascending).
The other major award shows never seem to have this problem, so simply blaming Hollywood isn't good enough.
Shouldn't an award ignore those things? I mean...as I said...I think an award for doing one of the highest paid jobs in the world is ridiculous but if it is supposed to have any integrity at all then it shouldn't bring those into the equation.
