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Different types of diversity and movies
Different types of diversity and movies
Movie diversity
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Why Oscars is subjective but right. On February 28, the 88th Academy Awards will be hosted by a black comedian, Chris Rock. When the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences takes the stage at the Dolby Theatre, the audience of more than 30 million people will hear from a black woman, Cheryl Boone Isaacs. Yet when it's time to give out little gold statues to the best actors of 2015, there will be no non white performers giving an acceptance speech. For the second consecutive year, of the 20 nominations available to actors, not a single one went to a person of color. It's the first time since 1980 that the Oscars have gone without any non white acting nominees for two years running. Immediately after the nomination ceremony …show more content…
Nomination announcement spark immediate response from big names in movie industry. Acclaimed director Spike Lee and actress Jada Pinkett Smith decided to boycott this year's Academy Awards over the lack of diversity among nominees in the major categories. Lee expressed his frustration with the Oscar on Instagram "We cannot support it and (I) mean no disrespect to my friends, host Chris Rock and producer Reggie Hudlin, president (Cheryl Boone) Isaacs and the Academy. "But, how is it possible for the second consecutive year all 20 contenders under the acting category are white? And let's not even get into the other branches. Forty white actors in two years and no flava at all. We can't act?! WTF!!" Spike Lee in his emotional response acknowledged the president, producer and the host of the ceremony and don't see a diversity problem but he questioned the event that happened again after more than 25 years. Such unusual circumstances we all can described as once in a blue moon. And accusing the Academy in something that this big but prefer not to mention diversity that already exist in the community it's simply pushing the envelope of your opinion over the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences community. 12 years of Slave 3 years ago score 12 nominations and won 3 of them. This year, Alejandro G. Iñárritu last year Oscar winner for best director nominated …show more content…
And by subjective we often mean arbitrary but with standards. And for many of movie enthusiasts Oscars almost never get it right. Alfred Hitchcock never won one; Barbara Stanwyck never won an Oscar; Robert Mitchum never got a Best Actor nomination. The intersection between the art of movies and the Oscars is very confusing for many movie lovers at best. And of course because or despite of that very fact many great actors who represent minorities have won Academy Awards - Lupita Nyong’o was Best Supporting Actress in 2014, Morgan Freeman got the Best Supporting Actor award in 2005 Forest Whitaker was named Best Actor in 2007, Halle Berry won Best Actress in 2002 to name just a few. Many more have been ignored. And this year favorite Idris Elba for supporting actor nomination one of the unlucky ones who was overlooked. In fact, 21 of 24 experts at awards prediction site Goldderdy.com expected him to receive nomination this year. Should the Academy explain itself? I don't think
...on all 24. Nominated for 2 British Academy Film Awards and has not won either, same with Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards. Nominated for 4 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards and did not win any of them. Nominated for 2 Emmy Awards won one. Nominated for 2 Golden Globes did not win either time. Nominated for 11 Grammy Awards won once. Nominated for 1 Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards did not win it. Nominated for 6 Satellite Awards won once. Nominated for 12 Saturn Awards won 5 of them. Nominated for 2 Sierra Awards one once. Nominated for 2 World Soundtrack Awards did not win either time. He has been nominated for a total of 75 awards and has won 33.
Adam Sandler accepts a Kids' Choice Award for best movie actor. Many adult movie critics would disagree.
African American representation in the film industry has always been a topic for discussion. Whether talking about character types and roles, the actors being cast or not cast, and the lack of diversity in front of and behind the camera. ‘The contemporary status of race in mainstream American culture is intimately bound to the process of representation within and through the mass media.’ (Rocchio, 2000, p. 4). Any role that was to be played by an African American kept in with the dominant stereotypes of the time of production; incompetent, child like, hyper-sexualised or criminal.
Sidney Poitier wasn’t the first great African-American actor, nor was he the first black actor to be nominated for an Academy Award. What he did do was break the color barrier and gain widespread acceptance by audiences of all races because of his acting abilities and on screen presence.
On March 3, 2010 The New York Times ran an article written by Kim Elsesser entitled “And the Gender-Neutral Oscar Goes To.” Elsesser is a research scholar in Women’s studies and psychology at UCLA with a primary focus on gender issues in the workplace. The op-ed article argues that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences should merge the Academy Awards categories of best actor and best actress. Elsesser argues that the two categories need to become one category in order to eliminate gender segregation in Hollywood.
In today’s society, pre-existing assumptions and stereotypes of other ethnicities and individuals play a large part in the way we see others. This social construct of stereotypes has placed restrictions on many people’s lives which ultimately limits them from achieving certain goals. In this sense, stereotypes misrepresent and restrict people of colour to gain casting within the Hollywood film industry. The issue of how casting actors to certain roles and how these actors are forced to submit and represent these false stereotypes is one worthy of discussion. White Chicks (2004), directed by Keenan Wayans, illustrates this issue through the performance of Latrell, performed by Terry Crews, and his performance of the hyper-sexualised “buck” will be a prime example in this essay to discuss the racial politics and stereotypes in Hollywood casting.
Filmmaker and director Spike Lee, known for his exuberant personality and fearless attitude, has never shied away from shedding light on issues of controversy. Many of Spike’s films including Do the Right Thing, She’s Gotta Have It, and Jungle Fever present the audience with matters of race relation. It came as no surprise when in 2001 Spike Lee introduced the theory of the “magical negro”. Lee claims the “magical negro” is a supporting character in films that is portrayed as coming to the relief of a film's white, usually male, protagonist. This film character functions as a ploy to help the protagonist get out of trouble, usually by assisting
...g place for a long time now; blacks have went from not being banned from certain stages to dominating theater with actors and actresses such as Halle Berry and Denzel Washington. In modern day film, African-Americans have prevailed over all of the negative setbacks, and as the old Negro spiritual says, "We shall continue to overcome."
On the other side, he has received other awards not so satisfying like the Golden Raspberry Award of the Worst Actor, in movies like “Happy Gilmore” and “Jack and Jill”. Because of that last film, he received even the award for Worst Actress, because, like I said before, he did the paper of a twin sister as well.
Being one of the few black students to attend Tisch School of the Arts, the aspiring filmmaker’s first year at New York University was a particularly difficult one. Lee’s experiences, race, and upbringing have all led him to create controversial films to provide audiences with an insight into racial issues. Spike Lee’s first student production, The Answer, was a short ten minute film which told of a young black screenwriter who rewrote D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation. The film was not well accepted among the faculty at New York University, stating Lee had not yet mastered “film grammar.” Lee went on to believe the faculty took offense to his criticisms towards the respected director’s stereotypical portrayals of black characters (1).
In Hollywood there is also a lack of representation with executives because the most of the power resides in people that are ethnically white. Brent Lang and Dave McNary believe that black films are usually not picked up by studios because very few people in powerful positions are black. Therefore, most studios don’t understand what would appeal to black audiences. This causes analysts to undervalue the potential profit of black films, turning executives away from being interested in pursuing black film projects. Examples of black movie profits far exceeding predictions are found in this quote from their article , How Tracking Fails Diverse Movies: “"Straight Outta Compton 's" $60.2 million debut was roughly $20 million more than most trade publications had predicted. "War Room," a faith-based drama about the power of prayer, more than doubled predictions with its $11.3 million launch. And last weekend 's champ, Sony 's "Perfect Guy," exceeded expectations by nearly $15 million when it kicked off with $29.4 million” (Lang and McNary). The history between black and whites in America come into play with the existence of a phenomenon called the “Hollywood plantation arrangement” which alludes to the relationship of black slaves and white slaveowners pre-civil war. This idea describes how “the relationship between African Americans and White Americans is rooted in a tradition of ownership, guidance, and responsibility” which “directly influences African Americans’ ability to access economic power and ownership, thereby limiting creative control and cultural protection (Ndoubou 7). The ruling class, which in Hollywood is the whites, use their power to maintain control by creating these images in media that make the blacks seem lesser...
Ethnicity and appearance has become a tremendous problem in the media due to the fact that they try to use it as a power to control creativity of abstaining the truth in media. According to journalist Nishijima, A, she refers to the Oscars and explains that it is very absurd how the media is slowly progression in lacking diversity. This was recognized when watching the Oscars and seeing that based off predominantly white nominees. Nishijima quotes “Boone Isaacs decl...
Richard Stam argues that the study of racial issues in film has been bombarded by critics who reject certain films on the basis of misrepresentation. That is to say that stereotypes, sh...
The science fiction movie Blade Runner 2049 got mostly technical nods, but did get a cinematography nomination. I personally thought it should have gotten nominated for Best Picture, but I think missing out on it may have more to do with its financial failure than its genre, especially considering there was a sci fi Best Picture nominee just last year in
The famous film The Birth of a Nation (1915) is considered a landmark and the most extraordinary achievement in the history of American Cinema. The film was directed by D.W Griffith, and it presents a distorted depiction of the South after the Civil War, it praises the Ku Klux Klan as a courageous troop, and it belittles blacks in a very hateful way. Such an influential, and controversial film had everyone speculating about it, and until today, as one critic put it, “the film brings all different types of emotions before peoples’ eyes” (Green, 179). While many people were in favor of the film, “the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) attempted to mount boycott of the film , but it failed to stir significant white