Oscar quotas?

[Jondalar]

Well it looks like Will Smith never got his Oscar nomination, so now he and his wife want people to boycott the oscars. I guess political correctness hijacks everything these day, including award shows. I'm not going to be watching the oscars because they've turned it into a sideshow and I know Chris Rock is going to be making quips the whole night. Pretty gross.

[Missy]

This seems to be big news everywhere. Honestly however, are the Oscars really that big a deal these days or have any real credibility?

I don't agree with a quota on nominations, but the committee could do with fairer representation.

The current President of the Academy is an African American woman, Cheryl Boone Isaacs. She is the first African American and third woman to have the role, and has issued a statement: “The academy is taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership. In the coming days and weeks we will conduct a review of our membership recruitment in order to bring about much-needed diversity in our 2016 class and beyond.”

They don't publish a list of members but in 2012 the Los Angeles tried to do a survey and claimed that more than 90 per cent were white, and more than 70 per cent male.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/oscars/la-et-unmasking-oscar-academy-project-20120219-story.html#page=1

That is an imbalance that needs to be addressed (will be a huge overhaul) but it's been a long time since I had an interest in the Oscars anyway.

[Jondalar]

Yeah, they have used Jada Pinkett Smith's Kanya West moment to make change. So what happens next year, when no people of color are nominated again? Will Black Live Matters protest Hollywood? They protest over anything. After all, everyone is ENTITLED to get an oscar now or it's a INJUSTICE by racist HOLLYWOOD (which is full the most liberal people on the planet).

Cheryl Boone Isaacs has done nothing but politicize and turn it into politically correct joke. What happens to the next of person of color who wins an oscar? Let's congratulate on them on their color. Doesn't matter if they've earned it or not.

RIDICULOUS! And Will and Jada should be embarrassed. I'm embarrassed for them.

[SisterNightroad]

It's high time that the Oscar Academy should represent fairly the actors of non white ethnicity but I'm against quote in general. Every nomination has to be earned because of its real worth.
However I think Will Smith is just trying to use this situation to his advantage and gather more attention for himself.
Yes, Oscars aren't important like they were once but they still represent an important status symbol for actors. It's unfortunate that in the last years there have been so many undeserved victories.
Having said that I hope this year Leo gets the award.

[FuzzyPlum]

Quotas are certainly not the answer but it does seem likely there's institutional racism involved somewhere along the lines.
No black actors out of the 40 nominations for the top acting awards over the past two years?
either;
a) there's less of an inclination amongst the mainly white voters to vote for black people.
or
b) there's less opportunity for black actors to fill top roles.

oh, I forgot...
or
c) black (and other ethnically diverse) people just can't act.

[Jondalar]

Will Smith's former costar responds to the Oscar Boycott.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T--lnnMwwjU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Macfanforever]

I still believe these award shows are fixed.Or maybe they are not.Who knows.
Atlease they should give everybody a chance to win.

[Jondalar]

I still believe these award shows are fixed.Or maybe they are not.Who knows.
Atlease they should give everybody a chance to win.

Everybody did have a chance did win and people of color have actually won in the past. Whoopie Goldberg, Hallie Berry, Jennifer Hudson, Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Octavia Spencer...

[lilyfee]

Firstly, I don't quite see the point of boycotting the Oscars ala Will and Jada. I think awards shows are a great platform to speak your mind and represent yourself. By not showing up they are depriving themselves not only of the opportunity to tell the large audience that will be watching their thoughts on the matter, but also to represent and promote their own projects that weren't nominated.

That said, I understand where Jada is coming from and she is not the only one frustrated by the deplorable lack of diversity represented in shows like the Oscars!

I believe the #1 problem is that there are too few opportunities for people of color in Hollywood. Even right now everyone mainly mentions Straight Outta Compton, Beasts of No Nation and Creed as the films that should have been nominated in more categories and I just think... Really??? There are something like 50+ films nominated this year and only THREE showcase people of color in roles worthy of an Oscar?? And that's not even just on screen, but behind the camera as well?? That's insane to me, and I think it needs to be rectified ASAP.

Next, I think that Academy voters need to watch more movies. When the majority of movies with POC casts (that they seem to nominate for Oscars anyway) are about slavery, I think that says something about the mentality of the average Academy voter. White guilt, perhaps? And I just read an article today that talked about how Academy voters haven't necessarily even seen all of the films in a given category when they vote... Um, what?? How can you judge which film is best if you haven't even seen all the choices??

TV is making waayyy larger steps in terms of diversity; just look at recent shows like Sense8, How To Get Away With Murder, or Quantico, which showcase racially diverse casts and characters of different sexualities and backgrounds without having the single defining storyline of a character center around their so-called "minority" as though that's all they have to offer. I am not in favor of quotas, don't get me wrong, but it amazes me that even in programs that take place in 2016, it's assumed during casting that a character is white and straight unless otherwise specified, as though everything is a period drama from like the 1800s or something.

I loved how Viola Davis commented in her 2015 Emmys acceptance speech for Best Actress in a Drama, "You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there." That seems to be true for award shows across the board.

And that is my two cents.:shrug:

[FuzzyPlum]

Firstly, I don't quite see the point of boycotting the Oscars ala Will and Jada. I think awards shows are a great platform to speak your mind and represent yourself. By not showing up they are depriving themselves not only of the opportunity to tell the large audience that will be watching their thoughts on the matter, but also to represent and promote their own projects that weren't nominated.

That said, I understand where Jada is coming from and she is not the only one frustrated by the deplorable lack of diversity represented in shows like the Oscars!

I believe the #1 problem is that there are too few opportunities for people of color in Hollywood. Even right now everyone mainly mentions Straight Outta Compton, Beasts of No Nation and Creed as the films that should have been nominated in more categories and I just think... Really??? There are something like 50+ films nominated this year and only THREE showcase people of color in roles worthy of an Oscar?? And that's not even just on screen, but behind the camera as well?? That's insane to me, and I think it needs to be rectified ASAP.

Next, I think that Academy voters need to watch more movies. When the majority of movies with POC casts (that they seem to nominate for Oscars anyway) are about slavery, I think that says something about the mentality of the average Academy voter. White guilt, perhaps? And I just read an article today that talked about how Academy voters haven't necessarily even seen all of the films in a given category when they vote... Um, what?? How can you judge which film is best if you haven't even seen all the choices??

TV is making waayyy larger steps in terms of diversity; just look at recent shows like Sense8, How To Get Away With Murder, or Quantico, which showcase racially diverse casts and characters of different sexualities and backgrounds without having the single defining storyline of a character center around their so-called "minority" as though that's all they have to offer. I am not in favor of quotas, don't get me wrong, but it amazes me that even in programs that take place in 2016, it's assumed during casting that a character is white and straight unless otherwise specified, as though everything is a period drama from like the 1800s or something.

I loved how Viola Davis commented in her 2015 Emmys acceptance speech for Best Actress in a Drama, "You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there." That seems to be true for award shows across the board.

And that is my two cents.:shrug:

Very well said- though I can understand their boycott- if its the only way to spark debate and get the point across (which seemingly its doing).

[olive]

Everybody did have a chance did win and people of color have actually won in the past. Whoopie Goldberg, Hallie Berry, Jennifer Hudson, Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Octavia Spencer...

Whoopie only won for "ghost" ?????? because they failed to give it to her for The Color Purple which she deserved to win

[Jondalar]

Whoopie only won for "ghost" ?????? because they failed to give it to her for The Color Purple which she deserved to win

No. Meryl Streep deserved to win for Out of Africa. Geraldine Paige won because she was old and long overdue. Whoopie won because she gave really good performances before and it was decades since black actress won the award. Annette Benning deserved to win for the Grifters.

[olive]

No. Meryl Streep deserved to win for Out of Africa. Geraldine Paige won because she was old and long overdue. Whoopie won because she gave really good performances before and it was decades since black actress won the award. Annette Benning deserved to win for the Grifters.

to be honest it's all BS ( like making the super bowl a thing that people celebrate and buy new Tvs for) Plus I really don't care , never watched an award show , But I am fascinated by the way sheeple are lead by mass media hype .... That is entertaining


Eventually a millennial will be in charge and everyone including me will get an Oscar just for being in a movie

[Macfanforever]

Everybody did have a chance did win and people of color have actually won in the past. Whoopie Goldberg, Hallie Berry, Jennifer Hudson, Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Octavia Spencer...

Yes.I enjoy those mentioned .Movie were better then.Whoopi Goldberg should of won for The Color Purple then.

[Macfanforever]

to be honest it's all BS ( like making the super bowl a thing that people celebrate and buy new Tvs for) Plus I really don't care , never watched an award show , But I am fascinated by the way sheeple are lead by mass media hype .... That is entertaining


Eventually a millennial will be in charge and everyone including me will get an Oscar just for being in a movie

I agree.Its a money grab game with the Superbowl.The averts chime in alot of money.
I'm not a football fan but I check in for the Halftime show anyway.

All the awards shows just too long and drag along and boring with hosts that waste time cracking jokes.They should just cut it down to 2 hours without the filler crap and just hand out the awards.Again its a money grab from the averts.

People should just boycott awards shows because they are too long and boring.Maybe they will wake up and cut the crap out of the show and give us a good show.

[Jondalar]

Well here is the thing...

They are using the facts that Straight Outta Compton and Will Smith were not nominated for Oscars to prove that the Oscars are racist. But did they deserve to be...

Did Straight Outta Compton deserve to be nominated for Best Picture? = According to film critics, NO. According to film critics, it was only the 68th best reviewed picture of last year. In other words, there were 67 movies that were better than it.

Did Will Smith deserve a nomination for Best Actor? = probably not. He was criticized for his Nigerian accent in the movie. He was not nominated for many of the major awards this year. He got nominated for some Black Awards and for a Golden Globe. However, the Golden Globes nominate 10 actors for best actor and split them into two categories, Comedy and Drama. He had more of a chance to get the nomination. I'm sure that his family and employees told him that he deserved to get a nomination, but that doesn't mean he deserved one.

So why the outrage...

They wanted people to vote for Straight Outta Compton simply because it was a black movie, which is very racist in itself.

And, the President of the Academy is a black woman who wants quotas for the Oscars. She bitched and moaned last year because of the nominations and nothing much changed.

So, lets make some new categories to solve the problem. We can have a category for Actresses and then one for Blacktresses. We can also have a category for Actors and then Blacktors. This is really what we are talking about. So much for integration... Oh wait, now that is real racist.

Next year, when no black actresses or actors are nominated, there is going to be even more change to the Acedemy, until one year, all the members of the Academy are going to be required to take Black History, so that they UNDERSTAND why their vote should be a politically correct and RIGHT one. If they don't, they are simply a bunch of racist.

[KarmaContestant]

http://thesource.com/2016/01/24/danny-devito-speaks-up-on-oscar-controversy-were-a-bunch-of-racists/

Danny DeVito Speaks Up on Oscar Controversy: “We’re a Bunch of Racists”

Actor Danny DeVito has always packed a surplus of brash personality on the big screen, and it seems his blunt attitude has no problem translating over into the real world.

It was this weekend at the Sundance Film Festival that DeVito, an Oscar nominee himself, spoke out against the shutting out of Black actors in the 2016 Academy Awards nominations.

“We are living in a country that discriminates and has certain racial tendencies which — racist tendencies — so sometimes it’s manifested in things like this and it’s illuminated, but just generally speaking we’re a racist — we’re a bunch of racists.”

[KarmaContestant]

b) there's less opportunity for black actors to fill top roles.


This is exactly the issue. You can't get a nomination for a role you aren't' cast in, and those trying to make this about "quotas" and "political correctness" are missing the point.

The casts of Hollywood movies are overwhelmingly white, when we live in a society that isn't (unless you live in small town America and then perhaps you're really ignorant of just how many black people there are) and unless a movie is made by a black director, chances are any black cast members will fill stereotyped roles: slaves, maids, thugs, drug dealers, trouble teens, basketball players, rappers.

It's quite gross, actually.

[Jondalar]

This is exactly the issue. You can't get a nomination for a role you aren't' cast in, and those trying to make this about "quotas" and "political correctness" are missing the point.

The casts of Hollywood movies are overwhelmingly white, when we live in a society that isn't (unless you live in small town America and then perhaps you're really ignorant of just how many black people there are) and unless a movie is made by a black director, chances are any black cast members will fill stereotyped roles: slaves, maids, thugs, drug dealers, trouble teens, basketball players, rappers.

It's quite gross, actually.

You can't boycott over an issue and then say that is not the real issue... Your missing the point. No one owes you a job or an award. Racist Hollywood made Will Smith rich.

[Macfanforever]

What does burn me up is how these unknowns get up front for nomination or win on any awards shows.I have to agree with my friend .I still think these shows are fixed.

I remember in the 1990's watching the Grammys and a young women that nobody never heard and came out from nowhere and won.I cant think of her name right now but she played the piano.I was pissed.

[KarmaContestant]

So...check this out.

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/movies/upcoming-movies/the-unlikely-actor-playing-michael-jackson-in-strange-new-film/news-story/c8f7c385d26dc51c8652de353cca8ebf?utm_content=SocialFlow&utm_campaign=EditorialSF&utm_source=News.com.au&utm_medium=Facebook

I personally think this is a fitting choice - Michael Jackson was a weird man, and this is bound to be a weird movie, but there are folks who are going to have fits over this.


JOSEPH Fiennes has confirmed he’s the unlikely choice to play Michael Jackson in a bizarre new road trip comedy based on real-life events.

The Shakespeare in Love star will tackle the King of Pop in a new movie about a cross-country trip Jackson took with Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor from New York to Los Angeles when planes were momentarily grounded following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Big Apple.

[paleshadow]

Well here is the thing...

Next year, when no black actresses or actors are nominated, there is going to be even more change to the Acedemy, until one year, all the members of the Academy are going to be required to take Black History, so that they UNDERSTAND why their vote should be a politically correct and RIGHT one. If they don't, they are simply a bunch of racist.

Either that or "50 Shades of Black" will get a best picture nomination, and Tyler Perry will get nominated for Best Actor (or actress?) for his role in Madea goes to Mars.

It kind of does seem unfair to expect an awards show to change the criteria instead of making movies that meet the criteria.

I think it was BS for Ice Cube to make the comment that they should have had a slave in their movie and they would have gotten a nomination. If he was referring to 12 years a slave, that's like saying it wasn't about the amazing performances as much as it was just about the subject matter.

Honestly, I rarely enjoy the films that are nominated if I even see them. I did see "Room" and thought Jacob Tremblay was really good. I thought "Revenant" was visually very good, but about an hour too long. I don't really understand how you can judge films when everyone's tastes are different. I would have given the oscar for Best Picture to "Halloween" (1978). :laugh:

[Jondalar]

Well the Oscars are sort of ruined. They should be called the Black Entitlement Awards. Next year Kanya West should host.

[KarmaContestant]

Or...maybe...more minority actors will be cast, in a society an industry that is supposedly not racist and claims to be colorblind, and then the nominations will reflect the actual diversity of our country.

This isn't about elevating blacks over whites, or enforcing black culture, or suppressing whites, which is what some of you are making it out to be.

[KarmaContestant]

Well the Oscars are sort of ruined. They should be called the Black Entitlement Awards. Next year Kanya West should host.

Nice one. Black folks 'ruined' the Oscars. What a surprise coming from you.

[Macfanforever]

Ooh .This thread is turning into a HOT topic.I hope it dont get worse .Everybody should get a chance with these and dont matter who and what they are.

I found this on Wikipedia .
How people get nominated.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Awards#Nomination

Its up to those members to vote for the nominees .

Maybe they should open the nominations to the public .

[olive]

Nice one. Black folks 'ruined' the Oscars. What a surprise coming from you.

Like I posted earlier. It's not the award shows.. I am fascinated by the sheeple who are lead by the media

[olive]

Ooh .This thread is turning into a HOT topic.I hope it dont get worse .Everybody should get a chance with these and dont matter who and what they are.

I found this on Wikipedia .
How people get nominated.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Awards#Nomination

Its up to those members to vote for the nominees .

Maybe they should open the nominations to the public .

I know people who can vote, they don't always do and some of them like taking a test they didn't study for they just scroll through the nominees quickly and check off ones that look familiar ,names that they've heard or just randomly but I know other people who actually put a lot of effort into their vote

[Jondalar]

Or...maybe...more minority actors will be cast, in a society an industry that is supposedly not racist and claims to be colorblind, and then the nominations will reflect the actual diversity of our country.

This isn't about elevating blacks over whites, or enforcing black culture, or suppressing whites, which is what some of you are making it out to be.

Nobody claims to be color blind. There is the BET cannel... Like Stacey Dash says it's a complete double standard.

[paleshadow]

Nobody claims to be color blind. There is the BET cannel... Like Stacey Dash says it's a complete double standard.

I had a similar conversation with my partner regarding BET and Lifetime Television for Women. I said, "you know, we could never have a WET channel, or Testosterone Network for Men" without someone protesting. He said "Well, ESPN is a men's channel". I told him that assuming sports are only enjoyed by men is a stereotype in itself, but the point is they can't CALL it television for men.

But I agree with what people are saying in terms of the issue being with quality roles being filled by minorities. That also requires minorities to go after them, or make those types of movies, and not "Scary movie pt. 9".

[Macfanforever]

Nobody claims to be color blind. There is the BET cannel... Like Stacey Dash says it's a complete double standard.

I love the OWN channel.

[Macfanforever]

I had a similar conversation with my partner regarding BET and Lifetime Television for Women. I said, "you know, we could never have a WET channel, or Testosterone Network for Men" without someone protesting. He said "Well, ESPN is a men's channel". I told him that assuming sports are only enjoyed by men is a stereotype in itself, but the point is they can't CALL it television for men.

But I agree with what people are saying in terms of the issue being with quality roles being filled by minorities. That also requires minorities to go after them, or make those types of movies, and not "Scary movie pt. 9".

I always kid my late sister about Lifetime Channel.She always was watching it when I see her.I used to say to her."Who 's husband/boyfriend went to jail tonight".

[Jondalar]

I always kid my late sister about Lifetime Channel.She always was watching it when I see her.I used to say to her."Who 's husband/boyfriend went to jail tonight".

Why are those channels allowed?