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...ry.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.

[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.

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by FuzzyPlum

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]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

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...edium=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.