Oscar boycott, or Black Actors Matter

[Inisfallen]

There are just as many if not more black actors and film makes who are rejecting the boycott argument.

This is just the latest publicity stunt from Al Sharpton.

Besides there are awards shows for just about everything now. The Oscars have become irrelevant.

Al Sharpton? It’s amazing how conservatives have made Rev. Sharpton into their all-purpose bogeyman.

This has nothing to do with Al Sharpton.

 

[Midwest88]

Al Sharpton? It’s amazing how conservatives have made Rev. Sharpton into their all-purpose bogeyman.

This has nothing to do with Al Sharpton.

Al Sharpton is making a very big deal of it. So yes, it does have to do with Sharpton. Not all, but some.

But I’d like to hear what it has to do with from your perspective.

I’m not white I think this #OscarsSoWhite is an embarrassment. Not because there were no black actors nominated for the past two years, but because it’s all about race. All of it. It’s tiring. It’s pathetic. It’s downright obnoxious. Do you know what my immigrant mother said? “They’re just upset because they feel entitled.” She’s right.

 

[Siegehammer]

It’s not about a trophy or a party – it’s about why minorities and POCs are not included in a celebration of a community they are a part of. It’s not as if the AA nominations reflect a year in which only white people acted/directed/wrote/produced/etc. Some of the white nominees probably do deserve the nomination, but some deserve it less than their non-white counterparts, and that’s the problem.

 

[Sunbreak]

I have a problem seeing this as a race thing. The Oscars are about Hollywood politics as much as talent. There are wonderful white actors/actresses that have not received nominations that they should have. So, to call the race card because there were no black nominations is foul play to me.

 

[Theo520]

Al Sharpton? It’s amazing how conservatives have made Rev. Sharpton into their all-purpose bogeyman.

This has nothing to do with Al Sharpton.

LOL, Al has been on this for a year now.

 

[Midwest88]

It’s not about a trophy or a party – it’s about why minorities and POCs are not included in a celebration of a community they are a part of. It’s not as if the AA nominations reflect a year in which only white people acted/directed/wrote/produced/etc. Some of the white nominees probably do deserve the nomination,** but some deserve it less than their non-white counterparts, and that’s the problem.**

This makes no sense whatsoever and defeats the concept of nomination. I thought the Oscars were, in-part, nominating the films and performances that are deemed “the top 5” or so. You can go on how politics are involved in getting the so-called “top 5” performances and BP, but to make it about “minorities and POCs” not being included makes ZERO sense. ZERO. ZERO. ZERO.

bold: I don’t see it as a problem. Are you talking about Idris Elba and Michael B. Jordan being “not included in a celebration of a community they are a part of”? Seriously. Elba was nominated for a SAG, BAFTA and GG for his role in Beast of No Nations. Jordan’s performance received some critic nominations but missed out on all of the industry awards. So no, in terms of those two actors, the “not included in a celebration of a community they are a part of” does not hold up. In fact, I’d say movie premieres are more of a celebration of their work than any industry/critic nomination. You’d have a better argument if they reported not being invited to their own movie premiere because they were black.

I find your post absurd from the beginning to the end. You’re basically saying “something isn’t right here because there aren’t a POC nominated.” That’s what you’re saying. If a majority of the works are done my white actors and directors, then a majority of the nominations – BY SHEER PROBABILITY – will be white.

TV series Fresh Off the Boat have two Asian actors. Both Randall Park and Constance Wu weren’t nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress for TV Series for the Golden Globes. Were they “not included in a celebration of a community they are a part of”? The child actor, Hudson Yang, wasn’t nominated for any of the major Best Child actor awards. THE HORROR! I’m Asian and I don’t even care if they weren’t. You don’t see

Admit it, your argument fails completely. The entire support for a “more diverse” aka POC affirmative action is a crock of bull.

 

[Bradski]

I see no problem with having the committee be predominately white men. Just because a committee is predominately white doesn’t mean that all of their decisions are going to be racist nor that they are going to only select people of their own kind. Black people have won Oscars before.

If the committee was 98% black women and white men were underrepresented in the awards, would you find that quite normal?

 

[ThinkingSapien]

One movie on Netflix was excluded, well because it ran on Netflix instead of in theaters. That’s their business model. I’m referring to ‘Beasts of no nation’.

It ran on Netflix** and** in theaters. Netflix is said to have done this to satisfy a requirement for consideration for certain awards.

 

[exnihilo]

If the committee was 98% black women and white men were underrepresented in the awards, would you find that quite normal?

It depends on the situation. If the committee in question were one of the many racist pro Black or sexist pro women organizations I would find it very normal. No one seems to find it odd that most NBA teams are overwhelmingly Black. Disproportionality is apparently only wrong if the group is White, male, or Christian.

 

[Theo520]

It ran on Netflix** and** in theaters. Netflix is said to have done this to satisfy a requirement for consideration for certain awards.

Thanks for the clarification. Though it qualified, I still think it was snubbed because it was made primarily for streaming and not the movie theater audience.

 

[Songcatcher]

The Oscars have become irrelevant.

They are hardly irrelevant to people working in the industry. Winning an Oscar, or even just being nominated for one, is a huge financial boon for an actor or a movie. For an actor, being nominated and/or winning an Oscar will dramatically increase the number and quality of parts you are offered.

cbsnews.com/news/oscar-nomics-how-much-that-statue-is-really-worth/

It pays to win
On average, over the past four years, Best Picture award winners generated an additional $14 million in box office revenue. This year the figure is expected to jump to $15 million, which represents roughly 15% of total ticket sales.

In Hollywood, talent agents and managers estimate that their clients will get a 20% boost in pay for their next film if they win the award for Best Actor or Actress. Since she won the Best Actress award, Natalie Portman is expected to boost her take from the high six figures she received for Black Swan to around $10 million.

The effect on nominees

Even though winning the Oscar does wonders for movie careers and box office receipts, there is also a considerable benefit in being nominated. The King’s Speech was initially projected to gross $30 million. After receiving 12 Academy Award nominations, the revised estimate is over $200 million. This is likely to go higher now that it won the Oscar for best picture.

Nominations boost a film’s distribution too. Prior to be nominated, An Education was being shown in 50 theaters. After receiving a Best Picture nomination in 2010, its distribution expanded to 800 screens.

Over the past four years, movies that were nominated but did not win, on average, netted an additional $20 million before the awards ceremony and $5 million afterwards.

According to Reuters, an Academy Award nomination can boost ticket sales by one-third and cause a jump in the DVD sales of movies no longer in theaters. When you add downloads, streaming and cable TV revenues, the monetary rewards from receiving a nomination can be substantial.

 

[Theo520]

Since 1996, there have been 80 acting Oscars handed out - 9 have gone to black actors. That’s 11.25% - slightly under the number to be expected if % of potential audience is the priority. I believe blacks are ~13% of the population.

Best Actor - 3 black winners out of 20 awards (15%)
Best Actress - 1 black winner out of 20 awards (5%)
Best Supporting Actor - 2 black winners out of 20 awards (10%)
Best Supporting Actress - 3 black winners out of 20 awards (10%)

 

[Confiteor_Deo]

If the committee was 98% black women and white men were underrepresented in the awards, would you find that quite normal?

No, I wouldn’t because, as far as I know, there are more white actors than black ones so it would be strange. However, if it happened just one year or two, as is the case now, then I would just say the white actors didn’t act well enough to make it.

 

[randomuser]

Winning an Oscar, or even just being nominated for one, is a huge financial boon for an actor or a movie. For an actor, being nominated and/or winning an Oscar will dramatically increase the number and quality of parts you are offered.

It can also be a curse. Just ask F. Murray Abraham (from “Amadeus”), Marisa Tomei (from “My Cousin Vinny”), or Mira Sorvino (“Mighty Aphrodite”) – though Mira Sorvino was in the recent ‘faith-based’ movie “Do You Believe?” (Probably the only person ever in a Woody Allen movie you can say that about.)

 

[Maximilan_Kolbe]

Does anyone (actors included) really believe that the Oscar awards are based on merit? It’s a who knows who. Do you really believe THE BEST movie wins? I stopped watching the Oscars after Annie Hall won. Yeah that W.Allen tripe. It’s nonsense. No sense.

1. The year Annie Hall won Best Picture over Star Wars. Pure nonsense. ANy establishment that defends Roman Polanski and looks up to a man who marries his adopted daughter is bereft of any high ground.

 

[fin]

Yes. Just a bunch of whiny brats. And no, I’m neither white nor American.

They shouldn’t start bias in the Oscars by making the people that select the actors pick plenty of black people that really don’t deserve it but will get nominated anyway simply because they are black.