With the Oscar Nominations announcement this past week, the buzz around the 88th Academy Awards has been on everyone’s mind. Why wasn’t Star Wars nominated for more categories? Will Leonardo DiCaprio finally win his long awaited Academy Award? … but above all, why are the ‘Oscars so white’?
According to Brandon Griggs from CNN, “For the second consecutive year, no minorities were nominated in any of the four acting categories.” With all the of the nominations going to actors and actresses of no color, Griggs pointed out that the lack of effort to be diverse in Hollywood has taken a turn for the worse – with only minorities being nominated in the categories for Best Documentary and Best Original Screenplay.
In the past week, many took to twitter with a single hashtag, ‘OscarsSoWhite,’ and questioned what it would take to increase diversity in Hollywood.
So what exactly does a lack of diversity mean for the film industry’s big awards night? For one thing, it means that, for minorities, achieving a coveted award, is only exclusive to one culture. In another sense, the lack of diversity does not give a fair or equal representation of individuals of color who are working in film. Although the discussion is still ongoing about what can be done to increase diversity in the film industry, it proves that there’s still a long way to go.
What do you think of this year’s Oscar Noms? Tweet us at @hccalstatela.