I'm prefacing this post's headline with the word "opinion" as a means of journalistic clarification, but it hardly seems like a matter of opinion to say that the 2016 Oscar nominations, which were announced this morning, are an embarrassment to Hollywood.
Most conspicuously, actors of color were entirely omitted from nominations in the acting categories — yep, all four categories are all-white this year. It's an egregious example of the Oscars' long-standing bias towards white actors, a bias that seems to be a weirdly excruciating struggle for the Academy to correct. No one expected white privilege to disappear overnight, but is it really that hard for the Oscars to become more inclusive?
Apparently so. Thus, Straight Outta Compton — an imperfect but electrifying film — was passed over for a Best Picture nomination, and Creed star Michael B. Jordan received no acting nomination, while his crusty co-star Sylvester Stallone (who omitted thanks for both Jordan and director Ryan Coogler when accepting his Golden Globe for the role) got a nom for Best Supporting Actor.
What makes the racial homogeneity of this year's acting nominations especially hard to stomach is the way that the Academy has chosen to valorize stories of white guys smugly struggling. The most-nominated film is The Revenant, a beautifully-shot movie about Leonardo DiCaprio bouncing back from a bear attack. The film has a message about European exploitation of the American wilderness, but it's told through DiCaprio's eyes, with Pawnee characters resigned to minor supporting roles.
Other much-honored films this year include The Martian and The Big Short, both of which allow middle-aged A-list white actors to mansplain pseudoscience and pseudoeconomics — at tedious length. The Martian is just goofy, but The Big Short is downright offensive in the way that it lavishes attention on its eccentric male protagonists while women are dumped in cocktail dresses and hot tubs.
Mad Max: Fury Road is also a tale of white-guy survival, but it's at least much more gender-balanced, with Charlize Theron and other actresses more than holding their own alongside Tom Hardy. If the Academy saw fit to nominate Mad Max, though, why not Star Wars: The Force Awakens? John Williams got his expected nomination for Best Original Score, but the critically lauded smash hit — which, perhaps not coincidentally, was applauded for its inclusiveness — is no Titanic, the Academy decided.
Inclusiveness isn't about being "politically correct," it's about recognizing the best and most meaningful work seen on movie screens. The Oscars' viewership slipped 15 percent last year, and no wonder: if the Academy can't find a way to recognize a wider range of art, the Oscars will continue to lose credibility and relevance.
The producers of the telecast have picked a host, though, who they hope will boost ratings: Chris Rock. This monologue ought to be interesting.
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