When the were announced on Jan. 15, all hell broke loose. Not for unwarranted reasons. Even though “Selma” was nominated for best picture, there was a simmering sense director Ava DuVernay and star David Oyelowo were snubbed. More vexing still: For the first time since 1998, there were no nominees of color in the acting categories. “Zero…Zip…Zilch…Nada!” as the Toyota commercial says.
The collective reaction from the Twitter-sphere was summed up by the mega-trending hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.
The controversy shows little sign of abating. After all, Oscar voting doesn’t close till 5 p.m. Lalaland Time on Feb. 17, when PricewaterhouseCoopers will get to counting ballots from 6,124 eligible voters for the Feb. 22 telecast on ABC.
Asked after the nomination announcement if the Academy had a diversity problem, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president , “Not at all. Not at all,” she replied.
A year earlier Isaacs made history herself when she became the first African-American and the third female president of the 87-year-old organization. It was not her finest hour. (She later suggested diversity might be a good idea next time.)
In 2013, The Los Angeles Times reported that 93 percent of the Academy’s voters were white. The numbers on gender were as vexing: 76 percent male. That was after the Academy added 432 new members.
If the Academy is drawing the wrong kind of attention to its dearth of diversity, TV appears to be making an argument not just for a content-driven Golden Age, but also for cultural relevance.
So we decided it was an opportune time to hash out why the film industry is stumbling while TV seems to be making strides. Here’s an edited version of a conversation film critic Lisa Kennedy and TV critic Joanne Ostrow had on the topic.
LK: Some statistics just floor you more than others. The fact that 1998 was the last time the Academy Awards didn’t have a person of color in the acting categories is one of them.
JO: Do you think it was racism on the part of a mostly white industry? Did they think giving it to “12 Years a Slave” last year exempted them?
LK: I don’t think it was laziness due to the success of “12 Years a Slave.” Though there is a sense that the controversy around the depictions of President Lyndon Baines Johnson and Martin Luther King Jr. in may have let voters off the hook. “Hey, look how responsible we are.”
JO: Like they’ve done their due diligence.
LK: In the past 10 years, the Academy has awarded its , and the first (and second) best-direction statuette to an Asian director (Ang Lee). Since the American Film Institute’s festival premiere of “Selma,” it was more than a hope that DuVernay’s nomination would add to the list of firsts. Over the last few seasons, I’ve argued the Oscars have meaning not because they get it right all the time, but because they have come to represent what the Academy wants to say to the rest of us — to the world — about itself. This year’s message isn’t pretty.
JO: Don’t you think it also shows how the Academy Award nominations matter less these days? The buzz belongs less to movies and more to what we used to call television — everything from broadcast to Netflix and Amazon. There’s more room for richer characters and points of view. I think it makes the Academy Awards look passé.
LK: Well, yes and no.
JO: It’s still the biggest game.
LK: There are better shows to be sure. But the awards have a historical punch. And having one’s story unfold on the “big screen” has a different kind of meaning. Movies say our stories are vital enough, entertaining enough, magical enough to make folks come out to see them. Television does something special. It seems to speak to our cultural present so much more intimately.
JO: It’s in our homes, it shows up faster and builds a deeper narrative. You sit with these characters for 22 hours, season after season.
LK: Did you see “The Butler”?
JO: I did.
LK: Because I think it might have made a great mini-series. I wonder if that’s why Lee Daniels and Danny Strong (director and writer of “The Butler,” respectively) are doing “Empire.” Because they realized they could delve into character differently.
JO: ” Empire” is significant. There’s been a lot of talk about the Shonda Rhimes (creator/producer) effect and what she’s done for ABC, which is mainly to show that black people can make soap-operatic dramas that make a lot of money, too. She doesn’t do highbrow entertainment. But she has put more non-white characters on TV and she has brought along a lot of non-white writers. But what “Empire” is doing on Fox is delving into stereotypes, tackling homophobia in the black community. They’re talking about thugs, the record industry, family, Obama and hip-hop. Credit goes to Lee Daniels. Terrence Howard, too.
LK: It got renewed for a second season. But who’s the jerk that scheduled it opposite “Black-ish”?
Since you mentioned Terrence Howard, I’ve often thought of him as one of those actors people love and harbor movie-star hopes for, like Angela Bassett and Don Cheadle. And then they seem to never quite secure that elusive status. In part because studios don’t afford them that opportunity. Television and cable have created more wiggle room for actors and actresses — black or white, male or female — that we felt were compelling and we wanted to see keep working.
JO: Do you think TV has an advantage with these huge ensemble casts? Going back to “Lost,” when they realized if they cast a person of every stripe they’d offer something for everyone, and it would sell around the world.
LK: “Scandal” is a bit like that — that “We Are the World” approach — I think it’s comforting, but then you’re still left asking, so who are the stars? And with Shonda’s shows, the answers are Viola Davis and Kerry Washington. There just seem to be more opportunities in television to do good work — as actors and writers.
JO: Hundreds of channels, and they all need originals. The statistic I read this week: We now have 1,715 series in prime time, 352 of them scripted. This renaissance is overwhelming. There’s too much good TV. And now you’ve got ABC pursuing stories with specificity for minority actors, instead of the old “color-blind” casting.
LK: was very helpful. It’s interesting when people imagine the way to eradicate racism or sexism or other forms of bigotry is by ignoring difference. No. No. No.
JO: Our differences make us interesting. The producers and network execs used to brag about color-blind casting. “This role could have been played by anyone…” Now they realize specificity is a good thing.
LK: Everybody has a story they hope goes beyond. We love the specificity of our story. At the same time we want it to be universal. It’s infuriating when white people don’t see “Selma” as their story. It’s not just a “black” story. This one’s about the evolving content of the nation’s character.
JO: To watch this Asian family on “Fresh Off the Boat,” it’s narrow yet it really is the immigrant story. The Taiwanese kid is teased for bringing his mom’s home-cooked noodles to school; he craves Lunchables (“white people lunch”) from the flashy grocery warehouse. It’s America.
LK: As unhappy as I remain with the treatment “Selma” got from the Academy, I still took umbrage with a tweet that said that seven out of the eight Oscar pic noms were just “stories about white men struggling.” That’s so reductive. My impulse is not to go, “Oh, these are white-men movies” any more than “Selma” is only a black-person movie. I’m going to guard my humanity. That’s what you do in the face of racism.
JO: That tweet resonated with me. It’s true, the films were all about white-guy angst. Yes, we can find the humanity in any of the stories, but let’s have more flavors of stories.
LK: When the Denzel Washington was quoted as saying the Academy makeup should reflect the population. I’m not sure I agree with that either. Why cap it off, like that? Aim higher.
JO: I’m always aware of the financial motives of commercial TV. than any other group. So networks take that information and push a show like “Black-ish.” It’s not because they feel a moral obligation.
LK: I read a similar stat about Hispanic moviegoers.
JO: Why do you think “Jane the Virgin” and “Cristela” are popping up? Not because sensitive corporate bosses felt the urge to be inclusive. The advertising department said, “Look at these demographics!”
At least we’re seeing less of them telling other people’s stories. And not letting them in to tell their own stories.
It takes a Shonda … to build a community of minority writers.
LK: It takes a Shonda. There’s a T-shirt in there somewhere.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830, jostrow@denverpost.com or twitter.com/ostrowdp; Lisa Kennedy: 303-954-1567 or lkennedy@denverpost.com or on Twitter @bylisakennedy
