#AreOscarsReallySoWhite?

 

Picture by: Vincent Paolo Villano

A few weeks ago, The Academy announced their nominees for the 2016 Oscars. With the hash tag “Oscars So White,” outrage grew about the lack of African American actors and films nominated. In fact, not a single black male or female actor has been nominated for an award the past two years. So is the Academy racist?

I personally don’t believe that the issue with race and diversity is all to blame on the Academy, but rather the productions and casting directors.

 

“You can’t make characters like Steve Jobs black.”

 

Yes, I agree that there needs to be more diversity and inclusion in films, and we have seen many diverse films recently such as “Straight Outa Compton,” “Concussion,” “Chi-raq,” and “Selma.” You can’t make characters like Steve Jobs black, or change Dr. Bennet Omalu in Concussion to be played my a white man. A big aspect of the film industry is typecasting for films because directors are looking for actors to fit a specific role that matches with the storyline. Whether it is the actor’s height, weight, hair color, or yes, even skin color too, they all have to be exact when casting for a specific role.

If people want to make a huge deal about diversity in films then they need to start writing films and stories with the specific roles for black actors. Hopefully this will be a movement for writers and casting directors to start thinking and looking for diversity in films and how black actors can fit different roles.

Film and Broadway are completely different. Live theatre is “real” and I think there are a lot more opportunities for diversity on Broadway because shows and musicals have started a trend of telling realistic stories.

With all the backlash the Oscars received with the hash tag, it makes me wonder if people voted a certain way for the SAG Awards so that the award show didn’t receive any backlash too.