In 2017 the annual Academcy Awards were dubbed the “black Oscars”; what is your opinion on this and
This years Academy Awards were nicknamed the 'Black Oscars' due to the number of winners being black compared to previous years. The awards in 2016 and 2015 were considered a low point in Oscar history as there were no black nominees in the four acting categories let alone any winners. This sparked global outrage and led to some even threatening to boycott the awards unless something was changed. In contrast, there were a record number of black nominees this year especially in the Best Supporting Actress category which was dominated by black women. Many believe that this was purely as a reaction to the outrage of the last 2 years and not due to their performances.
I believe that the Academy has done a lot for black film in the past but has slipped somewhat in recent times. I also believe that other minority actors, such as Asian and Latino actors, are not given an equal chance as white actors. I don't think that this is the fault of the Academy but rather the fault of directors and producers. The majority of leading roles tend to be written for, and given to, white actors rather than minority actors. Women are also not represented fairly as most leading roles are given to male actors. Star Wars is a great example of the lack of diversity in Hollywood. In the 8 Star Wars films there have only been 7 black actors taking speaking roles. There is also a lack of major female characters in the series and even though the lead role of the recent Rogue One film was a woman, the actress, Felicity Jones, only had around 12-15% of the lines and had considerably less than the supporting male actor, Diego Luna. This lack of leading roles for minorities and female actors means that they have far less chance of even being nominated for an Oscar let alone winning one. I think that the only way this could possibly change is if these actors were given equal status by directors, producers and production companies.
The 2016 awards were a wake up call for the world and I believe that we will start to see more roles for black actors over the coming years. However, there are still other minorities that need fair representation and more needs to be done to ensure equal status in the world of film.