#OscarsSoWhite?
The #OscarsSoWhite trend on Twitter in early 2016 was a turning point in the discussion on diversity within the film industry, questioning why - for the second year running - there was a lack of non-white actors, despite the 20 acting nominations each year (Cox, 2016). The Academy is noted for having a large amount of white male voters, and a mostly white committee overall.
Alongside the obvious lack of people of colour in every category, many have also noted a distinct absence of women in the technical categories. The 2018 awards - which took place this last weekend - saw Rachel Morrison becoming the first woman nominated for Best Cinematography for her work on Mudbound (Dee Rees, 2017), and Jordan Peele becoming the first African-American to win Best Original Screenplay for Get Out (Peele, 2017).
While there was a notable shift in the tone of this year's ceremony, with many speaking in support of current movements such as #MeToo, #TimesUp, and the campaign for greater Gun Control, the Academy is still rewarding white men. This may stem from the very obvious lack of diversity within the Academy itself, with a very small amount of women and people of colour on the committee.
These statistics clearly show that the Academy is vastly made up of white men, many of whom may have seen contenders such as Get Out, Call Me by Your Name (Luca Guadagnino, 2017), and Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig, 2017) as a turn away from the films they were used to; perhaps not being so 'relatable' due to their characters and subject matter. This is exemplified in Kyle Buchanan, Stacey Wilson Hunt and Chris Lee's article on Oscar voters for Vulture:
"...some of our new members say they ran into interference from an older, more traditional wing of the Academy when it came to evaluating Peele’s movie [Get Out]. “I had multiple conversations with longtime Academy members who were like, ‘That was not an Oscar film,’” said one new voter. “And I’m like, ‘That’s bullshit. Watch it.’ Honestly, a few of them had not even seen it and they were saying it, so dispelling that kind of thing has been super important.”..." (2018).
This problem however, may not lie solely within the Academy, as many of the eligible films themselves neglect to feature a truly diverse cast and crew.
In terms of speaking roles, Best Picture winners in the last 27 years all feature male characters overwhelmingly more than they do female characters. As is noted, these films are predominantly focused on men and their stories, but that is ultimately part of the problem too.
On this topic, a study of 2,000 screenplays by ThePudding.com shows how even in 'female led' Disney films, such as Mulan (Bancroft and Cook, 1998), and Frozen (Buck and Lee, 2013) etc, there are still more male characters with 100+ lines than there are female characters with 100+ lines. This shows that a female lead often isn't enough to secure an audible female voice.
From studies such as this, it can be seen that the lack of diversity during awards season is without a doubt an industry problem. If there are far more straight white men in industry roles, there will be far more straight white men being nominated. Thanks to films such as Get Out, Wonder Woman, and Black Panther, hopefully Hollywood can now see that there is great potential in minority led cinema, with these great filmmakers helping to pave the way for others to follow.
Alongside the obvious lack of people of colour in every category, many have also noted a distinct absence of women in the technical categories. The 2018 awards - which took place this last weekend - saw Rachel Morrison becoming the first woman nominated for Best Cinematography for her work on Mudbound (Dee Rees, 2017), and Jordan Peele becoming the first African-American to win Best Original Screenplay for Get Out (Peele, 2017).
While there was a notable shift in the tone of this year's ceremony, with many speaking in support of current movements such as #MeToo, #TimesUp, and the campaign for greater Gun Control, the Academy is still rewarding white men. This may stem from the very obvious lack of diversity within the Academy itself, with a very small amount of women and people of colour on the committee.
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| 2016 Academy Voters by Gender (statista.com) |
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| 2016 Academy Voters by Ethnicity (statista.com) |
"...some of our new members say they ran into interference from an older, more traditional wing of the Academy when it came to evaluating Peele’s movie [Get Out]. “I had multiple conversations with longtime Academy members who were like, ‘That was not an Oscar film,’” said one new voter. “And I’m like, ‘That’s bullshit. Watch it.’ Honestly, a few of them had not even seen it and they were saying it, so dispelling that kind of thing has been super important.”..." (2018).
This problem however, may not lie solely within the Academy, as many of the eligible films themselves neglect to feature a truly diverse cast and crew.
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| Men vs Women speaking 100+ words in Best Picture Oscar winners (1991 - 2016). [bbc.co.uk] |
On this topic, a study of 2,000 screenplays by ThePudding.com shows how even in 'female led' Disney films, such as Mulan (Bancroft and Cook, 1998), and Frozen (Buck and Lee, 2013) etc, there are still more male characters with 100+ lines than there are female characters with 100+ lines. This shows that a female lead often isn't enough to secure an audible female voice.
From studies such as this, it can be seen that the lack of diversity during awards season is without a doubt an industry problem. If there are far more straight white men in industry roles, there will be far more straight white men being nominated. Thanks to films such as Get Out, Wonder Woman, and Black Panther, hopefully Hollywood can now see that there is great potential in minority led cinema, with these great filmmakers helping to pave the way for others to follow.
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