Hey everyone, so once the nominations came out and the controversy over how "white" the Oscar nominations were, I promised myself that I would keep my mouth shut. However as the weeks have gone by and I have sat and read dozens of articles about how the Oscars are racist and talks of boycotting and rule changing, I just couldn't keep my mouth shut any longer. Now I know a lot of you that read this will disregard this post because I am a white "supposedly privileged" male and I don't know what I am talking about. With that said, I want you all to know that this post has nothing to do with race because I love all races and some of my very good friends are of color. This post is about common human decency and how we as Americans feel like we are entitled to everything and act like babies when we don't get what we want or what we think we deserve. Finally, keep in mind that I saw 194 films in 2015 including every one that is up for an award or that people thought would be an award contender along with many others that were never considered. I think I should know a little bit about what should and should not have been nominated. With that said, here we go....
Let's start with Will Smith and his amazing performance in Concussion. It was truly an amazing performance and that accent that he kept throughout the movie was impressive. With that said, this film is not a film that draws the Academy's eye. It's not because it has a black actor. In general movies about sports don't win very often. In fact, only 3 sports movies have ever won Best Picture at the Oscars. Now, looking at the best actor nominees for this year. First, Leonardo DiCaprio has never won an Oscar before, but he battled the elements and provided a powerful performance. The Academy loves it when actors risk it all for their roles and Leonardo DiCaprio did just that. Eddie Redmayne plays a man and his transition into a woman. Though not my favorite performance of the year, transgender issues are so prevalent right now that the Academy would never have passed up this opportunity to recognize these issues. Next, Michael Fassbender who plays the inventor Steve Jobs. He has been picked to be a nominee since the Academy Awards last year. This performance was on everyone's radars for over a year and this performance definitely lived up to the hype. Bryan Cranston plays a Hollywood screenwriter who wrote some of the best films in history. However, he never got any of the credit because he was part of the communist party and Hollywood rejected him. This performance was ripe for awards because Hollywood loves to reward movies that deal with its own history. Finally, Matt Damon, my favorite performance of the year, takes an entire film on his shoulders and makes it incredible. So, looking at what was nominated compared to Will Smith's performance it honestly doesn't surprise me. Also, the fact that Will Smith did not even want to play this role goes against him as well. I feel like if you didn't want to play the role, then you can't get all offended when you don't get nominated for something. Not every person gets nominated for something. That is just the way it goes. Trust me, there are many performances better than Will Smith's this year that did not get nominated. You want to talk about a problem, I have an issue that voice actors in animated films don't get nominated for the the big awards because Phyllis Smith gives one of the greatest performances ever as Sadness in Inside Out!!
The other controversy was Straight Outta Compton not being nominated. Now, I saw this film and after watching it, though I thought it was interesting and entertaining, never did it cross my mind that this was Oscar-worthy. It was an incredible story and had amazing acting, but the film is too controversial. NWA has always been a subject of controversy and the Academy doesn't like to be right in the middle of it. It has nothing to do with the fact that this film has an all-black cast. Also, there are so many other great films that were not nominated. Films that were even better than Straight Outta Compton. The matter that they weren't invited to the Oscars is complete bull. The Academy gives a certain amount of tickets to each studio and it is the studio's job to distribute the tickets how they wish. Seeing as how Straight Outta Compton was only nominated for its screenplay, it makes sense that the studio would reserve its tickets for its films that were nominated for more than one award. Everyone saying that it's the Academy's fault that they were not invited get your facts right. The Academy is not racist!!!
With all that said, the thing that annoys me is that these stars know how the Academy operates. They know what will and will not receive awards attention. It has nothing to do with race. If there was a race problem two years ago 12 Years A Slave would not have won. If there was a race problem Forest Whitaker would not have won. If there was a race problem Morgan Freeman would not have won or even been nominated. Finally, if there was a race problem Precious would not have received the recognition that it did. As mentioned above, the Academy is not racist. In fact, if anything the Academy has tried its best to be an advocate for diversity from the very beginning.
The problem is not that the Academy is racist because its not, the problem lies in the fact that we live in a world where everyone feels that they are entitled to praise and awards. We live in a "Participation Award" world. The truth of the matter is that there are going to be winners and there are going to be losers. It has nothing to do with race, gender, sexuality, or anything else, it depends on what is good and and what is bad. Now, I am not saying that the Academy doesn't look over great movies, because it does, but its not because of diversity reasons like everyone believes. If The Danish Girl hadn't of been nominated, the LGBT community would be reacting the same way. We live in a world where we are so nervous about offending others (because people get offended so easily) that no matter what we do people will get offended. We wonder why our kids grow up feeling like they are so privileged. And yet we give out "Participation" Awards" like they're candy. I'm sorry, but that should not be the case. We are teaching our kids horrible lessons because in reality, life is not fair. In fact, it sucks sometimes and things don't always go the way we planned them to be. So instead of getting all offended and feeling like you are entitled to something step up and do something better. Will Smith and everyone else not nominated should use the fire that they are using to boycott the Oscars (which is ridiculous by the way), and make something incredible that will be nominated in the coming years. Don't cry racism or sexism every time you don't get something that you want because honestly this is not what those that came before us fought for. Martin Luther King Jr. didn't fight racism so that people could play that card when they didn't get what they wanted. He fought against racism so that his people wouldn't continue being treated like second-class citizens. He fought it so everyone could sit down in the same restaurant together, so that people could use the same restrooms, and so that people wouldn't walk outside every day and fear for their lives. Not so that people can claim racism when they don't get nominated for an award!!! We need to change this "Participation Award" mentality and start learning to love life for its ups and downs and not just feel like we are entitled to everything!!
Well there is my rant. I hope this is enlightening and hopefully furthers the conversation away from how the Academy is racist and more to how our society feels entitled to everything!!! If you have any questions or comments I would love to hear them!! Thanks for reading!!
MPAA Rating: PG for thematic elements, scary images, action and peril
