What do you think? Has Hollywood listened? Do the people running Hollywood care? February 28th is the day of the Oscars.
I think the controversy last year was that "Birdman" won best picture, even though "Selma" had been nominated. The logic seems to be that "Selma" was directed by a bi-racial woman, and was about the American civil rights movement. "Birdman" on the other hand was directed by a white mexican. Therefor, the academy awards are racist and sexist. This belies the fact that "Birdman" is widely regarded as one of the best movies made in the last 20 years. Even aside from the subjective question of liking a film or not, the sheer craft of "Birdman" was dazzling, and the more you know about how ground breaking and technically demanding this film was, the more respect you have for it. "Selma" is contrast was a crappy movie that completely slanders Lyndon Johnson as a racist villain, despite the fact that he is probably the foremost politician advocating civil rights legislation in american history. The only people complaining about last year's academy awards being racist and sexist are assholes who have their own racist and sexist agenda up their ass.
The worse one was 2005, when Crash won best picture, all best picture noms that year were pretty dull But that movie was such an intentional piece of PC multiculturalism drivel, just an unconnected string of slow panned wide shots to seem artistic. Movie wouldnt have even been noticed had the cast been mostly one race from whichever country It pretty much didnt win any other award, but won best picture So obvious that year it was just a race thing I gave up caring about the Oscars after that
He did that to secure the black vote, yet said in his own words, that he'll get them niggers voting for the democratic party for the next two hundred years. Regardless, who really gives a shit? Blacks call one another that very word every day. Freespeech either exists across the board, or not at all?
i hope the revenant wins that was the best movie ive seen in the last year by far birdman only won because it was about a crazy actor....no surprise on that since the oscar winners are basically chosen by crazy actors voting
directed by the same guy who directed birdman. I think they are less likely to give it an award because they are getting criticized for giving him an award last year
I cannot believe Hollywood doesn't have a problem, and like an alcoholic, I think it needs to admit to the problem. Of The Academy's 5 divisions, one is for writers, and about 93% are white males. A statistician would tell you that doesn't happen naturally. In addition, the director of "The Twilight Series" told an interviewer what happened when her boyfriend shot a movie and tried to market it. His name is "Jaime" and his agent or someone told him that people would think he might be a woman, and that would reduce bites by 50%. He was advised to use "James" although that is not his legal name. She herself has experienced discrimination. Then, some people have said that the abuse of females by Bill Cosby and Roman Polanski isn't rare at all; those 2 just got caught. I dunno, but again, I think Hollywood is in denial. The ACLU has asked the EEOC to investigate Hollywood's hiring practices relating to women. Time will tell. Personally, I see more people of color at gun shows than at The Academy Awards. Who'd a thunk the rednecks were the more enlightened ones?
The bear scene in The Revenant, have you ever seen anything like that? I was not expecting that. In a year when Star Wars was released, I'm a massive fan of star wars, and yet, if the Revenant doesnt get the Visual Effects award for that...the academy is fucked I was utterly gobsmacked in the cinema, so real I went in expecting something like Castaway, something a bit slow...The Revenant is one of the best movies ever, not just this year
I think a substantial portion of what appears to be "racism" is just laziness and the nature of the institution / beast. A career in entertainment entails social networking and social capital, and that puts all but white males at a disadvantage. Puts poor white males at a disadvantage, as they lack social capital. Now the sexism? I suspect some of that is more deliberate. Whatever, here is an article in last year's "Huffington Post". The writer even talks about whether we should boycott certain movies, and awards ceremonies. You could tell that Nielsen pollster that you refuse to watch the Academy Awards, if there is no improvement! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/a-b-wilkinson/oscars-2015-so-hollywood-_b_6550568.html
"His agent or someone" might have told him to use the name "Jenny" instead, because the sexist hollywood establishment only wants movies made by women. In either case, it's hearsay, not evidence. That said, if in fact scripts or movies are being turned down strictly based on the gender of its creators, I'm all for reform, though I'm not convinced that this is really happening. Regardless, I think that there are far more important things to be concerned with.
Look at the Grammys. How many All Black bands have won the best Heavy Metal/Rock Album or song? How many 'Boy' bands are/were non white? How many 'white' singers win best hiphop album or song? Best foreign band Now the Oscars: Best Actor Best actress Best SUPPORTING actor or actress Best foreign film Best theme song best, whatever else they can fill in 3 hrs worth of crap. They make these 'awards' for the money they generate and if you do not win, well you lost a few million on your next film or you will not receive a new contract from Sony on a 3 album deal including unlimited national airplay. I guess there is always the MTV or Teen awards.
The acadamy awards would be more representitive of all actors and movies too, if it was conducted by the members of SAG as of course, the Sag awards are. Screen Actors Guild. Working actors. (mostly)
Crash was bad. I saw it after it won the Oscar and had high hopes, but either way the movie was not Oscar-worthy at all. I think the problem is that the same people vote. They need to mix up the voters. These old voters are stuck in their (maybe racist, at least white-washed) ways.
Saw this today and it remndied me of this thread. Too damn funny (and sad): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_B0kgSh_5s
