My Favorite Hobby Is At Watching Movies, And The Oscars

Movies and entertainment outlets speak volumes about the current state of a nation’s culture. Cinematic creations in the United States allow small voices to be heard and controversial issues to be addressed. However, a repetitive and monumental issue continues to be addressed, yet continues to persist in our 21st century culture, racial inequalities. Since the inception of the United States, black men and women alike have been disenfranchised at the hands of the “white man” in America. Instead of continuing the conversation today, the issue is continually silenced referencing the successes and achievements of the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century. Nonetheless, an unfortunate reality looms upon this great land; racially based systems and structures continue to exist in 2015 the in United States. This paper synthesizes three films focused on racial inequalities in different time periods. Separate but Equal (1991), Selma (2015), and Crash (2005) illustrate how influential the Civil War amendments are, while serving as an uncanny reminder of how the racial prejudices during the 20th century continue to exist in our great nation today. Needless to say our nation has made great strides, but still has a long way to go.

One review stated that, “Chris Rock unloaded on the diversity issue that rocked the Oscars this year. He was shocking and his fiery monologue and jokes later in broadcast left millions of jaws laying on the floor around the world.”

People who don’t enjoy sports much, may very well like the Oscars. The Oscars is an awards ceremony occurring annually. The ceremony takes place in California and awards excellence in cinematic achievements. 1929 marks the first year the Oscar, or Academy Award of Merit was presented. Most award shows that are equivalent to the Oscars, were modeled after them. The first awards ceremony took place at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, but the most recent awards were bestowed at the Dolby Theatre. 2,947 Oscars have been awarded up until the 87th. Only about 270 people attended the first Academy Awards. During the 15 minutes that the ceremony lasted, 15 statuettes were given out. The very first winner was Emil Jannings, known for his performances in The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh. Janet Gaynor was the first female to win an Oscar.

This is the second straight year in which not a single person of color was nominated for an acting Oscar. Jada Pinkett took it upon herself to bring people’s attention to the lack of diversity in the Oscars and in Hollywood, in a video posted on her face book page. Diversity can be defined as the inclusion of different types of people, race, or cultures in a group or organization. United States of America is a country full of different diverse group of people, races (Black white), culture, and religion. An organization’s success and competitiveness depends upon its ability to embrace diversity and realize the benefits. For example, if workplace diversity issues are handled well in an organization, benefits are reported. Also, according to a broadcast on NPR, Mcevers says, “Right, I mean, one of the findings of your Hollywood diversity reports at UCLA is that movies with more diverse cast tend to make more

There are many things I want to learn and get to the bottom of while researching this topic. My main question is, “Why is this happening?” Honestly, I cannot even believe this topic is actually still an issue. When thinking of movie directors, producers, etc. I would assume them to be a group of progressive and inclusive people because the artist community generally is. So, how have these people let this happen? I would also like to look in to how this misrepresentation affects the minorities of America. There could possibly be underlying psychological turmoil in minorities which causes them to feel less capable. This brings me to wonder if there is any underlying racial bias in everyone because of who is glorified in in movies and shows. In order to answer such questions, I will research to find if any psychologist have done any studies on the effects of television and film on our subconscious in terms of the representation of minorities. I am also curious how other diverse countries such as Canada’s television and film look. I will compare the United States to these diverse counties in my research in order to provide a more global view.

Hollywood not only shows little to none diverse to race but also gender on screen and behind the scenes. When watching a movie to the end credits most the names that are shown are males. The diverse for gender in Hollywood is low. Females are not given the same opportunity as the males. Article from NPR STAFF (2015) informed that women make up half of the U.S. population but only 6% of the females directed theatrical films in 2013(Hollywood’s Homogeneity section, para.1). Even though the study is old the data has not change. Population in females in Hollywood in front and behind the scenes cannot be compared to the nation. Hollywood is own by males which are keeping positions for women to a minimum. The heads of Hollywood are not willing to be diverse so they can stay in control. Among the ranks of top Hollywood film executives, the

Black women have never “had it easy” or “had it made” when it comes to the entertainment business. Hollywood has always been white-washed when it comes to the direction they wanted to go in terms of actors for their movies. Most roles that are casted are for white women and men, and the black actors/actresses are given whatever is left. It is truly not fair at all. When black women are given the opportunity to embody a traditionally white role, they are nothing short of phenomenal. This makes one wonder why they are still given supporting roles. African-American women have struggled to gain promising roles in Hollywood, which has hurt their acting careers and affected their lives.

In the 2017 media article “How Fair is Hollywood” the main problem is the lack of inclusion that Hollywood has been using throughout their movies . This problem can be solved by having an actor play the role of the corresponding race of his/her character.As noted by Media Mix news in paragraph 1, the author explicitly describes “People have reported frustration with Hollywood’s casting process. That’s because they see non-white actors repeatedly kept out of the spotlight. There is also the phenomenon called “whitewashing,” when roles are written for minorities are given to white actors”. This indicates that people are being displeased by the fact that Hollywood has been doing negative things to put actors to play a  different race from what

Trying to fix a diversity problem doesn’t have an instant solution. The Academy is facing this and dealing with the racial representation in the Oscar Awards as it has become a huge problem in Hollywood. Ira Deutchman, a member of the Academy, has stated “Like many Academy members, I was embarrassed and disappointed when this year’s Oscar nominees were announced, but I wasn't shocked. After all, no season passes without several scathing articles about the lack of diversity in Hollywood, both on the screen and in executive suites. On the other hand, when fingers were pointed at the membership of the Academy as the cause of the problem, I bristled at the implications”(Deutchman). As stated, the audience even including the Academy Members are baffled by the Oscar’s nominees. Racial representation is a huge problem in

“Strides also have to be made for female nominees. Once again, women were shut out of the best director category and of the 10 nominated screenplays, “Hidden Figures” co-writer Allison Schroeder was the only woman nominated. And after all these years, a woman has yet to be nominated in the cinematography category.” Through the years movies had primarily been directed by male directors and many of the famous films and works of cinematography have been directed and produced by men, so when a talented director that happens to be a women is being snubbed from nomination that is going to be an area that I believe will be highlighted and touched upon in the

There has been many controversies about the lack of diversity in Hollywood and one of the most recent one was the 2016 Oscars. The Oscars is an award show that showcase the best people in front and behind the camera. Unfortunately there was barely any diversity in the nominations this year since most nominators were white, even though there was many diverse films that were considered Oscar worthy. With that being said,people protested that there needs to be more diversity in these categories and some actors agreeing by using the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite in social media. To make things worse, the Academy Awards members are majority older white males which brought to the attention from the protesters that in order to have diversity into the awards, the members itself needs to represent of all races so, it can be considered a fair choice. Which make sense to why throughout history of the Oscars there was always a discrepancy of diversity in the nominations since 1929 because only a very small percentage of minorities actors have received an award compared to the white actors that dominated the Oscars with a high percentage of winners. This created tension in Hollywood that the Oscars are marginalizing itself as a all white program and that there needs to be changes.

During the 20th Century, it can be noted that minorities have made significant strides in securing their dreams and reaching equality in America. The advances such as the right to own land and the right to vote has defined America to be the “land of opportunity”. Despite the political advances obtained, minorities still suffer from the racist beliefs that have also been ingrained into American society. Although it has been long since these bigoted practices have been upheld by the law, it could be argued that supremacist ideologies and derogatory stereotypes are still seen in the entertainment industry. Historically, the portrayal of minorities, especially African Americans, has been less ideal.

Awards this year. In Eboo Patel’s article, “Making the Future Better, Together”, he claims that

“While demographic trends suggest that the United States itself is becoming more diverse, developing characters for people of all backgrounds is a smart business strategy” is the new tactic that should be followed. The world is changing, and the industry should be changing as well. They can not and should not continue this racial insensitivity that is ever so clear for people to pick up on. Not only does adding in diversity to film and music create an increased sense of unity and belonging to everyone around the world, but it also does help maximize potential, help avoid backlash, and prevent movements like #OscarsSoWhite. Companies such as Marvel, and broadway, have increased diversity to create representation for people of color and their profit levels alone show the industry what diversity can do.

“Oscars So White” a phrase that began trending on social media sites after the 2016 Academy Awards announce their nominees for Best Actor and Best Actress, it was predominately white for a second year in a row. The movie industry is no stranger to controversy and since its inception it’s constantly been guilty of underrepresenting ethnic people. It’s evident that film is a type of mass media that has a certifiable amount of power to influence audience’s views, yet this platform constantly disregards the need for diversity in favor of stereotypes. Movies such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Scarface (1983), and Pan (2015) are all guilty of this. The depiction of non-American characters in Hollywood movies are constructed around racial