Selma was snubbed in the acting and directing categories, and the fact that one film was left bearing the burdens of diversity in this year’s awards race — the whitest in nearly 20 years — is a big problem. A BuzzFeed Entertainment conversation.
Colman Domingo, David Oyelowo, André Holland, and Stephan James in Selma
Atsushi Nishijima/Paramount Pictures
Alison Willmore: So Selma was snubbed at the Oscar nominations this morning. Mostly. It got a best picture nod, which isn't nothing, and one for best song for Common and John Legend's "Glory." But in categories like Best Actor (for David Oyelowo) and Best Director (Ava DuVernay), it was left out in the cold, meaning that the performing categories, in particular, are entirely white this year. It sucks, but are you surprised, Kelley?
Kelley L. Carter: Sadly, not at all. I feel like this is such an evergreen conversation to have in Hollywood — at least for the last few years. The pattern to me has been that Hollywood greenlights a compelling film that features diverse characters — in this case, we're talking about African Americans — and then the acting, the writing, the directing is amazing, but here's the rub: there's so much pressure on that one film to carry it on home. Selma unfortunately was the film that fit the bill this year. As a film critic, what did you think it was missing?
AW: A more formulaic, feel-good structure? I feel like Selma might have been too nuanced, too focused on process and the very human imperfections of even great men like Martin Luther King, Jr. It didn't give in to easy triumphalism — and then, racism was solved, and we never spoke of it again. It showcased the work that was required to bring about change, and spoke directly to present day race relations, having an immediacy that this year's other period dramas, like Theory of Everything and The Imitation Game, lacked. And that's what's really frustrating to me — DuVernay made something that fit into the basic mold of the awardsy movie, but it managed to be much better and more complex. And she still didn't get a nomination!
Ava DuVernay on the set of Selma
Atsushi Nishijima/Paramount Pictures
KLC: I love that perspective, and I agree. I believe that once DuVernay tweaked the screenplay to really focus on the freedom fighters and the everyday people who took to the streets for social change, she and the studio knew they had something amazing on their hands. All of the other unfortunate news of 2014 (the Mike Brown and Eric Garner deaths) only fueled this film, giving it a timely feel, even though we're dealing with subject matter from 50 years ago. The studio shot this film in a ridiculously short time period because they KNEW that it deserved a fighting chance to not just be seen this holiday season, but to go head-to-head with some of the best films of the year. Sadly, I think that played a role in this film not getting more recognition — and I don't just mean at the Oscars.
AW: Here's the thing — it's upsetting to me that Selma has been left out of a lot of major awards along the way to this point, which may or may not be due to how Paramount handled the film's campaign. But the outrage and resignation so many people are expressing now about the lack of people of color (and women, for that matter) in so many of the Academy Award categories feels like a conversation we should have been having months ago. Like, haven't we all been watching the same Oscar race until now? It hasn't exactly been diverse! It's terrible that it only takes the snubbing of one movie to whitewash this year's acting race.
KLC: Yes! And as I said earlier, this is a really evergreen conversation. Here's a conversation I hear from black folks often: "Why are the only films that get greenlit — that are considered compelling and rich and layered — the ones that deal with the ugliest bit of our history?" That's a valid conversation to have. Whenever films that center around black, Native American, Latino, or Asian characters, it always is tied to the most challenging elements of history — or it almost always centers around identity. Now, I don't think that black people should have any shame about descending from slaves or duck our heads because of what our lives may have looked like post-Reconstruction, and I understand that those stories are amazing.
To me, 12 Years A Slave was one of the best films I've ever seen, yet I know of a lot of black people who refused to see it because they're (we're) sick of seeing the same themes played out on a Hollywood screen year after year while calling it THE black experiences. Like, the only ones: Slavery. Reconstruction. Civil rights. That's all you get (that's compelling), black people! I feel the same way when it comes to other ethnic groups as well. What I would love to see are more colorblind casting choices, where blacks, Asians, and Latinos get to play rich, complex characters even though they're not white. Other than Denzel Washington in Training Day and Halle Berry in Monster's Ball, I struggle to think (without researching it) of the last time someone black was nominated for a role that had nothing to do with slavery, the civil rights movement, etc. Also: even with Washington and Berry's roles and wins, these films still centered on urban strife, which ultimately equals "Black stories." I live for the day when this isn't always the case.
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