Upon the announcement of the 88th annual Academy Awards’ nominations every year, the word “snub” is thrown around like a beach ball at a concert, from one faceless sheep to another. There’s nothing wrong with believing one person deserves a nomination over another — art is not quantifiable — however, these conformists don’t follow their train of thought past the first station.
There are only five open slots in which to be nominated — other than best picture — and hundreds of films with hundreds of actors that come out each year, vying to be one of those five. My point is, the Oscar — even just a nomination — is not a peewee baseball trophy that’s handed out with a piece of cake to every kid who sat in left field picking at the grass; it’s a pie in the sky for the even the most talented. Richard Burton, Robert Mitchum, Alfred Hitchcock — none of them ever won the Oscar. This is only the second stop on the train of rational thought.
All aboard! Rational train of thought!
This year, accompanying the cries of “snub” are the equally misguided accusations of racism, considering all of the actors nominated are of the Caucasian variety. This is an immensely surface-level conclusion, spawning from a knee-jerk exchange between one’s eyes and brain.
Perhaps it’s best to explain how Academy voting works. For the most part, directors vote for directors, actors vote for actors, writers for writers, etc., except for a few categories, like best foreign language film, which has special rules. Everyone member votes for best picture. The actual nomination process is a little more complicated. Voters list up to five names, from best to worst. Then a bizarre algorithm is introduced, which basically tallies up the names that appeared in the top spot on the most ballots. Considering the amount of math involved in the nomination process, I will excuse myself from explaining it further, as my brain shuns such definite and concrete things like numbers, rendering me an idiot in the field.
Chugga, Chugga, Chugga
The lack of diversity in this year’s Academy Award nominations is not an isolated incident. The Critics’ Choice Awards, L.A. Film Critics Association and the Houston Film Critics Society, among others: none of them nominated any black actors. I don’t believe this is a coincidence or a widespread leaking of closeted racism, but rather an indication of the lack of black actors/crew working in film today. Rewiring the Academy is like cutting the top of a weed with fingernail clippers — a shallow PR move.
Choo-Choo!
As this train of thought reaches its final destination, hopefully it has become obvious that there is no possible way to ascertain whether or not 6,000 members of the Academy are racist–or not racist, for that matter—without any kind of tangible proof. I will provide some. According to the United States Census Bureau, 13 percent of America is considered African-American; in the last 15 years, 10 percent of the acting nominees have been African-American. Therefore, I declare the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences three percent racist.
Read Hunter’s thoughts at his personal blog, HunterLanier.com.
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