Is #OscarsSoWhite a Thing of the Past?
@theacademy / Instagram
Last night’s Oscars featured some big nominations and wins for BIPOC talent and stories. With Chloé Zhao being presented with Best Director by last year’s winner, Bong Joon Ho, viewers can see BIPOC talent and recognition becoming a bit more normalized.
Here are some record-breaking moments-- both nominations and wins-- from last night!
Chloé Zhao won Best Director for her work on Nomadland, making her the first non-white woman and the second-ever woman to win in the category
#Oscars 2020 Oscars 2021
— William Yu 유규호 (@its_willyu) April 26, 2021
Best Director Best Director
Winner Winner
Bong Joon Ho Chloé Zhao pic.twitter.com/r9q9Z2BI4s
Daniel Kaluuya won Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in Judas and the Black Messiah
Soul won Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Score
Youn Yuh-Jung won Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in Minari
Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson (alongside Sergio Lopez-Rivera) won Best Makeup & Hairstyling for their work in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, making them the first Black women to win in the category
Viola Davis becoming the most-nominated Black actress in Oscar history
Rix Ahmed, the first Pakistani and first Muslim nominee for the Best Actor category for his performance in Sound of Metal
Steven Yeun, the first Asian American nominee for the Best Actor category for his performance in Minari
Two women being nominated for Best Director in the same year: Chloé Zhao for Nomadland and Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman (only five women have ever been nominated in all of Oscars history, and never more than one woman in one year!)
Record-breaking number of nominations for women; 76 nominations for 70 women this year
As we can see from last night, this year was a great year for BIPOC Academy Award nominees and wins. And while this year’s nominees show a lot of progress in the field of representation and diversity, it’s important to remember that just six years ago, all the acting nominees (except for one) were white-- which prompted the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag to start.
After last night, it’s time to reflect on whether or not we can really retire the hashtag.
Let's first take a look back at how we got here with #OscarsSoWhite.
An Overview of #OscarsSoWhite
In 2015, the infamous #OscarsSoWhite hashtag started trending when media strategist April Reign noticed that all the acting nominees were white. While the hashtag dominated the “Twittersphere,” the following year’s nominations saw zero changes. Later that year, the Academy announced that they would double the number of women and BIPOC members in the voting body, titling the initiative as “Academy Aperture 2020.”
In 2017, 2018, and 2019, many people thought that the issue of seeking more fair representation was “over,” after seeing more BIPOC nominees. However, the Latinx and Asian representation were still lacking in the nominations.
In 2020, all the acting nominees were white, except for one: Cynthia Ervio, for her role as Harriet Tubman in Harriet (2019).
During the summer of 2020, the Academy announced their plans to integrate more equity, diversity, and inclusion into their practices—an initiative titled “Academy Aperture 2025” which places emphasis on creating fundamental changes with things like unconscious bias training and diversity requirements for Best Picture nominees. This same year, while the Academy exceeded their membership diversity goals, it is still mostly old, white, men.
Are these changes enough?
I was thankful for the Academy’s decision to add more women and BIPOC members to the voting body when I looked at this year’s record-breaking nominations. I was astonished to see the representation of BIPOC folks and stories. However, while we’ve seen lots of BIPOC representation in the nominations and wins this year, the year of good representation is worth critiquing just as much as the years of poor representation. I honestly can’t help but wonder if this surge of recognition and representation is genuine or if it’s just to appease BIPOC consumers and viewers.
For example, my heart actually sunk when I saw that the live-action Mulan had received nominations for Costume Design and Visual Effects. Sure, it’s a film with a strong Chinese women lead, but how could The Acadmeny completely disregard the fact that the film was shot in Xinjiang, an area where the Chinese government is conducting many human rights abuses in prison camps against Muslim Uighurs?
Even though Mulan didn’t take any Oscars home last night, and while many of the nominees and winners made history this year, I still think it’s important to be mindful and critical of what is nominated, and what their recognition signifies. If the Academy chooses to recognize films that support [governments that conduct] culural genocide, does this negative impact outweigh the progress we’ve made thus far in support of diversity and BIPOC success and communities?
It’s not just about the nominations, I know. It’s about seeking accurate representation that celebrates diversity in our communities and how we tell these stories. When we fail to have accurate representation in the Academy’s voting body, we fail to provide BIPOC films with the proper recognition that they deserve. Films are all about storytelling, and to be frank, some of these stories just aren’t for old white folks. Even while we raise awareness with hashtags and Instagram graphics about the systemic racism and changes that need to occur within the industry, there is always room for more critical reflection.
While watching last night’s Oscars, despite the systemic inadequacies, I felt like I was witnessing the BIPOC honorees make really inspiring use of their time on stage. From Regina King acknowledging the recent verdict of the Derek Chauvin trial in her opening speech, to Chloé Zhao openly speaking about how she would recite Chinese poems with her father, to Youn Yuh-Jung unabashedly calling out white people out for mispronouncing her name, this evening was full of BIPOC folks sharing their stories and speaking their minds.
After this year’s record-breaking nominations and wins, even though the Academy is still super white, I can’t help but remain hopeful. I hope that moving forward, with the implementation of A2025, the nominations and wins in the years to come are even more diverse and inclusive than those of this year. I hope that they are accurate and empowering forms of representation, and that BIPOCs in the industry continue to use their art as vehicles for change and advocacy. But most of all, I hope #OscarsSoWhite sticks around. It’s gotten us this far, and we definitely still have a ways to go.
Written by Pravieena Gnanakumar
