Ever since the nominations were announced for the 88th Annual Academy Awards on January 14, there has been much debate over the lack of minority nominees—primarily because there was a sizable amount of contenders from which to pick this year. The backlash has been swift, while many have been divided on the issue: actress Jada Pinkett-Smith and recent honorary Academy Award recipient Spike Lee both called for a boycott of this year’s ceremony (with Pinkett-Smith stating that she will neither attend nor watch, but sends her blessings to host Chris Rock); Snoop Dogg simply stated, “f*ck the Oscars,” while John Singleton, Whoopi Goldberg, George Clooney, Dustin Hoffman, Stacey Dash, and a host of others have chimed in with their stances on the controversy.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences President Cheryl Boone Isaacs (a Black woman) even issued a statement expressing her dismay over the lack of diversity and vowed to take a closer look at the Academy’s voting body, planning to take this into consideration when inviting its next class of newly-minted Oscar voters. While the debate is sure to rage on between now and the February 28th telecast, we’ve found nine ways that the Academy could have avoided this mayhem for yet the second consecutive year. #OscarsSoWhite
Creed (Best Picture)
One of the year’s most moving films, the omission of Creed in the Best Picture category is quite the head-scratcher. It was critically-hailed across the board, as well as a huge box office smash—one that many believed to be the best film of the Rocky franchise in many years. The film’s lone nomination, a Best Supporting Actor nod for Sylvester Stallone, was well-deserved, but one can make a strong argument for why it also should be competing for the night’s top prize.
Straight Outta Compton (Best Picture)
Few films in 2015 dominated the box office quite like Straight Outta Compton. The N.W.A. biopic has grossed over $200 million worldwide and received massive critical acclaim. One of the film’s producers, FAMU alum Will Packer, took to Facebook to voice his outrage over this year’s nominees; it’s possible that he believes his film was snubbed, and there are many who would agree. The movie’s sole nomination is for Best Original Screenplay, which (ironically) was written by four white screenwriters.
Michael B. Jordan in Creed (Best Actor)
Many were hopeful last year that Jordan would receive a nomination for his breakout turn on the big screen in Fruitvale Station. As he did in Fruitvale, Ryan Coogler directed him yet again in Creed, a performance that wowed both audiences and critics alike. He delivered an outstanding portrayal once more, and it would have been great to see the Academy recognize him.
Will Smith in Concussion (Best Actor)
The Black community hasn’t exactly been fully on board with Smith’s turn as Dr. Bennett Omalu, the doctor who fought against the NFL’s efforts to hide his research on the brain damage suffered by professional football players. The primary reason for this divide on Smith’s performance is that many Nigerian natives didn’t find his accent to be “authentic.” Taking into consideration that most actors don’t exactly nail foreign accents, it is his overall performance that should be taken into account. And this was certainly a stunner that should have landed Will Smith his third Oscar nomination.
Idris Elba in Beasts of No Nation (Best Supporting Actor)
Idris Elba’s performance in Netflix’s Beasts of No Nation has been regarded by many critics as the film’s highlight. He received nominations for the Golden Globe and SAG Awards, but missed the Oscar nod. If there was only one slot for diversity to be displayed among this year’s 20 acting nominees, many would make a case for Elba.
Jason Mitchell in Straight Outta Compton (Best Supporting Actor)
Straight Outta Compton has been widely revered as one of the year’s top ensemble flicks. But if there was one performance that critics and audiences both couldn’t stop talking about from the film, it was breakout star Jason Mitchell’s role as the late Eazy-E. Mitchell played every aspect and emotion of his character as closely to perfection as possible and would have been more than deserving of a nomination.
F. Gary Gray for Straight Outta Compton (Best Director)
Few will debate that Straight Outta Compton wasn’t outstanding across the board; yes, it attempted to downplay N.W.A.’s not-so-admirable views and actions against women and events related to such, but the film was expertly crafted: great acting, great writing (which was recognized with an Original Screenplay nod), and yes, great directing. F. Gary Gray delivered some of his career best work with this film, and it’s a shame that the Academy overlooked him.
Ryan Coogler & Aaron Covington for Creed (Best Original Screenplay)
It’s not very often that two Black screenwriters pen a film as successful as Creed, but that’s exactly the case with Coogler and Covington. They expertly maintained the integrity of the Rocky franchise, while making their film relevant for that audience and their own. They were meticulous about authentically portraying the city of Philadelphia. And (arguably) most impressively, they developed Rocky (the character) in a way that compelled Stallone to deliver one of the best performances of his career and landed him his first Oscar nomination since the original Rocky film. Talk about a snub.
Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again” from Furious 7 (Best Original Song)
No, it’s not an acting or directing category, but (quiet as it may have been kept) the omission of Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s “See You Again” from Furious 7 in the Best Original Song category has left some people, well…furious. Aside from being nominated for virtually every other film award, the song’s video became the first by a rap artist to reach over a billion YouTube views, tied Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” as the longest-running #1 rap hit in U.S. history (12 weeks), and earned 3 Grammy nominations. I’m not sure what bias came into play here, but of all the “minority snubs” that the Oscars committed this year, this might be the most glaring one.
[td_smart_list_end]
The 88th Annual Academy Awards, hosted by Chris Rock, will air on Sunday, February 28, 2016 at 5:30pm PST/8:30pm EST on ABC.
