It's amazing how the internet can take something benign and enjoyable and turn it into a month-long whirlwind of bull****. Spike Lee had the best commentary on the whole thing, he was talking about not awards (because they don't really ****ing matter), but the process of funding and getting movies made in the first place. That would be an interesting discussion, but it's drowned out by #OSCAR****WITS
You keep on saying this, but I don't really see why or how it's supposed to carry weight. 1.) Most of the people you're pointing to are way on one side of the political spectrum...would you take something an ultra-conservative celebrity said as proof of anything? 2.) It would be one thing if they were providing anecdotes and aggregated data to give it some objective evidence that there is racism involved. They're not really providing any detailed explanation about what could be going into the lack of roles for African Americans...it just looks like pointing to numbers and extrapolating an assumption that it must be a racist problem. and... 3.) THEY ARE PART OF THE SYSTEM! What movies has George Clooney produced that has helped this cause? As others have alluded to...follow the money. Again, I think you're being naive if you don't think tons of market research goes into the types of movie that gets funded and made. Even more so with the international market becoming more important than the domestic market. But let's take the hard-to-believe line that there is absolutely no market research and Hollywood is just playing it safe with hiring mainly white actors. Why would they change? Hollywood is doing quite well now with their overseas revenue being greater than ever. It's not like Hollywood makes no big movies about African Americans or meaningful movies about African Americans. In recent years there's been Ray, 12 Years a Slave, Ali, Selma, Straight out of Compton, The Butler, The Help. I would actually say the number of movies that deal with the racial component of being Black in America is pretty well represented. The issue comes to those race-independent roles. For instance, you mentioned Katniss in the Hunger Games. Not a great example, because the choice of Jennifer Lawrence has paid off enormously. She has been the #1 actor in terms of box office revenue the past few years. Part of the reason is a maximum amount of all walks of people find her attractive, likable, relate-able...whatever. You're assuming that a black actress would have that same world-wide mass appeal, which just seems like wishful thinking with no real evidence to support. Movies are probably the most superficial form of entertainment there is in terms of "aesthetics." Look at the music industry. Is anyone complaining about blacks being underrepresented in the music industry? Aren't they actually over-represented? Are we really to believe that the music industry and movie industry are each on their own completely separate island? Or are they both in the same business of making money? Maybe African Americans tend to gravitate more towards music than theater? Maybe the color of one's skin has less affect on the world-wide population when listening to music than it does with seeing on film?
How do you know their political affiliation? I'd take said ultra-conservative opinion if said person had experience in their field then sure. Some of the people speaking out about it aren't even American... But actually no one said it was a racist problem? That the problem was racist? Whoopi for example said it was not racism, just that it is a problem of race. Yes, which is why when Clooney mentioned it he used "We" a lot. He wasn't excluding himself from the problem. Because movies starring minorities actually are profitable? Because a large % of those that actually go to the theater are black and hispanic? This is over the span of about a decade though. But didn't I say that Lawrence could have won the role any way? The point of the Katniss role was that they excluded other races. Also, WTF? You don't think a black woman can have world-wide mass appeal? Only a white woman? Well that is the kind of thinking that people are whining about. That is exactly it. You're assuming that a black woman can't be attractive, relatable, likeable, etc. On the flip side, Boyega got his shot and it seems plenty of people find him likeable, relate-able and whatever thanks to getting a shot in a big movie. How about Idris Elba? That's exactly the point though man. You are saying basically that Hollywood as correct analysis for what they do, that they are right in hiring mainly white cast because they have proven that it sells. Every other artistic medium says, no. That you can be black and be a global star. Some of American's biggest icons are its sports athletes. Jordan, Lebron, the Williams sisters... So no, whatever analysis Hollywood THINKS it has that says white people can only be global stars is BS. Music shows that, Sports shows that, and Television shows have no problem showcasing diversity and being successful.
Idris Alba gave a pretty good speech on this recently.... Idris Elba: Speech on diversity in the media and films
And the ironic thing is he said he had to go to America to get roles....granted he did say it could still be better. In addition he was discussing television, which is a much less selective medium than movies from the consumer's perspective. I agree with everything he says about how it would be beneficial to everyone to have diversity in everything...in all walks of life.
How do I know George Clooney or Whoopi Goldberg's political affiliation? I don't quite get it. That's basically what I am saying. It is definitely an issue of race, but racism probably has little to do with it. Are they more or less profitable than movies starring white actors? This is not a thing you can look at on a case-by-case basis and say "hey, there was a movie with a minority that did well." These kind of decisions would be a numbers game where minimizing "risk" would be looked at across the entire spectrum and determining what most likely maximizes profits. I'm not basing that on anything other than fairly blatant racial biases in China and statistics that lead me to believe what most people find "attractive". Look at the modeling industry if you really want to see a non-diverse field. Every other medium is irrelevant. None of those mediums have anywhere close to the selective nature it takes for someone to get off their couch, and shell out $15 to go see a movie at a theater. It also is a medium that relies more on superficial aesthetics than others.
Well the political affiliation of anyone? You seem to discount their opinions on it because of their political affiliations and this is not an issue of left or right, or it really shouldn't be. Well on this we can agree. Well, that would depend wouldn't it? A movie like Star Wars has to earn a lot more to be profitable than a movie like Ride Along 2. What are you really basing it on though? 12 years a slave did better internationally than it did here? So I don't buy the argument. Well, lets keep it in movies and film then. One of the highest grossing stars in film today is "The Rock" a guy that is samoan and black. More about numbers... http://www.the-numbers.com/bankability Samuel L Jackson is #2 Freeman 14 Denzel 27... If Hollywood's excuse is "Minorities don't sell." then they need to find a new excuse.
Oscar Voters: 94% White, 76% Men, and an Average of 63 Years Old As we all know, 63 year old white men are among the most racially progressive demographics in America today. Nothing to see here, really.
And of course you don't care anything about the qualificationsof who wins or if they are deserving, just the race, gender, and age of who wins. Brilliant. Thank you for letting everyone know what is important to you.
We're talking past each other. That's not it at all. You mentioned that there must be a problem because people in the industry say there is a problem. I mentioned that's not a good reason for me to think there is a race problem without some more in depth discussion of the inner workings they themselves have witnessed. There also have been people in the industry who say there isn't a race problem, so how do you reconcile that if all it takes is for someone to make a "yay or nay" statement. That's all I was saying. And yes, without some objective data I am typically skeptical of people's biases. I think we agree it's not a racist problem. We disagree in the area of whether white actors and actresses on the whole have more mass appeal to the movie-going population. You think Hollywood execs are being safe and flat out wrong. I think generally the one thing they are probably pretty competent at is maximizing profits. I also think we disagree in the likelihood that there may be some external factors that explain the lack of African American actors and actresses.
I just think that the numbers back up those that say there is a problem. That there are black stars, there are black profitable movies, there are these things. Those in the industry that say it isn't a problem, I've not seen many of them? Even with this Oscar thing I've not heard of one actor/director/insider make a counter argument against it. What is happening is they are defending their own picks but they are not saying "This isn't even a problem." just that "I voted for what I voted for. No more, no less." Yes, you have that right. I think they are wrong, I don't think they've really tried. It'll be interesting how a movie like "Black Panther" does for example. But if it fails some people will say "See, you can't have black people in these roles and expect much success." when it could have just failed for being a bad movie...like Catwoman. There are a lot of variables for what a successful movie is. I don't think Hollywood is that smart that they have the magic formula. They know brands sell, that's one thing everyone knows. Which is why there is so much attention to having sequels and marketing.
Here is another more up to date diversity report done by UCLA in 2015. http://www.bunchecenter.ucla.edu/wp...2/2015-Hollywood-Diversity-Report-2-25-15.pdf
Seems Oscar is in line with current demographics. If anyone is getting shafted it's Latins and Asians. Oscar will get the last laugh: it'll be the highest rated Academy Awards Show in years.
Doesn't matter, "Straight Outta Compton" isn't going to win best picture so it's time to march on Selma.
