For two years in a row, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has made headlines for all the wrong reasons. After the debacle of putting forth only white nominees for Oscar consideration in the acting categories, prompting a brutal Twitter hashtag #OscarSoWhite, the academy has taken major steps to diversify its membership.
For two years in a row, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has made headlines for all the wrong reasons. After the debacle of putting forth only white nominees for Oscar consideration in the acting categories, prompting a brutal Twitter hashtag #OscarSoWhite, the academy has taken major steps to diversify its membership.
Last week, the academy announced it had invited 683 new members to join the voting group that determines Oscar nominees. The racial and gender breakdown of the new members shows how serious it is about addressing its demographic imbalances — 46 percent of them are women and 41 percent are people of color. Assuming everyone invited accepts the invitation, the percentage of female members will rise to 27 percent and minorities will rise to 11 percent. The goal of the academy is to double its percentage of diverse voters by 2020.
Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the first African-American president in the academy’s history, has made increasing diversity of members her association’s top priority. Under her tenure, the academy has been more aggressive about inviting high-profile actors, directors and producers who were not members into the fold. Hollywood players as acclaimed as actor Idris Elba, Eva Mendes, Michelle Rodriguez, “Creed” director Ryan Coogler and John Boyega and Oscar Isaac of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will be eligible to nominate and vote for next year’s slate.
For reasons that have to do with archaic rules about who gets to vote, the academy has been resistant to the social trends that make television’s Emmy Awards and Broadway’s Tony Awards far more diverse.
Even with Isaacs’ aggressive outreach, there are systemic problems within the movie-making business itself that can’t be addressed solely by who votes for the Oscars. If the studios don’t hire talented actors and directors of all backgrounds to work, then academy members can’t vote for them.
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette