My take on the Oscar's contraversy from a screenwriter and a Film Executive

[Feeling the Bern]

There has been a big deal made about the lack of minority stars or films being pushed for Academy Awards. While my memory may be rusty, I can only really think of four minorities that have one Oscars:

Denzel Washington (Twice)
Halle Berry
Sidney Poitier
Haing S. Ngor for The Killing Fields

Again, I may be wrong, but these are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head. However, I may be mistaken.

Usually, I don't care what happens in Hollywood even though I work in it. It is of monumental uninterest to me the lives of the people in The Biz. I keep to myself and work at my Film Company's Hong Kong office. However, I will comment on what happened with this year's nominations.

I stand 100% behind Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith. All minorities, not just African Americans, should boycott the Oscars. My Company's founder and CEO is African American. Even if that weren't the case, I still stand behind Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Hollywood is a destructive force in the struggle for racial justice. As one studio exec told me about my screenplay on Gen. Joseph Stillwell: "While it's a great piece, it won't do well in the US. Americans want to see a movie where they kick Japanese ass during the day and fuck Chinese ass at night." I told him I wouldn't do that because it just wasn't true. He told I didn't know what I was talking about and that Chinese women throw themselves at Americans. I began speaking in Chinese and after, told him, in English, that I would never write a stereotypical piece like that. I own a house in China and am married to a Chinese national and you insulted her and me by thinking and saying what you said. That was three years ago in LA.

It's the same with African Americans. Unless you make a movie where you twerk, sell drugs, are in a gang or live up to the stereotypes of Africa and African Americans, you're DOA. Indie films are exceptions: "Fruitvale Station" and "Beasts of No Nations" are fine examples of being honest. "Straight Outta Compton" is a good example of being partially honest. But so many movies for and by African Americans (usually produced by old, rich white men) are just swill and stereotype: Portraying black people as hustlers (Rush Hour), boobs (Daddy Day Care), criminals (Four Brothers) or "the magic negro" as Spike Lee calls it ("Bagger Vance" and "Green Mile" are two great examples. Let's not go into Tyler Perry's movies on their portrayal of black people because I want to keep my blood pressure down.

Only a few movies have been honest about the African American experience. "Great White Hope," "Raisin in the Sun," "Fences," "Master Harold. . .and the Boys," and "Glory" are a few of the limited examples I will use.

Hollywood has a black person problem. They don't know how to treat African Americans. They don't know how to appeal to African Americans. They don't know African Americans. Those that sign the checks are rich white men so insulated from real life that they wouldn't know it if it crawl up their asses and died.

I stand with Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett Smith. I believe Black Lives Matter. As a result, being in it now, I will say it: Hollywood has a racism problem. And it will not change overnight. Boycott the Oscars this year. Don't give it viewership. And if any of the winners have a social conscience, be like George C. Scott and Marlon Brando: Refuse your Oscar until minority actors, actresses, director and movies get the recognition they deserve if they are award worthy.

[CBGLuthier]

1. Louis Gossett, Jr. Cuba Gooding, Jr. Morgan Freeman. Hattie McDaniel. Whoopie Goldberg.

Forrest Whitaker. Jennifer Hudson. Mo'nique. Octavia Spencer. Lupita Nyong'o.

A bunch of african/american songwriters have won best song. Steve McQueen (not the actor) has won as producer.


Yul Brynner and Ben Kinsgley are considered to be of Asian descent. Mioshi Umeki won for Sayanara back in the 50s.

In the technical fields, Ang Lee has won twice as has James Wong Howe. Peter Pau won once
. Richard Chew, Tommy Yip, quite a few costume designers.

So not quite the absolute paucity of wins except perhaps in performance roles. I still say it comes down to not enough roles worth nominating. Just because Will Smith does a movie does not mean he should be nominated. I do think Chi-Raq should have gotten a few nominations.

Complaining about something that is the result of a lot of people voting seems kind of odd to me. Until the membership changes these are the results you will have.

[merrily]

2. I cannot watch this without tears.

[katsy]

3. The oscars are irrelevant. They speak to no one but the egos in their inner circle.

Jaded. Out of touch. It's amazing how accurate you are when I think of the examples you set forth.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

4. How exactly does that help? Telling the OP that what they

are trying to discuss is irrelevant? Just saying.

[Feeling the Bern]

5. In a way, the poster is right. The Oscars are a massive ego boost for insiders that already

have egos that are too big to measure.

[wolfie001]

11. Marlon Brando's stand in speaker.....

....now that was epic. From Wikipedia:

'Sacheen Littlefeather represented him at the ceremony. She appeared in full Apache attire and stated that owing to the "poor treatment of Native Americans in the film industry", Brando would not accept the award.[79] This occurred while the standoff at Wounded Knee was ongoing. The event grabbed the attention of the US and the world media. This was considered a major event and victory for the movement by its supporters and participants.'

[79] - The Academy. "Marlon Brando's Oscar Win for the Godfather" on YouTube Retrieved: August 6, 2013.

[Feeling the Bern]

12. We lost a good one when he died. Marlon was awesome.

[wolfie001]

13. Kudos!

Go Bernie!!!

[katsy]

37. Helpful reply to an opinion

Not

[wilt the stilt]

6. The oscars has always been and will

always be a vehicle to have people attend the movies. If you want to look at it honestly in 1968 "In the heat of the night won best picture". The best picture by far was "Bonnie and Clyde".

Spotlight is by far the best movie this year. It might just win and only because it is by far the superior movie in all ways. It refused to use all the devices up a director's sleeve to manipulate emotions but from the tight script to the great direction to the editing it was by far the best film.

I think it is just the opposite. The best example was best song of the year last year. Last year's best song won because it was about race relations. It was hardly a decent song. Honestly, has anyone listened to it since.

[Uponthegears]

7. I once got alerted

for saying something that I thought was so outrageous that people would just automatically know that I was being sarcastic so I didn't use the "sarcasm" emoticon. Luckily a majority of jurors did get it even without the emoticon.

That's what you're doing, right? Being sarcastic?

I'm not just talking about your first and last paragraphs (which are HILARIOUS) . . . even the claim that "Spotlight" refused to "use all the devices up a director's sleeve to manipulate emotions" has to be at least a little tongue in cheek, right? Surely you recognized that all the backstory about the reporters' intra-family drama (aged parent/adult child, parent/juvenile child) was put in there solely to squeeze one more tear from those of us who were drained of tears years ago when this story came to light (and for far too many even before that)? Even though "The Revenant" will win because it was such a huge undertaking and it produced an outstanding result (unlike, say, "Days of Heaven&quot , both "Room" and "Brooklyn" were as good as, or better than, "Spotlight." (disclaimer: I loved all 4).

Obviously everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but when an opinion is bookended by two "questionable" paragraphs, it's probably best to make sure that it is beyond cavil.

[wilt the stilt]

23. no I'm completely serious.

Look at the history of the Oscars. It was always about getting people to attend movies.

Secondly, Spotlight did not use the typical devices that most directors use. There was no person throwing a priest against a wall. there was no confrontation telling cardinal law he was a sick demented man. There was no "hero" and there was no central figure who was a hero or a villian. It was great film making in a story telling fashion.There were no gimmicks.

This was how good it was. Rachel MacAdams was just a person. no glamour.

[Uponthegears]

31. I know what you mean

But Rachel McAdams could never be, "just a person." Take care.

[CBGLuthier]

14. I don't think Bonnie and Clyde is that much better than In the Heat of the Night.

I think it has aged better but I do think that at that time In the Heat of the Night was the best picture. At the very least it had better acting than Bonnie and Clyde.

As for best songs, most of them are awful songs. The last one I can think of that won that I liked was It's Hard to be a Pimp from Hustle & Flow.

[wilt the stilt]

22. actually I took a class in film school

and it is by far a superior film in every sense of the word. It was actually a point of discussion in the class. He was going to recommend me to USC film school. I was too chicken to go.

[CBGLuthier]

35. I have seen 5,000 movies, almost all the good ones ever made.

I see no way in which Bonnie and Clyde is "superior in every way" to In the Heat of the Night. They are both excellent films and mark an important turning point in American film making. You might be interested in the book Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood by Mark Harris. It discusses the five movies that were nominated that year, two of the old guard, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and Doctor Doolittle, and three of the new, In the Heat of the Night, Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate.

The same author wrote Five Came Back about five directors who served in World War II, John Ford, John Huston, WIlliam WYler, George Stevens , and Frank Capra. Very good books the both of them.

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

27. I teach film history

and I show both Bonnie & Clyde and In the Heat of the Night. Students usually find In the Heat of the Night more interesting because they are really unaware of how life was in the south during the sixties. B&C is not as shocking because they are so used to violence in films today.

Personally I find it hard to respect any group that twice nominated Jonah Hill for an Oscar as best supporting actor. Often it's not how good your performance is but the power structure behind that performance.

[Uponthegears]

8. Excellent observations

Hollywood needs the same wake-up call that Black Lives Matter is trying to send to the comfortable in their suburban enclaves.

[Bluenorthwest]

9. You don't know you nomination history and you have other bits of fact wrong as well.

"Master Harold and The Boys' is not American at all, it is about South Africa and is set there, written by the towering Athol Fugard of South Africa.

Latino winners include Jose Ferar, Anthony Quinn, Benicio Del Toro, Rita Moreno, directors Alfonso Cuaró, Alejandro González Iñárritu and others in categories such as cinematography, editing and art direction.

Asian winners include: Haing S. Ngor, Miyoshi Umeki, Ang Lee twice and again other wins in other major categories.

African American or black winners you left out: Jamie Fox, Forest Whitaker, Louis Gossett Jr, Cuba Gooding Jr, Morgan Freeman, Whoopi Goldberg, Jennifer Hudson, Mo'Nique, Lupita Nyong'o, Octavia Spencer.


I'm going to link to a recent study from the Ralph J Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA on Diversity in Hollywood called 'Flipping the Script'. It's 60 pages of interesting material. In depth.

The lack of diversity we see in Hollywood is not about the awards but about the systems and institutional practices that decide which films get made by whom and who gets to be in them. The awards are just a symptom.
http://www.bunchecenter.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/2015-Hollywood-Diversity-Report-2-25-15.pdf

[Feeling the Bern]

10. I know Master Harold. I read it in college. There is a film version with Danny Glover I believe.

[Bluenorthwest]

15. My point is that it is not 'African American' but just African. That does matter. It's not about an

American experience of any kind. And it was Ving Rhames. There was also an earlier TV movie version with South African cast and Matthew Broderick.

I'd also like to point out that women in directorial and screenwriting positions as well as in producer and executive slots with green light powers is also a part of this issue. I've not even gone into that. It's huge as well. Out gay people, another area where diversity lags.

Native Americans. Here's their list of winners: . That's it.


I highly recommend the Bunche Center study.

[CBGLuthier]

18. Glover was in the original play and a revival but I don't think his version was ever filmed

The version I saw was done for television with Matthew Broderick, and Zakes Mokae (who originated the role of Sam), and another actor in the part Glover originated. There was a 2010 version with Ving Rhames.

[mnhtnbb]

17. The same holds true for films with solid roles for women.

Many, many of the Hollywood films will have two, three or more times the roles for men that they will offer for women.
Just reflecting culture, is the response. How can so many films--when women are half of the population--result in so few
good roles for women?

And if you happen to be a black woman--well, just look at the last couple of winners. A slave? A maid? Jeeze, Hattie McDaniel did BOTH roles for
her Award in 1939 when she was the first AA to win an Academy Award. For cryin' out loud can't Hollywood do better?

[Bluenorthwest]

24. Absolutely and just as with other groups the root problem lies with white male decision

makers in the industry not having enough women and minority counterparts to pick the projects and control the major casting. If the films are written mostly by men, directed by men, produced by men, the best roles will often be for men. Oddly, when women are in charge they tend to make good roles for women and for men.

[mnhtnbb]

25. Precisely.

I picked up a magazine a couple of weeks ago in the nail salon. Found an interesting article about Reese Witherspoon
forming her own production company just to address the issue: paucity of stories in development by the studios with solid
roles for women.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/reese-witherspoon-her-production-company-833137

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

36. Variety published an article on this topic

In 2014 29% of major characters and 30% of all speaking characters were women.

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/women-lead-roles-in-movies-study-hunger-games-gone-girl-1201429016/

[AlbertCat]

16. four minorities that have one Oscars:

And you're a screen writer....

try "four minorities that have won Oscars: "


plus you cannot even remember Hattie McDaniel????

[CBGLuthier]

19. There are a lot more than four anyway.

Se a few of the other posts in this thread. I had about 8 and I missed a few. Of course not everyone counts Yul Brynner and Ben Kinsgley.

[Action_Patrol]

20. Oscars

More times than not, hype wins over substance. They have a long history of not picking the 'Best' of the year. Crash winning Best Picture is a recent glaring flub. Also take 1994, Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption lost to the saccharine Forrest Gump. They also try to make up for past failures or to reward a previous snub with a win for a lesser role or picture.
Denzel Washington should have won for Malcolm X, he was robbed (Pacino won that contest for Scent of a Woman) Instead he won for Training Day.
How Green is My Valley won over the vastly superior in every way, Citizen Kane.

So many of the decisions and picks are just Actors and Actresses/Directors/Producers patting others in their category on the back.

[LWolf]

21. I had the Critic's Choice awards on this weekend.

I think it was a rerun; the tv was going in the background while I did some other stuff, so I wasn't giving it my full attention. A disclaimer: I also didn't see the whole thing.

For the part that I was aware of, I noted this:

While there were plenty of African Americans nominated, none of them won. None.

Also, while there were older performers nominated, the only one to win anything was a man.

None of the older women nominated won anything.

It was a celebration of young and white. I was shocked, although perhaps I shouldn't have been.

I don't usually watch award shows, including the Oscars. It's a given that women objectified in the entertainment industry. If what I just saw is business as usual, there is also definitely a race problem in Hollywood.

[Bluenorthwest]

26. Idris Elba won for Luther, also Rami Malek for Mr Robot, he's American born to Egyptian parents and

Aziz Ansari took awards for Master Of None which is just so funny.

[LWolf]

30. Good to hear that some did.

As I said, I didn't see the whole thing.

I'm probably not the best person to weigh in, as I also haven't seen any of those movies or tv shows.

Compared to most of the country, I spend very little time watching the big or small screen. Even when it's on at home, I'm always multi-tasking.

I struggle with being a captive audience, lol.

[MisterP]

33. it's a very powerful self-selecting filtering mechanism, a bubble

west LA isn't "white" so much as "lilywhite," keeping everyone else out--Cheviot and Westwood and Beverly and Santa Monica have spent *millions* on barratry to keep any sort of transit away from their happy hideyholes; meanwhile Orange County wants more trains

same as with gentrified Brooklyn (the only thing worse than Dunham ignoring people who aren't ex-burbanites who hate their parents is Dunham writing people who aren't ex-burbanites who hate their parents)

[kaiden]

28. Let's not forget Sidney Poitier.

[Mr Dixon]

29. Agreed

Good read and I agree, seems strange that in 2016 this is still and issue but as long as the Good Boyz run the house nothing will change.

[malaise]

32. Put simple

It's institutional racism - I am so shocked!

[GreatGazoo]

34. The Academy Awards were created to try and stop Unions in Hollywood. They didn't.

Only about 5% of what gets funded by major studios are considered "prestige" pictures, artful films with something to say, 'chewing gum for the soul,' etc. The rest are simplistic and derivative of other films that have filled seats. Until the 1960, directors hated to be called artists. Roger Corman, for example, helped launch a lot of careers but his talent, according to Wall St, was that he could make a film cheap and on time.

20 years back, I worked for a major studio promoting films for consideration by the Academy. It is in many stars deals that the studio will spend a certain amount of money to promote their work for an award. So what started as a Union thwarting move has become a deal thing with a few basic maxims:

- Films released late in the year have a much better chance at Noms and Awards than those release in the summer.

- The Academy, those who vote, is made up of everyone who has ever won an Oscar, about 5000 people) and they are in for life soooo...The Academy is made up of lots of older white people. It has become less conservative in recent years but it lags behind the larger culture.

- Academy members see lots of films but they won't watch everything and if they don't see a film it has no chance at their vote, for example "Straight Outta Compton" had no chance.

- Some actors make films that they know are "Oscar bait" Think of Matthew McConaughey making "Dallas Buyers Club" -- the movie played with themes that have won Best Actor before with Tom hanks and "Philadelphia" (1993), Sean Penn and "Milk" (2008). This year's major Oscar bait film is "Trumbo" and Bryan Cranston is odds on to win even though the role was not as difficult as others he has tackled.

The year I worked on the Awards, we were promoting an Alan Parker film that dealt with the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII. It had the issues you cite -- it was overtly anti-racist and refused to deal in the easy stereotypes. To make matters worse, the first Gulf War was raging, Desert Storm. "Come See the Paradise" was DOA.

The vote of the people comes at the box-office (or NetFlix) and is very much at odds with what gets picked by the Academy. The Academy is older, wealthier, white people with direct connection to the film business and what they pick is films that are in one way or another about them.

Oscar has gotten more diverse over the last two decades and all of the actors I list here are now voting members of the Academy: Jamie Foxx won Best Actor for "Ray" (2004) and deserved the hell out of it. Forest Whitaker won in 2006 for his protrayal of Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland". Nominated but not winning: Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela (2009), Chiwetel Ejiofor for "12 Years a Slave", Denzel Washington for "Flight" (2012), Will Smith for "The Pursuit of Happyness" (2006) (lost to Forest Whitaker), Don Chealdel for "Hotel Rwanda" (2004) (lost to Jamie Foxx), Morgan Freeman for "Shawshank Redemption" and "Driving Miss Daisy", and Dexter Gordon in "Round Midnight" (1986). Whoopi Goldberg was nominated for "The Color Purple" (1985)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Actor

While there is improvement in honoring AA actors, for Actress, I see only one AA woman in 90 years worth of movies:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Actress