The Sunday Mail
THE Oscars are around the corner, February 28 to be precise. And the only thing people seem to be talking about is the Spike Lee and Jada Pinkett-Smith inspired #Oscarssowhite movement.
It is quite funny that it has taken this long for the issue to surface, for the injustices of the Oscars — also known as the Academy Awards — runs deep, not only from a racial point of view but from a holistic one.
The saddest part about the Oscar racial debate is the divide, within the black community itself, which Ms Pinkett and Spike’s call for a mass boycott has caused. Among those critical of the call is forgotten “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” star Janet Hubert (the original Aunt Viv), who said; “First of all, Miss Thing, does your man not have a mouth of his own with which to speak?
“Second thing is, girlfriend, there’s a lot of sh*t going on in the world that you all don’t seem to recognise. People are dying, our boys are being shot left and right, people are hungry, people are trying to pay bills, and you’re talking about some . . actors and Oscars. It just ain’t that deep.”
Fresh off his Screen Actors Guild double win last week, Idris Elba also weighed in.
“We’ve become a society of trending topics. Diversity is not a trending topic. It’s just not. I’ve always considered myself an actor since I got my equity card in 1988. I’ve never put any limitations on myself. I felt like I could play ‘Chekhov’, any character in ‘Chekhov’ and Shakespeare in ‘Arthur Miller’, in August Wilson. I see myself as an actor. No matter what is going on in the business, I will find a way to practice my art.”
Valid points indeed, with the exception of Hubert who clearly still holds a grudge towards Ms Smith’s beau Will Smith. Elba and Hubert represent a misguided section of the black community in America and the world.
A section that seems to be looking at this movement or boycott call, at face value. Under their logic, the Oscars are just that — an award that is hardly worth the time or day and people should be looking to solve other more pressing issues.
Well, there is no more pressing issue than equality.
Under their logic, Rosa Parks, who is one of the most revered female figures of the American black culture, should have simply complied with James F Blake’s order to give up her seat to the white passenger back in 1955; after all she probably had better things to stress about than simply giving up a seat — things like feeding her family or getting to work or home on time.
More importantly, she probably would have surrendered her seat to a crippled or elderly person had one come on board.
A seat is hardly worth going to jail for or the inconvenience that whole incident caused her. Under Hubert’s logic, Martin Luther King Jnr could have spent his time wiser and made more of a meaningful impact if he had gone around volunteering at soup kitchens or inflicting his own brand of vigilante justice on the white man.
I only bring up the two as it is the language they best will understand. No, Ms Hubert, Jada Pinkett and Spike Lee’s call for a boycott is solid and rightfully justified.
Much like Parks and Martin Luther King, the two have seen the need and importance for equality. Equality, both at its most basic core and equality in the broader sense of the word.
It pains me that in the last two years, over 400 movies were made and over 200 critically acclaimed feature films created, but it has been three years since an actor of colour won a major Oscar award (Lupita Nyong’o in 2013).
To date, despite the huge class of talented female actors, there have been only 29 nominations for black female actors in a lead or supporting role during the 88-year history of the award.
Of those 29, only seven have managed to win it, namely, Nyong’o (2013), Octavia Spencer (2011), Mo’Nique (2009), Jennifer Hudson (2006), Whoopi Goldberg (1990), Hattie McDaniel (1939), Halle Berry (2001).
What is striking more about these depressing statistics is the huge 51-year gap between the first winner McDaniel and the second, Goldberg. What this means is that for five decades there were no stand-out performances from female black actors.
So Ms Hubert, what Jada Pinkett, and the others, are trying to do is not only fight for the marginalisation of people of colour but also females. Where is your sense of feminism? Another flawed aspect of Hollywood’s perspective of the black community is the stereotyping of Oscar worthy roles.
Among the thin class of Black Oscar winners are roles like a slave (Nyong’o), itinerant handyman (Sydney Poitier), drug addict single mom (Mo’Nique), corrupt (Denzel Washington), corky flashy Football Jock (Cuba Gooding Jnr), among other one-dimensional characters that hardly represent strong black leaders of communities.
Poitier and McDaniel are revered leaders of the black community in the art, best remembered for paving the way to Oscar glory for their respective genders, but look at the roles they played — a handy man and a house servant.
Up to this day, it still boggles my mind why Denzel Washington has Oscars for “Glory” and “Training Day” but somehow fell short to earn any for “Steve Biko” or “Malcolm X”.
The two films demonstrate the immense talent that Denzel Washington has and are still talked about as two of his best performances. At the very least he should be a three or four-time Oscar winner.
Most importantly, the Oscars among other awards are the pinnacle of achievement in film. They are priceless and failure to win does not really have a direct relation to your talent, achievements or value in the art, but failure to be considered for them is a gross injustice.
Now, as the saying goes in showbiz, the show must go on and the 88th edition of the Academy Awards will do just that. Chances are, Pinkett and Spike’s boycott may be referred to in passing, if at all, but I commend the duo’s initiative to try and effect change by demanding to be noticed.
I hope more black Thespians join them and force a rethink from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science.
