As the list of nominees for the 2016 Oscar Awards came through yesterday, the world noted the ‘snubs’ of films like Beast of No Nation (starring Idris Elba) and Concussion (starring Will Smith), with social media reviving last year’s hashtag, #OscarsSoWhite.
The trending topic is a reaction to the Academy failing to nominate any actors of colour for the second year in a row, with especial cheek taken in the fact that while the actors in Straight Outta Compton weren’t nominated, the white writers of the film are up for an Oscar for their work in telling the story five black iconic rappers’ rise to fame – and then we Sylvester Stallone nominated for ‘Best Actor in a Supporting Role’ for Creed, in which Michael B Jordan stars.
READ MORE: STACEY DASH, JADA PINKETT, LUPITA NYONG’O & MORE WEIGH IN ON #OSCARSSOWHITE!
Twitter responses varied from messages of outrage to sarcastic digs, with these users Tweeting;
The Academy president, woman of colour Cheryl Boone Isaacs has responded to the situation, saying she is disappointed by the lack of diversity in the nominations list and that the Academy “have got to speed [solving the diversity issue] up”.
Ms Isaacs spoke with Deadline, saying;
“Of course I am disappointed, but this is not to take away from the greatness [of the films nominated].
This has been a great year in film, it really has across the board. You are never going to know what is going to appear on the sheet of paper until you see it.”
*Update, Jan 18th: Ms Isaacs also released a statement via social media, further expressing her feeling on the debate, and explaining that the Academy plans to make progress.
While we’ll look out for further word and what action the Academy promises to make in order to improve the diversity in its nominations, we will tune in to the 2016 Oscar Awards (set to hold on February 28th 2016) – if only to find out what black comedian and host of the event, Chris Rock has to say on stage about #OscarsSoWhite.
Image source: Washingtonpost.com, Usmagazine.com, Youtube.com
