Oscar scandal because of racism

The 88th Academy Awards are still more than a month away, but the issue of racism is already hot.

When this year's Oscar nominations were announced, a wave of protests and calls for a boycott of the Oscars also occurred at the same time. The reason: All 20 actors nominated for acting categories were white, not a single person of color. More importantly, this happened for the second year in a row.

According to the prediction of The Economist (UK), the organizers of the 88th Oscars will certainly not leave a single empty seat in the hall - live television does not allow that. However, it is also certain that the ceremony will be missing many familiar faces, mostly actors of color.

Will Smith and his wife represent the public opinion boycotting the 88th Oscars.

No different than police shooting black people on the street

Along with Will Smith and his wife, there are also veteran superstar George Clooney, American filmmakers such as Spike Lee (black, Oscar winner), Michael Moore (white, Oscar winner), veteran actor William H. Macy (white), white actor Dustin Hoffman (two-time Oscar winner)... who are also part of the Oscar boycott wave. Dustin Hoffman said: "The fact that black actors are not nominated is somewhat similar to the fact that young black men are killed by police on the streets."

Many American actors, filmmakers and audiences even called on comedian Chris Rock not to host the show.

Boycotting the Oscars is racist against… white people?

Two-time Oscar nominee Will Smith said it was “absurd” that all 20 acting nominees were white, and that the film industry was headed in the wrong direction. “I think America is beautiful, and I think it’s made up of people of many different races, and Hollywood is the place that best represents that. The Oscars don’t show that,” Smith said.

While there was a boycott, there was also a counter-boycott. Black actress Janet Hubert, who starred with Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, criticized Will Smith and his wife for being hypocritical for not attending the awards ceremony just because Will Smith was not nominated.

Two-time Oscar winner Michael Caine and Oscar nominee Charlotte Rampling have said nominations should be based on merit, not race. Speaking on France's Europe 1 radio, 69-year-old actress Charlotte Rampling said black actors were not nominated because they did not deserve it, and counter-accused the boycott of the Oscars as racist against white people.

Although actress Charlotte Rampling later clarified that her comments had been misinterpreted, Chelsea Clinton, daughter of US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, still criticized actress Charlotte Rampling's statement as offensive to people of color, impolite and aggressive.

Shocking changes in the Oscar structure

The reputation of the Oscars was somewhat affected by this incident. The American media all commented that the fact that all 20 acting nominees were white and happened two consecutive years was hardly a coincidence, but a scandal.

However, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) was quick to resolve the crisis and maintain its image. On the evening of January 21, 51 AMPAS members held an extraordinary meeting. News from the AMPAS website Oscar.org said that the AMPAS board of directors agreed to change the membership structure to include more members of color, change the leadership structure, as well as the voting structure of AMPAS to be more diverse.

Currently, AMPAS has 6,261 members who are eligible to vote for the Oscars. However, according to the decision on the evening of January 21, members who have not been active in the film industry for at least 10 years will no longer have the right to vote. The majority of older AMPAS members are white.

The AMPAS membership list is not public, but according to a 2012 Los Angeles Times investigation, 94% of members are white, with black and Latino members making up only 2%.

According to VOV.VN