After #OscarSoWhite in 2015, the Academy said it had learned its lesson. But with the exclusion of any women from the best director category and lack of representation from people of color in categories across the board, the awards show has drawn criticism once again.  

Gender gaps 

Many critics and audience members alike have called out the Academy for blocking female directors such as Greta Gerwig (“Little Women”), Kasi Lemmons (“Harriet”) and Lulu Wang (“The Farewell”) from a chance at the category. Only one woman has ever won the award for best director: Kathryn Bigelow for her movie “The Hurt Locker” in 2010.  

While Gerwig may be a standout in the field, the options for women in producing, directing and writing roles are slim. According to a study by the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California, only five out of the 112 directors hired for the top 100 movies of 2018 were women.  

The same study found that out of 1,438 content creators in Hollywood, only 4.2% were female directors, 13.2% were female writers, 20.7% were female producers and 1.7% were female composers from 2007–2016. In the cinematography category, only one woman has ever been nominated: Rachel Morrison for “Mudbound” (2018). There have been no female winners in the category, according to The Guardian.  

A few words from a winner… #oscars pic.twitter.com/4ocpOTrLdP

— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 10, 2020

Sophomores Saachi Jain and Paul Levine are the inclusive education chairs for the professional film fraternity Delta Kappa Alpha. Together, they started to host weekly workshops for organization members to discuss issues regarding race, gender, sexuality, disability and more in the entertainment industry. 

In terms of this year’s nominations, Levine mentioned that the type of role women tend to be nominated for differs from which the types of roles men are nominated. Especially in the horror genre, Levine compared characters such as Lupita Nyong’o’s characters in “Us” and Toni Collette’s performance in “Hereditary” to Joaquin Phoenix’s “Joker.” 

“We’ve seen this character before, where it’s like a guy whose bad actions are justified by the bad world around him,” he said. “It’s interesting to me that that character gets a lot more recognition in the industry than when it’s a woman in a more controversial type of role.” 

Representation for race and ethnicity 

Last week, Joaquin Phoenix, best actor Oscar nominee for his performance in “Joker,” called out his peers for their elitist attitudes toward nominations during his acceptance speech at the British Academy Film Awards. 

“I think that we sent a very clear message to people of color that you’re not welcome here,” Phoenix said. “I think that’s the message that we’re sending to people that have contributed so much to our medium and our industry in ways that we’ve benefited from.”  

Phoenix added that he feels that he has contributed to the problem by not ensuring that the productions he has been a part of are inclusive and diverse as well. Cynthia Erivo, who was nominated for her role as Harriet Tubman in “Harriet,” praised Phoenix for his criticism, according to Variety. Erivo was the only person of color nominated in an acting category at this year’s Academy Awards.   

An uncomfortable silence filled the hall for a long noticeable moment. Thank you Joaquin.

— Lulu Wang (@thumbelulu) February 2, 2020

Some claim that the lack of representation in the nominations stems from the lack of representation in the Academy itself. April Reign, creator of the #OscarsSoWhite movement, said in a column for Variety that while it has made some progress in diversifying its members, the Academy is still stuck on its white male-orientated mentality. 

“Overwhelmingly, what we saw in 2019 with these nominations is that most of them are films that reflect the experiences of straight white men,” she wrote in the column. “Since the majority of the Academy are white males, and the nominations are viewed through their lens, that may explain why we are seeing the nominations that we are.” 

At this year’s awards, “Parasite” was named “Best Picture,” making the South Korean thriller the first foreign-language film to win the award. The feature also took home “Best International Feature Film” and its director, Bong Joon Ho, won “Best Director.” The movie already made history after becoming the first foreign-language film to win the SAG ensemble award, which is similar to the Oscars’ best picture category.  

Jeremy Jung, a senior majoring in film, says that as an Asian American pursuing a film career, just existing in the industry is helping to balance the scales. According to the USC study, only 3% of directors were Asian or Asian American out of 1,006 directors and 900 films. Only 5.6% of the directors were Black or African American.  

“I believe that me existing as an Asian American, working in the film industry, or when I do, it’s going to make a statement in itself,” Jung said. 

 Through their workshops, Levine and Jain say that discussion between people helps to bridge gaps between the various races and ethnicities and can promote collaboration between demographics as well.  

 “Collaborating with people of color is also so important because film is not told in one language or one color — it’s multiple,” Jain said.  

 At the box office 

 Levine said that the power lies within movie-goers, as they can choose what movies to give their money to.  

 “If you want to see movies and support movies of people that are typically more marginalized, pay money and see those movies,” Levine said. “Like, don’t give all your money to movies that you know are going to be successful anyways.”  

 According to a 2015–2016 study from the University of California, Los Angeles, films with casts that were 21–30% of a minority background received the highest median global box office receipts and the high median return on investments.  

 Minority movie-goers dominating the international box office sales in general. Minorities accounted for the majority of ticket sales for five of the top 10 films in 2016, according to the same study. 

 Levine and Jain both mentioned that seeing more representation in the awards ceremony partially comes from the demand of movie-goers at the box office. As an international student as well, Jain strives to create films about stories that showcase different perspectives from the industry norm. 

 “As a person who tells stories about people of color, I think the most important things is just sensitivity,” she said. “And I feel like once a sense of sensitivity, empathy and just understanding is developed, I think that film will change.” 

Published on February 10, 2020 at 12:30 am

Contact Amy: abnakamu@syr.edu