I will be very happy to see The Academy find its way out of the devaluation of Oscar. Some changes this year, I am hopeful about. Others seem like the same old mistakes. But as we head into The Sunday, what I have found missing is the most basic conversation… why do any of us care?
While I agree with most of what you said, your argument is still a critique of inclusion. The word sounds like we're kids in sleep away camp. Inclusion has accelerated exclusion. Or shall I say, segregation. Ever see, for example, how white characters are portrayed in black films? Or men in women's films? History is turned into myth and romance. And what about the griping about Jamie Lee Curtis? Every Oscar now will see demands for fixed outcomes, as with Angela Basset and Viola Davis. Great performers, silly films. And making these distinctions is one of the purposes of judging.
We're headed toward what the old IFP had with the Gordon Parks Award for black people, as if they can't compete with white people. Also another for Latinos, ensuring that everyone comes home with gold. Inclusion? Under the present terms, you can have it.
While I agree with most of what you said, your argument is still a critique of inclusion. The word sounds like we're kids in sleep away camp. Inclusion has accelerated exclusion. Or shall I say, segregation. Ever see, for example, how white characters are portrayed in black films? Or men in women's films? History is turned into myth and romance. And what about the griping about Jamie Lee Curtis? Every Oscar now will see demands for fixed outcomes, as with Angela Basset and Viola Davis. Great performers, silly films. And making these distinctions is one of the purposes of judging.
We're headed toward what the old IFP had with the Gordon Parks Award for black people, as if they can't compete with white people. Also another for Latinos, ensuring that everyone comes home with gold. Inclusion? Under the present terms, you can have it.
My sentiment exactly. I fear the Academy is hopeless lost in its purpose.
Bong Joon-ho won Best Director in 2020 - didn’t see him on your list of non white directors.