A new report found that in the industry, writers, directors, and executives are still over 80 percent white and male—and that stat is borne out on the Academy Awards stage.
Cerise Castle, journalist for Los Angeles Magazine, writes, “It’s the time of year when the zeitgeist inevitably turns to the Oscars, a notoriously white award show that consistently overlooks the accomplishments of women and people of color, both in front of and behind the camera. Although some think that Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite could be the first foreign-language film to take home the award for Best Picture, there was a stunning lack of diversity amongst this year’s acting nominees; British actress Cynthia Erivo was the only nonwhite actor nominated for a performance. For almost a century, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science has maintained a death grip on its status as the gatekeeper to Hollywood acclaim. “