So the list of Oscar Nominations for 2020 has been released. And the Academy has not recieved any positive feedback. Due to severe lack of representation, many public figures are snubbing the Oscars for being ‘white-washed’ . Not only did the nominations fail to reflect any representation for people of color, they even left women out. This has resulted in numerous criticisms and even celebrities have vocally called the Oscars jury out for lack of diversity.
The Oscar 2020 nominees
‘Best Picture Award’ nominations include ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’, ‘Joker’, ‘Marriage Story’ and ‘Jojo Rabbitt’ and ‘Parasite’, ‘The Irishman’ and ‘Little Women’ as expected.
But directors and actors/actresses got snubbed in many other cases. Best Director category shut out all women. Even though ‘Little Women’ director Greta Gerwig deserved a spot; the all-men slate slashed her out.
The clearly white-dominated nominations garnered a lot of criticism. The only Black actor nominee is Cynthia Erivo.
There is lack of representation for Asians, Latino, LGBTQ and other minority groups as well.
Celebs react to lack of diversity & representation
Issa Rae, star of HBO’s insecure as well as a writer, director, actor, and producer announced the nominees earlier. While announcing the all-male director category, she threw shade, striking a lot of nerves with just four words.
“Congratulations to those men,” she said. This made a powerful statement reflecting the Oscars 2020 dismissal of women and other groups.
“Congratulations to those men.” – Issa Rae introducing the Best Director category is a MOOD. #OscarNoms pic.twitter.com/ihxnw0E6VJ
— Kathleen Newman-Bremang (@KathleenNB) January 13, 2020
Scarlett Curtis, an English writer and activist also tweeted to cheer for Issa Rae and the “most iconic moment of 2020 so far.”
https://twitter.com/scarcurtis/status/1216717972712099840
Hazel Hayes, an Irish filmmaker and YouTuber also spoke up. She is in favor of the statement “congratulations to all those men.”
“Congratulations to those men” – Issa Rae telling it like it is on the #OscarNoms
— Hazel Hayes (@TheHazelHayes) January 13, 2020
TV and Film Journalist Candace Frederick also wrote a tweet to ask the Academy how they failed to give any recognition to film ‘Hustlers’ directed by Lorene Scafaria.
y'all just gonna forget hustlers happened?!!?!??!? #OscarNoms
— Candice Frederick (@ReelTalker) January 13, 2020
Variety’s New York bureau chief Ramin Setoodeh also highlighted the lack of women in the best director’s panel. He mentioned the 2019 films directed by women that deserved recognition.
No Greta Gerwig for ‘Little Women,’ no Lulu Wang for ‘The Farewell,’ no Lorene Scafaria for ‘Hustlers,’ no Melina Matsoukas for ‘Queen & Slim’ no Marielle Heller for ‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.’ Once again, the Oscars nominated five men for best director. #OscarNoms
— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) January 13, 2020
Actress Caroline Darya Framke expressed her disapproval of how ‘The Farewell’ deserved to be recognized by Oscars 2020 too.
The Oscars also snubbed Awkwafina who won a Golden Globe for Best Actress for her role in The Farewell. Caroline added that Awkwafina ‘could’ have been the first Asian-American actress to be nominated for an Oscar.
Quick reminder that if Awkwafina had been nominated for Best Actress, she’d have been the first Asian-American to EVER have been nominated for Best Actress. Oh well, I guess!
— Caroline Darya Framke (@carolineframke) January 13, 2020
Popular Asian-American news blog ‘Angry Asian Man’ also reacted.
It’s early. I keep rubbing my eyes and checking up and down this list Did THE FAREWELL seriously get totally shut out? #OscarNoms #Oscars
— Angry Asian Man (@angryasianman) January 13, 2020
Actress Rachel Handler was also quick to speak against the all-male best cinematography list. She snubbed at “pissed off white men” in her bold tweet against the Oscar 2020 nominations.
and the oscar for filming pissed off white men goes to https://t.co/sin1tRqWp3
— rachel handler (@rachel_handler) January 13, 2020
Guardian writer Melissa Silverstein also wrote to sum up the ‘white-centric’ views of the Academy. She criticized them for keeping women and people of color out.
Women’s stories and the stories of people of color are not viewed in the same way that the white male stories are. This is where we will continue to focus our work. Onward!
— Melissa Silverstein (@melsil) January 13, 2020
Now that so many public figures are speaking against the lack of representation, the Oscars might have to step up their game. We will hopefully be expecting more representation and diversity in future nominations.
