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    Rapunzel's Frying PanStassa Edwards
    1/16/16 2:17pm

    Quite a few successful Hollywood actors- of colour and white alike- are boycotting the Oscars. They are (unsurprisingly) being very quiet and cautious, but don’t be shocked if there’s an outspoken and massive movement against the Academy Awards within the next year. Shit’s getting real, y’all.

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      ThisIsAnExParrotRapunzel's Frying Pan
      1/16/16 2:48pm

      Like who? How do you know? TELL ME EVERYTHING that would make me so happy if true

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      I Think I Lost ItRapunzel's Frying Pan
      1/16/16 2:48pm

      Sincerely interested in this — is this being written about somewhere? I was wondering if Chris Rock could bow out, but I’m sure there are myriad reasons he wouldn’t/couldn’t.

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    ivyStassa Edwards
    1/16/16 2:12pm

    I don’t believe it’s racist to simply choose the best performances from the past year. People should be awarded for their talent and hard work, the colour of your skin should not be a reason to receive recognition. If there was an actor of colour that was worthy of a nomination from 2015 I highly doubt the Academy would miss out on the chance to appear more politically correct by putting them in the running.

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      Rapunzel's Frying Panivy
      1/16/16 2:21pm

      A lot of people of colour deserving of nominations did not get them. A lot of white people undeserving of nominations got them. And there is already very slim pickings for artists of colour in Hollywood. The system is rigged against people of colour and the Academy made clear oversights.

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      Beet Arthurivy
      1/16/16 2:24pm

      Please keep in mind that your background and experiences will taint what you see as “the best”. And because the academy is 94% white and 76% men, their views are skewed. Then again, all awards are kind of bullshit, so we shouldn’t care anyways.

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    SqarrStassa Edwards
    1/16/16 2:09pm

    Like the bit wherein Chris described his neighbourhood being composed of mediocre rich white people and him, an extraordinarily successful black person, maybe he’ll even actually be listened to by the old white fucks at the Academy who decide these things.

    Doubt it, but at least there’s a small chance.

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      Rapunzel's Frying PanSqarr
      1/16/16 2:26pm

      It felt skeevy as fuck when he was announced as the host; a man of colour performing on a stage to an audience of mostly rich white people at an awards show where they overlooked people of colour in order to recognise mediocre white folks? That harkens back way too much to minstrel shows for me. I am so looking forward to Chris Rock flipping this script.

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      SqarrRapunzel's Frying Pan
      1/16/16 2:32pm

      He’ll probably wink and nod his way through the whole thing, ultimately making some bland, toothless jokes about the situation, going “scandalously” off-script a couple times. Because who fucks with Hollywood?

      Or maybe he’s satisfied with the career he’s already had and will take a chance. Maybe he’ll walk on stage right at the start, say he won’t recognize an academy that won’t recognize his people, drop the mic and walk out.

      Again, I doubt it, but it could be funny as shit.

      But then, the contract he had to sign probably lists some extremely bad threats if he does any such thing, so who knows.

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    LadyologyStassa Edwards
    1/16/16 2:34pm

    There were certainly a few very strong films this year featuring leads who were people of color: Beasts of No Nation, Creed (I hear; I have so little interest in a sports film that I can’t bring myself to see it until the Oscars are imminent and I feel forced), Tangerine, and Straight Outta Compton (I had no interest, but it has excellent reviews). Beasts of No Nation and Tangerine should have received more attention. They have better or similar ratings to the other two films and deal with much more novel and significant subject matter. I wonder if Beasts of No Nation got short shift for being released directly via Netflix and not through traditional channels.

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      procrastyLadyology
      1/16/16 2:49pm

      There was also Girlhood which was on every film critic and their mum’s end of the year lists yet didn’t get a look in, although that might be part of the wider Oscar issue of how the “foreign language” nominations work.

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      Jacob30Ladyology
      1/16/16 2:49pm

      Plus for the Tangerine love. No reason it shouldn’t have gotten a supporting actress nod or something like that. I think the Netflix thing also definitely hurt Beasts. Traditional movie studio voters are stubborn assholes.

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    Darius Miles in "The Perfect Score"Stassa Edwards
    1/16/16 2:12pm

    The issue—and both Jada Pinkett and Chris Rock should be well aware of this—is that the universe of black roles in Hollywood is limited, so the universe of black folks who can be nominated is limited. It’s not a “the Oscars are institutionally racist” thing (I don’t think they’re really anything, other than institutionally mediocre); it’s a “the movie industry writ large” is institutionally racist. The Oscars are just a mirror and a shitty one at that.

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      OvdanyakadDarius Miles in "The Perfect Score"
      1/16/16 2:16pm

      But that’s the point isn’t it? By going after the most highly publicised and coveted showing of adoration for the “most successful/talented bunch in hollywood” what better time is there to point out the fact that these people are very rarely POC?

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      Darius Miles in "The Perfect Score"Ovdanyakad
      1/16/16 2:32pm

      I mean, yeah, I guess so, but I have no idea what people think boycotting the Oscars is going to do. The pure math of the nomination system makes it hard for me to believe that an appreciable number of people will say “god, last year, some huge number of people boycotted the Oscars, so I need to write in Denzel Washington into the Best Actor category.”

      The real root issue is that, this year, what black woman would have been included in the Best Actress field? I’ll admit that this wasn’t my best movie going year, but literally the only name springing to mind right now is Tessa Thompson in Creed (and she would’ve been a fun surprise at best). Those are shit odds, especially when one to two spots per year are reserved for the Helen Mirren/Cate Blanchett/Meryl Streep type living goddesses.

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    courtStassa Edwards
    1/16/16 2:08pm

    The fact that Ryan Coogler nor Michael B. Jordan were nominated for Creed is appalling. Coogler as director gave a Master’s class in electric, organic film making. As for Will Smith? This is not an equal sum game. Concussion is a shit, cowardly movie that rewrote its script to appease its corporate NFL Masters. No one saw it or gave a flying fuck about it.

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      ambitiouscourt
      1/16/16 2:15pm

      I don’t think Smith was that good in it either. But there are three nominated performances I found equally mediocre (if not worse).

      Totally agree re:Coogler and Creed. People are probably teaching to some of those sequences already.

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      BowlingFeministVikingcourt
      1/16/16 2:17pm

      While the movie Concussion was just okay, I thought his performance was very good. But I am still in shock that Idris Elba didn’t get a nomination. That was a performance of a lifetime in a movie that seemed tailor made for the Oscars. Also, Benicio Del Toro and Oscar Isaac gave performances this year that could easily merit nominations. And while there are less meaty roles for POC in general, there were not a lack of Oscar nom worthy performances this year by POC, so this is on the Academy. I hope Chris Rock skewers them.

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    Kris-the-Needlessly-DefiantStassa Edwards
    1/16/16 2:27pm

    I’m a lapsed Oscar lover. I used to throw Oscar parties with thematic food, etc., but now I can’t even bear to watch it. I usually check out what people are wearing on Jez and read a list of winners and watch any highlights the next day and didn't even bother to do that last year. The nominees just seem really fucking random. However, if you take a look back, maybe they always were?

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      snarkerellaKris-the-Needlessly-Defiant
      1/16/16 3:10pm

      Last time I sat down to watch the Oscars was two years ago. I got drunker and angrier as the night wore on. I remember yelling at the TV when Jared Leto won. If anything, it’s something to hate watch now.

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      snarkerellaKris-the-Needlessly-Defiant
      1/16/16 3:11pm

      But I do agree with you that they’ve been bad in the past, too. Remember when Crash won?

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    UmeboshayyStassa Edwards
    1/16/16 2:16pm

    Something about having a black comic come and entertain and make jokes for the ALL white nominees feels gross and... I dunno reminiscent of the more racist olden times. I feel bad for Chris Rock who obviously didn’t know this would be the situation when he accepted the gig !

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      Lannister HandjobUmeboshayy
      1/16/16 4:45pm

      Bullshit. #oscarsowhite happened last year for a reason. And looking at the field of contenders (films from this year) even if EVERY POC everyone thinks was snubbed was nommed.. It would still be sooooo white.

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    maraleiaStassa Edwards
    1/16/16 4:36pm

    This issue is connected to the larger issue of women and POC’s not being included in STEM fields, as CEO’s of corporations, the political structure et. al. Hollywood, for all its liberal ideology, is still a white, straight, male dominated place in terms of actors, directors, writers, producers, studio execs and agents and it needs to stop. Hell, even President Obama’s cabinet is only about 25-30 percent female and many of his top WH staffers are white men.

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      VioletGatesyStassa Edwards
      1/16/16 8:13pm

      I think people just shouldn’t watch it. I am not going to. But I don’t think it’s fair to ask POC not to participate in it, in the end that only hurts them.

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