The Verge: On Sunday night the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, amazingly, named Moonlight the Best Picture of 2016. It was a victory made all the more stunning by the circumstances: after La La Land was initially announced as the winner, producer Jordan Horowitz told a shocked audience that Moonlight had actually won the award. A hush passed over the crowd, before eventually giving way to raucous applause. Jimmy Kimmel cracked a joke about Steve Harvey, Warren Beatty meekly apologized, and Barry Jenkins, who could hardly contain his surprise, gave a speech that put a period on the whole night. “Very clearly, even in my dreams this could not be true,” he said. “But to hell with dreams. I’m done with it, ‘cause this is true.”
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3 comments:
“Until it’s not surprising that the best picture of the year actually wins Best Picture, there will always be work to be done.”
What a powerful and candid statement. This article is not just truthful and enlightening in all of its points; it’s one of the most inclusive pieces of writing that I have read thus far on this blog. This article discussed the adversity that a number of minorities face, not just African Americans. Asians, Latinos, and the LGBTQ community are all addressed, even if briefly, and I highly respect that fact.
One of the most thought-provoking topics that I think this article discussed was the impact that movements like #OscarsSoWhite are making. Often, it is tough to do more than spread awareness through hashtags and social media posts – for example, there was a controversy over the ALS ice bucket challenge because, though it raised awareness, a lot of people were doing the challenge without donating – but, perhaps this is an indication that social media is making a tangible, positive impact on inclusivity and credit where credit is due.
I agree with what this article says about how " Until it’s not surprising that the best picture of the year actually wins Best Picture, there will always be work to be done". When we hear things like "it's great that 6 black people were nominated" or "one of the most important wins of the night went to Mahershala Ali because he was the first Muslim to win an Academy award" we get excited, but shouldn't we be passed the excitement of these things. shouldn't it be a normal occurrence that a diverse group of people win these awards much less are nominated for them. Honestly, this is 2017 people (Trump may be our president but we should have taken care of this problem before trump even came into office and had the ability to screw it up). Sorry that trump thing might have gone a little off topic... but I my point still stands. Yes, celebrate these victories but still continue the demand for more.
“But it [Moonlight] won not just because it’s a stellar piece of art, but also because the Academy has been forced to reevaluate itself and its lackluster record of honoring work from non-white actors and filmmakers.”
I wanted to start off this comment with this quote, because it basically hit exactly how I am feeling about the issue of diversity in the Oscars and Diversity in general. Not to be a pessimist, but I do think that one of the reasons that there was so many black nominations and winners was because of the controversy and uproar last year, which would have hurt the Oscars reputation if they didn’t do something about it. I’m glad they broaden the diversity this year, but I am truly waiting for the next few Oscars to really determine if anything as actually changed. Essentially I agree with the article, it really isn’t enough, and it will never be. The fight and protest for wider diversity (NOT JUST BLACK PEOPLE), in my opinion, will never be resolved and will never stop, because it isn’t a thing where you can one day go “Alright, now everything is good”. We are human beings, and just by looking at our history, we are very prone for discrimination and discriminating. Everyone does it, whether it is your true feelings or not, or whether it is malicious or not, we all of a tiny voice that can’t help but judge others for whatever reason. The important thing is not to let that tiny voice dictate your actions and thoughts. So as we continue to make forward steps, and I hope to God we do, we must know that we will never reach our goal. And in this knowledge, we can be confident that there is always being an effort made to make things better for everyone.
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