The Verge: Last night, the biggest winner of the Emmys, sweeping up five awards, was The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The director, cast, and show all won Emmys, edging out the cast and creators of diverse shows like Insecure, Killing Eve, black-ish, and Atlanta. #EmmysSoWhite reappeared on social media last night, and it wasn’t just because James Corden cited it as a recycled joke. People of color were winning awards and the Emmys still made history twice, but it simply wasn’t captured on prime time.
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6 comments:
Over the past years, racism within the awards ceremonies has been a huge problem that has struck people worldwide. As television and theater are known to be confrontational about social issues such as racism, sexism, homophobia, etc, it is surprising to see that black people are not being celebrated. Although this year, the Emmys has made “history” with the amount of black actors who have won, it is still too small of a number and too many people’s talents have been ignored. Many have also expressed, over social media, their anger of people who deserved to win the award over the other nominees. Though I don’t know the specifics of how the voting systems work in award shows, it is still impossible for such a scarce amount of legendary black people to not win an award. There are a wide number of categories in which people could win and it simply does not make sense that only four black people were honored. On top of the number of opportunities to fall under a nominated category, there is undeniable talent that wasn’t awarded due to race. As an award show that is broadcasted nationwide, with international people also watching, they are influencing many. The racism that has been occurring with various different award shows is something that is detrimental to society as a whole. The fact that this article stated that, “The Emmys broke diversity records”, with only four black artists, is not diverse.
Honestly what’s most confusing about this article is how it simultaneously takes a stand for and against this year’s Emmys. The headline and lead beneath both appear to be chastising the awards ceremony for not being diverse as they should be and seemingly sweeping the wins for people of color under the rug. The body of the article, however, seems to be just saying over and over, “Hey at least they did make history, even though no one saw it. It may not be diverse enough but look how they tried.” This really should not be the case. It shouldn’t be that four outstanding actor winners of color is a mark of historical achievement, but we shouldn’t be deluding ourselves that it was. It’s the tone of the article that I feel is more problematic. Its half-hearted tone at both being celebratory and berating is only pushing complacency. History was made. It’s progress and that should be celebrated and those people of talent should be celebrated for their work too. Congratulate those actors because they deserve it. And then call out the Emmys too; don’t just make off handed remarks about the inequalities. Hold them to it; this may be progress but it’s not enough and it’s not the end.
It is a good thing to see people of color being rewarded for their hard work and talent but it is starting to get a bit annoying at the amount of praise that we give to institution for being diverse. The Emmys has been around for a while now and for this year's diversity inclusion to be a landmark is a problem. Diversity has become a thing that we have to recognize and praise companies and institutions for doing when it should not be so. This article seems to pat the emmys on the back for being diverse because no one else did it. This shouldn't be. People should be rewarded because they have worked hard for it and should not be seen as trophies for institutions because the institution deemed it okay to include people of color. I do not mean to diminish the effort but it is not something I believe a congratulatory article should be written about.
When I first read the title of this, I thought it was going to be an article on how we broke diversity barriers without making it a big deal. Because for me it is a big deal, but I hate it when it becomes a tokenized thing. “look how diverse we are!” But I read it and soon realized it was not about that. It was really upsetting how racist the award institutions can be. Maybe it was an honest mistake. But I strongly believe the lack of representation of diverse groups being successful it’s a form of oppression. Not seeing ‘people like me’ achieve good things will keep the focus group in an oppressed position where they would not want to be better. This is why representation matters. Representation opens windows for people who were not able to dream things possible, because it simply doesn’t happen to people like me
I think that it is really cool to see more diversity in the entertainment industry. The history of this industry is so white and there used to be more barriers to entry that seem to not exist anymore. I think it is amazing that so many diverse (both is race and sex and orientation) people are winning awards. Everyone and their ideas are valid and deserve a platform. We may disagree with some of them, but we should listen and try to understand no matter what. I am so happy that more queer people are winning and being nominated for awards, a couple years ago that would not have happened. And I know that there is still a lot of race skew towards whites but they seem to be trying to make it better. In terms of nominations, this year was pretty good about nominating a broad range of people and their work, the winners were just very white. I applaud the Emmys and hope they continue to strive for diversity.
I believe that lighting designers should and need to take more responsibility and involvement in the programming of their board, as well as educating those below them. Building a template file is a good step in the right direction, as it helps to standardize the process, which helps make learning easier for everyone else involved in the process. I also believe that the design should be more vertically integrative than it has been previously. i believe that the designers should and need to be more involved in the nitty-gritty of the design (hanging, focusing, etc.). I believe that this is an important part of the process, which is often overlooked by designers, and that board ops and master electricians are taken for granted. Obviously, they shouldn’t be wholly responsible, as if that were the case, master electricians and board ops would not have jobs, however, they should be more involved than they are now.
Personally, I believe that award shows such as the Emmys are the bane of the entertainment industry. They glorify certain pieces over others purely because they pay more money. This creates a precedent where some pieces are glorified over others when they absolutely should not be, because of what is basically bribery or a giant popularity contest. However, that does not mean that award shows have to be awful, but they are in their current state. If award shows were purely about the art, and about judging the relevance and the execution (and other factors) of said art.
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