Affirmative Action for the Oscars?

The announcement of the nominees for the 87th Academy Awards has caused a bit of brouhaha in both cinematic and social circles around the country. The biggest gripe is that neither the director or leading actor in the film Selma were nominated for Oscars this year and it has many people crying “foul.”

I wonder how many people who are upset about the lack of racial diversity in this year’s nomination have actually seen the movie Selma? The movie has only been out for a few weeks and though the movie did well at the box office this week – I would imagine the “controversy” has something to do with that – it has only made a fraction of the money American Sniper has made in two weeks less time (I’ve also seen Sniper and it is a superior film.). I wonder if those complaining have ever seen the movie, or are just placing the race card to be negative for negative’s sake.

Doesn’t matter.

I have seen the movie, (I know a guy who knows a guy) and in my humble opinion, it’s a fine flick, but I don’t think the director nor the lead actor deserved to be nominated for Academy Awards. The movie chronicles a time in U.S. history when blacks in the south were often denied their constitutional right to vote. The story Selma tells is an important one. It is important that people in our country know their history because, if not, we are bound to repeat our past mistakes. I applaud the filmmakers, producers and actors for their effort on a job well done. That being said, after watching the movie I was unimpressed by it as a whole. To me, it felt like a movie of the week that should have run on broadcast television.

But some black activists, namely Al Sharpton and filmmaker Spike Lee, are up in arms and are calling Hollywood and the Academy Award Nomination Committee “racists.” Now I am not black, and maybe those two entities are racists. I don’t spend much time thinking about it. I do know that the movie 12 Years as a Slave, last year, was the first film to be written and directed by an African American to win the Oscar for Best Picture. Seems like Al and Spike might have short-term memory loss.

Are these people complaining about the lack of black nominations suggestion that each year, regard-less of the movies made, African American’s have to be nominated for awards? Seems like it to me. It also seems like a horse-dropping type of idea.

Two people I haven’t heard complaining about the lack of nominations are Selma’s director -- Ava DuVernay – and leading actor -- David Oyelowo. I applaud both of them. I imagine that they make movies to entertain and enlighten (and pay their bills.)