Shakeup at the Oscars

February 22, 2017 10:13 AM

In June, the Academy released a list of six hundred and eighty-three new members—a record number; forty-six per cent of them were female and forty-one per cent were nonwhite, representing fifty-nine different countries. They included the actors John Boyega, America Ferrera, Ice Cube, Idris Elba, Daniel Dae Kim, and Gabrielle Union; the directors Ryan Coogler (“Creed”), Marjane Satrapi, and the Wachowski siblings; and three Wayans brothers, Damon, Marlon, and Keenen. “I think they were just, like, ‘Man, there are six thousand members. We’ve got to put at least two Wayanses in!’ ” Marlon told me. “You want diversity, just go to the Wayans tribe.” Led by Cheryl Boone Isaacs, its first black president, the Academy tries to solve its diversity problem.
posted by everybody had matching towels (28 comments total)

Come for the details about the Oscar nominating and campaign process, stay for the delightful lines like "In other words, if you had two acting credits in the Eisenhower era, start packing for the ice floe."
posted by everybody had matching towels at 10:15 AM on February 22, 2017 [5 favorites]

I suppose I'm shocked that many of these performers were not already members. I suppose it's mostly older folks, which explains some of the ...surprising* winners in the past.




*driving miss daisy scent of a woman crash cold mountain
posted by leotrotsky at 10:26 AM on February 22, 2017 [8 favorites]

Some great nominees this year, and Hacksaw Ridge.
posted by Artw at 10:40 AM on February 22, 2017 [2 favorites]

It's interesting to me that the "purge" created such a fuss, and then it turned out only 70 members were demoted to emeritus status. So the bark was worse than the bite. The PR from the move probably cut in both directions, but ultimately the vote favored the shakeup.

I also appreciated the reminder that the Academy will always be biased in favor of stories about actors. Selma lost to Birdman, after all.

And this was super interesting:

In 2009, after “The Dark Knight,” Christopher Nolan’s Batman movie, failed to get a Best Picture nomination

(duh)

, the Academy expanded the number of potential Best Picture nominees from five to ten. Having a hit superhero movie in the mix would have helped ratings for the telecast, and three-quarters of the Academy’s revenue comes from the TV rights, which help fund its library, its educational programs, and the creation of an Academy museum.

I hadn't realized that that was all a ratings gambit, and I wonder how much their finances are hurt by the seeming impossibility of finding the perfect Oscars host.
posted by mama casserole at 10:44 AM on February 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

Hunter nodded. “In my book, it was an overreaction,” he said. “If there’s no role for a Chinaman, there’s no role for a Chinaman!”

Gee, I can't imagine why anyone might think this person was no longer relevant.

It seems clear to me that what they need is not periodic purges, but regular status adjustments. Every year, they should look at the membership list and cull anyone who hasn't received a credit in X years. If they want to keep some really distinguished people on the list, modulate X based on how many previous credits or years with credits they do have.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:45 AM on February 22, 2017 [19 favorites]

Hunter nodded. “In my book, it was an overreaction,” he said. “If there’s no role for a Chinaman, there’s no role for a Chinaman!”

From Tab Hunter, a closeted 1950s movie star who didn't come out until 2005. That quote made me say, "Oh, lord," out loud.

You'd think if anyone would have some empathy for people who don't get roles because there are no roles for people like them and then examines the reasons behind that ... but, nah.
posted by none of these will bring disaster at 10:45 AM on February 22, 2017 [17 favorites]

I'm like a paragraph in and have uttered 'wait what?!' to myself a number of times already (ex, why do they announce the nominees so early?) , but unfortunately my lunch hour is up so I'll have to come back to this.

Thank you so much for posting!
posted by Fig at 10:48 AM on February 22, 2017

ex, why do they announce the nominees so early?

So they can be covered on the East Coast morning shows.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:50 AM on February 22, 2017 [6 favorites]

the seeming impossibility of finding the perfect Oscars host.

But the delightful Billy Crystal is still alive!
posted by Sangermaine at 10:52 AM on February 22, 2017 [2 favorites]

Soon, [Candice Bergen] and [Gregory] Peck sponsored Dennis Hopper for membership. He got kicked out two years later for nonpayment of dues.

Dennis, you magnificent bastard.
posted by Etrigan at 10:53 AM on February 22, 2017 [5 favorites]

“If there’s no role for a Chinaman, there’s no role for a Chinaman!”

That is not the preferred nomenclature.

This is long overdue, and I'm glad the #OscarsSoWhite criticism seems to have sunk in and inspired some self-reflection on the part of the Academy.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:07 AM on February 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

"the Wachowski siblings"

Wait, why not just "the Wachowski sisters"? Serious question.
posted by matkline at 11:13 AM on February 22, 2017 [9 favorites]

Wait, why not just "the Wachowski sisters"? Serious question.

Isn't one male and one female?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:21 AM on February 22, 2017

Wow, I stand corrected re the Wachowskis - I had heard that Lana transitioned, but not Lilly.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:22 AM on February 22, 2017

They've both transitioned. It's sort of recently (last year, I think?), so using "siblings" might just be outdated information/the writer going gender neutral to definitively avoid misgendering.
posted by yasaman at 11:22 AM on February 22, 2017 [3 favorites]

(haven't finished reading yet but had to come back cuz this paragraph floored me.)

Mother Dolores Hart, who is seventy-eight and the Academy’s only nun, was also shifted to emeritus status. She was inducted in 1960, three years after her film début, in “Loving You,” opposite Elvis Presley, and three years before she forsook Hollywood for the veil. When I visited her, at the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut, she had been dutifully watching her screeners on a laptop during Lectio Divina, the time for “holy reading.” She said she loved “Hacksaw Ridge,” the gory Mel Gibson war drama. When she got the letter from the Academy telling her that this would be her last year as a voting member, she was disappointed. “I’m not going to go down screaming,” she said. “But I think if they cut off too much of the elder community, they’re going to clip the wisdom dimension of the Academy.”

A nun who hasn't worked in Hollywood since 1963? That kind of member is how Brokeback Mountain lost. And how Hacksaw Ridge got nominated at all. Bye, Felicia.
posted by dnash at 11:30 AM on February 22, 2017 [16 favorites]

If there's one thing 2016/2017 has too little of it's wisdom from the elderly...
posted by Artw at 11:38 AM on February 22, 2017 [5 favorites]

The solution - you can't vote on who wins if you haven't worked on a film in the last 10 years, with the exceptions of lifelong magnates who have had a hand in the film industry for decades, and also people who themselves were nominated to win, makes so much sense that the fact it wasn't already like this blows my mind. Old white people get flack for being out of touch enough without having to include a nun that literally hasnt been in the industry since just about most of the nominations were born is just beyond me
posted by FirstMateKate at 11:50 AM on February 22, 2017 [3 favorites]

A nun who hasn't worked in Hollywood since 1963?

I agree that she's probably not really in touch with today's Hollywood.

Then again, I bet she is definitely an outlier if you are looking for a real diversity of voices!
posted by wenestvedt at 12:33 PM on February 22, 2017 [3 favorites]

If there's one thing 2016/2017 has too little of it's wisdom from the elderly...

I think snake people have decreed it not relevant
posted by thelonius at 12:58 PM on February 22, 2017

I think the changes in the voting pool are fine, but as it goes in the article, unless studios start making the heads and leads of their premium projects more diverse, it would still be still mostly voting on white people with the occasional outlier.
posted by lmfsilva at 1:44 PM on February 22, 2017

Mod note: Several comments deleted; I get that folks were critiquing the whitewashing of Asian roles, but in general probably best not to quote other people's offensive terminology, even when making a point about how it's offensive.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 2:45 PM on February 22, 2017 [3 favorites]

It's interesting to me that the "purge" created such a fuss, and then it turned out only 70 members were demoted to emeritus status

I don't understand why they bothered with a purge at all. Six hundred something new faces outweighs 70, there's no need to slap the 70 in the face with their irrelevancy, the numbers do it for them.
posted by corb at 3:06 PM on February 22, 2017

it will go to a white woman
I was thinking of Linda Hunt.
posted by Hal Mumkin at 3:37 PM on February 22, 2017

This year’s matchup is “La La Land” (Taback) vs. “Moonlight” (Swartz)

lmao one of these is a musical and it can't even beat the other in the music department
posted by mannequito at 4:51 PM on February 22, 2017 [3 favorites]

I don't understand why they bothered with a purge at all.

The obvious answer is, they wanted the positive PR for taking action, but hoped to avoid actually getting in trouble with the members by cynically tailoring the criteria so as to purge nearly nobody.
posted by tocts at 5:23 PM on February 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

Soon, [Candice Bergen] and [Gregory] Peck sponsored Dennis Hopper for membership. He got kicked out two years later for nonpayment of dues.

Dennis, you magnificent bastard.

Have you seen The American Dreamer, the documentary that was made about Dennis Hopper at about that time? He was so insanely high all through that period I don't think timely payment of dues was on his mind. He had just been married to Michelle Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas for six days. She broke it off by asking him "Have you ever considered suicide?" and then running off with Leonard Cohen.
posted by jonp72 at 6:01 PM on February 22, 2017 [2 favorites]

Batman V Superman wins big at the Razzies.
posted by Artw at 12:58 PM on February 25, 2017