2020 Academy Award Nominations Spark Talks Among Movie-Goers

Image courtesy of nalip.org

By Angela Hickey

It’s award season once again and the crown jewel of award shows, The Oscars are just around the corner. Many great films that came out this year are getting the recognition they deserve. But there are many who believe that some films were glossed over for the coveted title of “Best Picture”. 

The films in the running for “Best Picture” this year include Ford v. Ferrari, The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, Joker, Little Women, Marriage Story, 1917, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, and Parasite. 

Although The Academy has made significant strides in recent years, people seem to be upset by the lack of representation for women and people of color in the films nominated this year. The most notable upset of this years Oscar nominations seems to be the all-male nominees for the directorial category and the lack of minority representation among the numerous actors and actresses nominated for many awards this year. 

Compared to last year, this year’s Oscars seem to have regressed back to their original ways. The 2019 Oscars marked a very big turning point for women and many people of color who earned recognition for their work in Oscar-winning films such as Greenbook (2018), which won the Best Picture award, and Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), which received the most awards of the evening. 

Once the 2020 nominations were released, people were outraged by the lack of representation compared to that seen in previous years. People are especially vocal about the lack of nominations for director,  Greta Gerwig, for her work in directing Little Women (2019) and the lack of recognition for actresses such as Awkwafina for her work in The Farewell (2019) and Jennifer Lopez for her work in Hustlers (2019). 

According to sources, celebrities such as J.J. Abrahams, Reese Witherspoon, and Jordan Peele, have openly expressed their commitment to working with more female directors in future films. But, the real question we need to be asking that no one seems to know is, “What qualifies as an Oscar-worthy film?”

There are many different factors that contribute to the lack of diversity at the Academy Awards, but one of the most important is the fact that there aren’t are not many women or people of color who get to choose the nominees. 

“The Academy has made progress in its overall makeup. As of 2019, its membership is now 32% female and 16% people of color, up from 25% and 8%, respectively, in 2015” the Academy revealed to CNBC during an interview earlier this month.

The Academy has yet to reveal how many members make up its ranks, only revealing that the Acting Branch is their largest out of all the branches. It also doesn’t share the gender, racial or ethnic background of any of its members or how many people make up each branch.

Even though the entire Academy chooses the overall winners of each category, the branches of each category ultimately choose who gets nominated, and there are certain requirements that the nominees need to meet in order to be considered for nomination.

But, we can’t change the nominations now that they’re out there. We can only watch and hope that our favorites win. With more and more progress made for diversity in the arts, all we can do as a society is to continue to speak out against injustices in our society.

The Oscars are set to air set to air February 9th at 8:00 EST on ABC.