Oscars roll out eligibility rules to boost diversity, and Twitter users have field day
Regardless of COVID-19 halting the production of a number of movies and TV series over the past few months, rendering some studios a metaphorical ghost town, it’s been a busy week in Hollywood.
Earlier this week, HBO Max announced that it would remove the film “Gone with the Wind,” a 1939 movie set in the Civil War, due to racist depictions. The move came after John Ridley, writer of the Academy Award-winning film “12 Years a Slave,” wrote an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times about how the film is problematic because it “glorifies the antebellum of the south,” as Ridley worded it, McClatchy News reported.
And on Friday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that it was planning to implement new eligibility requirements toward diversity in collaboration with the Producers Guild of America starting in 2022.
“While the Academy has made strides, we know there is much more work to be done in order to ensure equitable opportunities across the board,” said academy CEO Dawn Hudson in the release. “The need to address this issue is urgent. To that end, we will amend — and continue to examine — our rules and procedures to ensure that all voices are heard and celebrated.”
In 2015, the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag began to trend and managed to change the world’s most famous film award show. The hashtag was created by activist April Reign, who used it at first to mock the lack of diversity at the award show itself. But it quickly caught on with Twitter users who adopted it to call out the show in their own ways and highlight the need for more diversity in the nominees, the Huffington Post reported.
Today, some Twitter users were quick to point out that it took years of criticism for the academy to finally do something about its diversity issue by bringing up the famous hashtag.
“Remember when #OscarsSoWhite was trending years ago?” tweeted @fasting40nights. “Were you guys asleep? I hate how institutions only care when it is in their best financial interest. It seems disingenuous.”
Others simply pointed out that it’s been a long time coming.
“It took y’all years, lots of angry film makers, and countless deaths and protests for y’all to listen,” @the_jenr said.
“Why weren’t these measures implemented before? You’ve had a 92-year head start?” @bandelinee tweeted.
Some said that the new guidelines wouldn’t change the way the academy operates.
“And you’ll still nominate 19 white people and 1 black person in the acting categories, or give the award to trash like “Green Book.” Tokenism at its finest,” @sabbytubbie said.
Some users weren’t exactly thrilled about the change, or found it less than interesting.
“I have a novel idea. How about making films that people want to watch instead of films that have obvious liberal overtones,” @wms4178 tweeted.
“Who cares??” said @RoseWil44893078
Others hoped that the change means more inclusion of foreign language films in major categories like Best Picture.
“If this means more foreign-language movies breaking out of the international niche and into main categories I’m all for it,” @DavidCRooney1 tweeted.
In February, the South Korean international hit “Parasite” took home the prestigious Best Picture Oscar, becoming the first foreign language film to take home the award. President Donald Trump famously took aim at the choice, even though he admitted he never watched the film, which has English subtitles, McClatchy News reported.
“We’ve got enough problems with South Korea with trade. On top of that, they give them best movie of the year. Was it good? I don’t know,” the president said in a video of the Colorado Springs rally shared by CNN.
“Can we get like ‘Gone with the Wind’ back please?” he said.
The Oscars wasn’t the only award show that implemented diversity changes. On Thursday, it was announced that the Grammy Awards are set to rename the “urban” category. Among the nine changes, the “Best Urban Contemporary Album” a category which was added in 2012, will be changed to “Best Progressive R&B Album,” CNN reported.
This story was originally published June 12, 2020 at 1:22 PM with the headline "Oscars roll out eligibility rules to boost diversity, and Twitter users have field day."