Several of you have asked me to say something about the controversy that has resulted from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences nominating a total of zero non-white actors for its coveted Oscars this year. I haven't said anything before because I didn't see very many movies in 2015 so I'm not in a position to say that any particular non-nominated performance was more deserving than any particular nominated performance. And even if I did, it's not like the Academy always agrees with me…
Also, as racist affronts go, it does not strike me as the most serious one. An unarmed black guy getting killed during an arrest or a qualified job applicant getting turned away because of skin color…that's the kind of thing that should yield protests and outrage. I'm afraid I don't have a lot of coinfidence that the selection process for the Academy Awards ever involves a lot of logic or proper consideration so it's tough for me to get incensed at anyone being omitted. (Hey, didn't everyone say Steve Carell was an absolute shoo-in?)
The problem as I see it is not that the stars of Straight Outta Compton didn't get nominated. It's that there aren't enough people who look like them in the hierarchy of the motion picture business. Read this editorial in Variety.
The Academy has taken some swift steps to get a more diverse membership participating in the future. That may be a step in the right direction, though it seems to involve using a bit of ageism to combat racism. When you get a moment, read this letter from my longtime pal Bill Mumy who has been dismissed as an Oscar voter to make room for voters of more ethnic diversity.
But the problem really isn't the Academy. It's the industry. And I don't see anything happening that's going to change that.