What the Oscars finally got right
Diversity is a story that Hollywood loves to tell itself, but one that’s felt a lot more like a self-serving fairy tale than a reality when it comes to the actual awards that get handed out. Tonight, all that lip service finally (finally!) came home, and look what it delivered: a record number of female winners, including the sole African-American women ever to take Costume Design and Production Design ; a first-generation Egyptian immigrant for Best Actor , and a practicing Muslim for Best Supporting Actor ; Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights hero, introducing the winning Best Picture nominee with rising star Amandla Stenberg — young, black, openly queer. Why does this matter? It’s not a checklist, of course, and there are no prizes for giving prizes to people who don’t look like one pale male shade of Pantone. It matters because it was only a year ago that the Grammys’ president told female artists they needed to “step up” if they wanted to win, as if sexism in the music industry w...
Comments
Post a Comment