The absolutely phenomenal, but controversial, film “Selma” was directed by Ava DuVernay. The film debuted during a tumultuous time in the country when race and equality were coming to light . For instance, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, etc. It basically depicted something that happened 50 years ago and made people realize that it is still happening now. Then the film was snubbed by the Oscars and not one person of color was nominated from the movie. That alone sparked protest. It was mostly an all black cast which is rare in a movie of its scale. And on that note, the all black cast was not nominated for best picture when countless other award shows nominated them. Instead, the media chose to focus more on American Sniper than a black film that was more prominent. But hey, let’s all care more about a guy that killed countless people in the Middle East and said he’d kill more. Plus, the American sniper was a movie that didn’t even depict the real life of a soldier and he also refers to Iraqis and as ” savages” and this is what people chose to nominate instead of a film about Martin Luther King Jr. and the whole movement that’s still going on today.
What is also telling is the coverage around the Academy’s omission, and how inarticulate the movie industry is about the snub. I’ve been thinking that it would be a good feature to show on campus, we should have a film club.
There was much controversy on the subject of the all-white nominations. Yet when looking back to prior Academy awards, it has been recorded that this happened only twice prior to this incident. I feel that because of the issues going on today and with the way blacks feel attacked and discriminated against, this fueled the controversy. Rather than fighting against what was wrong with the nominations, many people should take advantage and be motivated to target issues against discrimination, not with simple talk or a violent approach.