Anthony Hopkins’ Oscar Win Ends Night Highlighted by Diversity

The yearslong process has been wrenching for the academy.

Inside the secretive organization, factions formed, with some people insisting that the problem was not with the academy, but with film companies and the lack of opportunities they provide for people of color. That many of the academy members also worked for these companies was another point of contention.

A glimpse of the animosity came when Bill Mechanic, an Oscar-nominated producer and former studio executive, resigned from the academy’s board in 2018.

“We have settled on numeric answers to the problem of inclusion, barely recognizing that this is the industry’s problem far, far more than it is the academy’s,” Mr. Mechanic wrote in his resignation letter, which was leaked to the news media. “Instead we react to pressure. One governor even went as far as suggesting we don’t admit a single white male to the academy, regardless of merit!”

At the same time, some people have turned away from the Oscars because of its lack of diversity. Under 10 million viewers tuned into Sunday night’s telecast, according to Nielson, a 58 percent drop compared with last year. One member of the academy’s board of governors, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of confidentiality rules, said that market research had shown that people of color, upset about the racial disparity of nominees (and tired of seeing many of the same people get nominated over and over), had become less interested in the ceremony. A couple of smaller civil rights groups have called for viewing boycotts.

That was the case for April Reign, the campaign finance lawyer who originated the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag in 2015. Despite the changes at the organization, she said she believed the academy’s efforts to diversify its voting body had fallen short.

“It’s still a popularity contest among all the white men,” she said.

Others see reason for optimism in this year’s Oscars, no matter how they ended.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/26/movies/academy-awards-chadwick-boseman-oscars-diversity.html