Several voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are upset over the academy’s “woke” Oscar rules.
Three years ago, right after the BLM riots, the academy unveiled “woke” requirements for “Best Picture” movie nominations.
Set to go into effect next year, the requirements will make it so that only movies featuring a main character from an “underrepresented racial or ethnic group,” featuring a main storyline focused on an underrepresented group, or featuring a cast containing at least 30 percent of underrepresented people will be eligible for “Best Picture.”
Films that want to qualify for Best Picture at the Oscars are now required to meet diversity criteria.
The Academy promises that guidelines will be enforced by the 2024 ceremony, where films must meet 2 out of 4 criteria areas.
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Speaking with the New York Post late last week, several voting members of the Academy expressed annoyance and outrage over the rules.
“It’s completely ridiculous,” one unnamed director said.
“I’m for diversity, but to make you cast certain types of people if you want to get nominated? That makes the whole process contrived. The person who is right for the part should get the part. Why should you be limited in your choices? But it’s the world we’re in. This is crazy,” the director continued.
One of Hollywood’s biggest producers added that most people in the industry disfavor the rules but are afraid of speaking out because of cancel culture.
“Everyone thinks the Academy went too far. It’s ridiculous to tell us we have to regulate our work. We talk about it amongst ourselves but it’s not worth speaking up publicly,” the producer said.
The only potentially good news is that most of the “Best Picture” winners from the past few years have met these requirements. But the bad news is that several films that were nominated for “Best Picture” this year wouldn’t have made the cut under the new rules.
“‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ would not have been nominated,” the World War I film’s director told the post, referencing the film’s historically accurate all white male cast.
“Elvis” meanwhile might have made it.
“In terms of ‘Elvis,’ there are probably enough women and minorities to hit 30 percent and qualify. But many of those people are in dance and party scenes and on-screen briefly. How they count will be difficult. There will be a lot of caveats,” author Jim Piazza said to the Post.
Piazza is the author of “Academy Awards: The Complete Unofficial History.”
3. Most reread book?
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“Going further back, think about ‘Schindler’s List.’ Should that not have been nominated since there were no non-white people in the primary roles? I’m wondering if Jewish people would count for ‘underrepresented racial or ethnic group,’ but it would be up to the Academy to figure that out,” he added.
According to Newsweek, a slew of past “Best Picture” nominees would also never have made the cut were the new rules in place.
These include, among others, “The Irishman,” “Joker,” “Darkest Hour,” “La La Land,” “Bridge of Spies,” “American Sniper,” “American Hustle,” etc.
Many of these were arguably great films, and yet …
“Imagine if great films were not made because of studio or corporate mandates that every film has to conform to the [inclusionary] standard for a Best Picture nomination?” Piazza said.
Imagine indeed.
One unnamed film critic and historian speculated that some of the most talented, innovative people in the industry may just forgo trying to win an Oscar so that they can keep their movies true to their vision.
“If a truly outstanding film comes along that does not meet those requirements for a best picture nomination, then the producers will have accepted that,” the critic said.
The Oscars goes Woke.
Academy Awards will no longer award actors based on talent, but will instead only give awards to films that feature “underrepresented racial or ethnic” cast members & the films main storyline must revolve around these actors.
Source: Hollywood Reporter pic.twitter.com/A66Uu96wgC
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) June 17, 2023
One veteran Hollywood executive added that he’s prepared to go exactly that route.
“You have to make the best movie. I want to be inclusive, but I don’t want to put in a person from a certain ethnic group who doesn’t belong there because of the story being told,” he said.
“And I don’t want to make a movie with an LGBT character who does not make sense with the narrative. You can’t do this without hurting the movie. It’s ridiculous to be told what to do at the expense of getting people into movie theaters,” he added.
One journey screenwriter meanwhile said, “Everyone should be inclusive for good reason. But everyone should also have reasons for believing in meritocracy.”
And finally, a former top studio executive told the Post that he quit his job a year ago because of all the “wokeness.”
“I knew this was coming, obviously. But they’ve been going overboard on this in my opinion for quite some time. Casting is getting less organic and more about checking [the diversity] boxes. It’s hurting the product, not helping, and I don’t think it’ll be good for anyone in the long run,” he said.
“I think the Academy got itself into a corner with inclusivity and now it can’t get out,” he added.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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