Omission of Selma's Lead Actor and Director Means More

A plethora of articles have been released saying that the recent film Selma was “snubbed” out of Oscar nominations for a number of reasons. Some suggest theories such as racial conspiracies, or the fact that the Academy voters are Oscar voters are nearly 94% Caucasian and 77% male reported by the L.A Times. I think that the cause is similar to a concept often seen on T.V.

Though it was nominated for Best Picture this year for the Oscars, Selma needed to be at the forefront of Oscar’s publicity. Some of the final polarizing events of 2014 included the police incidents in Ferguson, Missouri and Staten Island, New York. This year especially we need to show that the culture about race is changing in America. However this necessity of change was not displayed as well as many wished once the final nominations were released.

This is because the “token” black award had already filled last year. In 2013, 12 Years A Slave, highlighting a story about a captured slave,  received numerous awards. Some believe that according to the Academy, that category has been checked off at least for the time being. The Oscars organization has promised diversity improvement in the past and it is slowly changing, but I emphasize slowly. At least Selma was nominated for best picture with a young, woman of color directing the movie. That is definitely progress, but the pace of change just needs to be quickened.

I hope the amount of public outcry towards this decision has the ability to be a catalyst in the changing of how the voting is conducted.