Race and Hollywood

[Subyman]

I never said that judges needed to be black to vote for 'black theme' films. That would be racist nonsense. You are creating a straw man to have poke at. I asked why we cannot know who is given a vote?

My point was that the Academy is a feudal secret society, overwhelmingly white, aged and male. ( data from wiki).
Only a third of members have been winners or nominees in the various categories. So two thirds have not. Membership is for life and by invitation only. Nominations are invited secretly from an inner core. However talented you are I cannot nominate you.

You don't need to be a maths genius to work out what is going to happen in a secret club like that. Existing structures will become 'amplified'. Like a New England golf club.

If everything is sweet, democratic and pure, why not publish the names of all academicians?

Ain't gonna happen, is it? Loss of control....and power... And influence.
The process stinks. Would you vote for a secret society to give out your prizes?
Without knowing the names of those with the power to cripple or advance a career?

I'm not creating a straw man, I'm narrowing in on your real point. You ask to know the make up of the judges and then answer it by saying it's 94% white and 77% male. Why ask if you know? And why ask and say it is an important point if you don't think that the white male judges have a bias? That, then, would go to say that white men can't properly make a judgement on black actors and that they need more black judges to help them.

 

[Caravaggio]

I'm not creating a straw man, I'm narrowing in on your real point. You ask to know the make up of the judges and then answer it by saying it's 94% white and 77% male. Why ask if you know? And why ask and say it is an important point if you don't think that the white male judges have a bias? That, then, would go to say that white men can't properly make a judgement on black actors and that they need more black judges to help them.

You are being disingenuous, either deliberately or because of a cognitive deficit, I cannot tell.
The figures you say I quoted come not from me but from Newell Steamer in post 22.
You have also deliberately avoided answering the questions I posed in my post 21.
I asked you whether you are content to allow a secret 'old boys club' such as the Academy, the membership of which is far from representative of the country in which it operates (we know the demographics but not the names) to award prizes that can have great impact on later careers?

Are you content with the rules and composition of the Academy of MPAS?
'Yes' or 'No'?

You started this thread about "Race and Hollywood", it strikes me that you are doing all in your power to avoid serious discussion of either.

You seem to be more than content with the status quo.
Perhaps you should have titled your OP : "Isn't it amazing how fair Hollywood is?"

 

[Subyman]

You are being disingenuous, either deliberately or because of a cognitive deficit, I cannot tell.
The figures you say I quoted come not from me but from Newell Steamer in post 22.
You have also deliberately avoided answering the questions I posed in my post 21.
I asked you whether you are content to allow a secret 'old boys club' such as the Academy, the membership of which is far from representative of the country in which it operates (we know the demographics but not the names) to award prizes that can have great impact on later careers?

Are you content with the rules and composition of the Academy of MPAS?
'Yes' or 'No'?

You started this thread about "Race and Hollywood", it strikes me that you are doing all in your power to avoid serious discussion of either.

You seem to be more than content with the status quo.
Perhaps you should have titled your OP : "Isn't it amazing how fair Hollywood is?"

I don't have a problem with the Academy. I don't have a problem with their make up either. If I did have a problem with their make up, then I'd think that race/sex mattered in determining the merit of others, but I don't. That goes back to what I was saying to you. If you think the secrecy and make up matters, then you think white males aren't capable of making a choice without it being biased by race.

 

[Caravaggio]

I don't have a problem with the Academy. I don't have a problem with their make up either.

Thank you for your commendable honesty. I disagree with your opinion.
In my view the Academy is composed in a way which inevitably makes it a conservative and unrepresentative body.

I notice that Patricia Arquette, who won an Oscar two days ago for her own excellent acting in 'Boyhood', noted how biased the Hollywood system is against women. Their pay is invariably lower than for their male co-equals. She received an ovation.

"But" you will say, "how can she attack the system when it awarded her an Oscar!?"
To which I will say "Well, she is on the inside of the business. If she is worried, and all those who applauded seem worried, then I'm willing to accept her argument"

You live in the USA, you know the names of your Senator and Congressman. You can write to them and follow how they vote for the things that matter to you. This is not true of the Academy. How can we know what other collective biases they share by virtue of their skewed demographics and a nomination process which is arcane and inscrutable?

Power tries to perpetuate itself. Hollywood producers used largely to be Jewish. I have no idea if that is still the case. But without a list of names we cannot tell if that applies to the modern Academy.

But I have noticed that Hollywood rarely (never?) makes a film which contains any criticism of Israel while all films about the Holocaust win armfuls of Oscars.

An open list of the names of those allowed to vote, would I'm sure, put my concerns to rest. With the members list a secret, there will inevitably be speculation about 'bias'.

You seem untroubled by the possibility bias?