Are the Oscars racist?

Today I've got something playing on my mind...

The Oscar's and the boycott from several famous black actors and actresses. My take? Ridiculous. Let me tell you why, before you all jump down my throats...

The Oscar's is one award's ceremony out of many that celebrates achievements from the film industry. Every year, numerous people are nominated for awards and have to sit in anticipation until the night when they find out if they successfully beat their opponents and win the coveted Oscar. This year, there is a lack of black individuals nominated, and apparently this was also the case last year...and so many black actors and actresses are boycotting the awards ceremony. There are several things wrong with this. 

1) Maybe no black people are nominated because there aren't enough- or even any- black people to nominate in the first place! This isn't a problem with the Oscar's, this is a problem with the film industry as a whole! The film industry isn't providing Oscar worthy roles to black people...so in turn, they can not be nominated for an Oscar. Think back to some of the biggest films of the year- how many of the award winning parts were played by black people? I know it's nearly 11pm on a Friday night and after a long week I'm tired but right now, I can think of none. Yet is there a boycott happening of the film industry as a whole? No. This makes this "protest" look like nothing more than a temper tantrum over not being picked for an award, rather than addressing what is actually a serious issue far larger than the Oscars. In my humble opinion, the wrong people- namely, the people who nominate people for Oscars- are being punished here. 

2) I've seen the phrase "racist to white people" being thrown around and I detest it. Yet, in theory, there is some truth there. Whilst it isn't racist, it's saying that because the people nominated aren't black, they aren't worthy of winning an Oscar, right? Because in this world we live in, we like to think that skin colour doesn't make a difference, right? So guess what? Maybe it just happens to be that this year, all the best actors happened to be white! It's really not about skin colour, but about talent. You can't force an Oscar on a person of colour purely to make sure that no incident like this happens, when the Oscar's is about talent. If all the people who had the best roles in the film industry happen to be white then so be it- that's the way it is! It also links back to point one, where there isn't enough black people within the film industry as it is, but you get my point I hope. You can't give an okay black actor an award over a brilliant white actor just to stop yourself being deemed racist- because then essentially you are taking into account skin colour and not talent. And we aren't a racist community or one that judges things based on skin colour, are we?

3) Boycotting the awards will do nothing for you. It will now make people scared to award white people and give white people roles. They will now be picking black actors purely for their skin colour and not their talent in order to be viewed as "fair" and "equal". Do we really want that? I think that would be pretty ridiculous. 

Boy I could go on. It's late and I probably haven't portrayed my points half as well as I could have, but believe me when I say I'm not racist and I don't intend on offending people. My main point is, the problem is bigger than the Oscar's- it's a problem with the film industry. We can't be upset over the lack of black people nominated for Oscars when there isn't any black people in Oscar worthy roles in the first place. It's a problem with Hollywood and with the film industry as a whole, a problem that does need to be addressed and resolved- but a temper tantrum style boycott such as this is not going to do much for anyone. 

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Love from,

Florence Grace