The Oscar diversity conversation won’t be going away anytime soon, particularly if the Academy decides to return to five Best Picture nominees, which would make it even harder for smaller movies achieve nomination. While there was much chatter this year about the snub for Ava DuVernay‘s "Selma," which only nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Song, Harvey Weinstein believes the industry’s narrow-mindedness robbed him of more glory the previous awards season.
Talking with Vulture, the mega-producer vented that even though financially (and sometimes critically) successful, "Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom," "The Butler," and "Fruitvale Station" were all left in the dust of Steve McQueen‘s powerhouse "12 Years A Slave."
"Three movies, and I didn’t get an Oscar nomination for all three! They said ‘okay, well it’s ’12 Years a Slave’ that’s going to be the movie that gets nominated.’ And I go, ‘well, what happened? You can’t put three black actors in the Best Actor category? You can’t put two black screenwriters in? Oprah Winfrey, who killed it, or Forest Whitaker? Or David Oyelowo, who’s a great actor?’ So I was just thinking, wow, you know, where were you defending me last year? I just wanted to do three at once. It was in my mind to do more than one. I’ll still do it again, though; I don’t care," he said.
Aside from Weinstein making this issue all about himself, he does have a point (of the three movies, only ‘Mandela’ scored an Oscar nomination and it was for Best Original Song), but it’s also worth remembering how competitive that year was in general. The Best Actor category in particular was a fight between Matthew McConaughey ("Dallas Buyers Club"), Bruce Dern ("Nebraska"), Christian Bale ("American Hustle"), and Leonardo DiCaprio ("The Wolf Of Wall Street"). Even the Supporting Actor category was crowded, with Jared Leto ("Dallas Buyers Club"), Barkhad Abdi ("Captain Phillips"), Bradley Cooper ("American Hustle"), Michael Fassbender ("12 Years A Slave"), and Jonah Hill ("The Wolf Of Wall Street"). It’s hard to imagine who you might squeeze out to add in Whitaker, Michael B. Jordan, or Idris Elba.
But what do you think? Did Weinstein’s movies deserve more Academy Award love or did they get what they deserved? Let us know in the comments section.
The Academy was right. The Butler was awful as a film and Fruitvale Station brought nothing special to the table. You don\’t win awards merely for presenting material that tugs at the heartstrings (unless you\’re Julianne Moore, who really won for her body of work, not Still Alice, which was nothing special overall). Good intentions/social commentary isn\’t automatically going to get an Oscar nomination, and color has nothing to do with it. And where is all this Bradley Cooper hate coming from? He paid his dues, he\’s been turning in consistently good performances, why shouldn\’t he be recognized? It just comes across as jealousy, tbh.
Let me fix this opening line for you:
"The Oscar diversity conversation won\’t be going away anytime soon, particularly if [sites like The Playlist continue to project only 3 out of 40 non-white actors as factors in the Oscar race a year before it happens]."
They could\’ve replaced Christian Bale with either Michael B. Jordan or Idris Elba for the Best Actor category. Jordan definitely deserved a nom for Fruitvale Station. Also, Bradley Cooper could\’ve been left out in the Supporting category. Although American Hustle was good film the only two standout acting performances were those of Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams.
Just like Selma, those three movies weren\’t good enough to be nominated for anything either.
Harvey Weinstein posturing on racial issues for public relations purposes. Meanwhile the Weinstein Company is no longer that good at winning Oscars and is suddenly looking as overrated in performance as Warren Buffett.
"I just wanted to do three at once. It was in my mind to do more than one. I’ll still do it again, though; I don’t care,"
…
Is he releasing movies or making a play in Magic The Gathering? It\’s sad how much validation he needs from the Academy. Awards can feel awesome, but that\’s his choice to lead his life that way and wow.
The Academy appears to get stuck on certain directors (the execrable David O. Russell and the boring as shit Bennett Miller and Alexander Payne) and feels obligated to nominate every movie and every actor they\’ve ever worked with. Steve Carell\’s nomination this year instead of Oyelowo, Hardy, etc., was a travesty. So are Bradley Cooper and JLaw\’s endless series of nominations. Michael B. Jordan and Forrest Whittaker were very good last year. So was Idris Elba. But all three films were stronger on good intentions than they were gret films.
I don\’t understand why Bradley Cooper has been nominated three times back to back for playing the same character at different points in his life. He\’s like Affleck, they just kinda stand around, talk, and be douchie.
Yeah, the industry is narrow-minded. That\’s why openly racist, homophobic right wing filmmakers and actors sweep the oscars every year.
Last three best director -winners weren\’t white.