Oscars 2016: Lack of Diversity Gets #OscarsSoWhite Trending (Again)

There was good news and bad news for Straight Outta Compton on Oscar nominations morning. Still, it’s among the movies that was put into the conversation when considering the diversity problem that the Academy is having with their nominations.

The NWA biopic, which was also produced by Dr. Dre and Eazy-E’s widow, received aBest Original Screenplay nominations. That still doesn’t seem to be enough for fans of the film, and some Oscar prognosticators agree. The black directors of each movie along with their nonwhite actors were shut out.

Possible solutions might exist on the studio side, including: expanding how film-making decisions are made; creating influential committees focused on campaigning for Oscar-worthy nominees of color; pressing for more diversity throughout studio-system hires.

If any further proof was needed of the widening gulf between film and television when it comes to representing diverse stories on screen, look no further than this year’s Oscar nominations. I think that the way that the Academy can stop this is very simple: Rather than saying who votes – I don’t want to know who voted, and how they voted – I’d just like to see the numbers. “But that doesn’t change the fact that those movies are there, those movies are great, audiences love them and they were some of the biggest box office of the year”. “I can’t be mad”.

“No, no, no”, said Wood Jr. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly statedsaid of his hopes for the future.

Straight Outta Compton executive producer Will Packer is chiming in on the #‎OscarsSoWhite‬ discussion. “It has put the weapons of this war back in the hands of you the young”. Showing growth through movies promotes growth.

Ice Cube’s comments on The Wendy Williams Show comes on the heels of #OscarsSoWhite, which was started by those criticizing the Academy Awards choices for Best Actress and Best Actors and other important categories that saw no African American talent getting nominated. Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs has also announced a new initiative called A2020 to further diversify the Academy itself and also encourage the industry to open up more opportunities for women and minorities. The outrage has even led to the resurgence of the social media hash tag #oscarssowhite, which took the Internet by storm previous year – when the same issue reared its head. At least she’s responding to the controversy rather than ignoring it.

Last year, we said this lack of diversity was lamentable.