‘Straight Outta Compton’ Shut Out of Oscars Except for 2 White People

Some unpleasant surprises and apparent sins of omission came with the recent Oscar nominations.

While award shows like these are undoubtedly subjective to a degree, the nominees list for the 88th Academy Awards has overlooked or even deliberately ignored some of the finest filmmaking of 2015.

While the Academy offered up deserved nods to populist fare such as “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”, there were notable absentees in the directing and best picture categories. However, critics and fans aren’t all that happy about all the nominees. People are using the popular hashtag past year, #OscarsSoWhite, to show their grudge for the discrimination. While that’s an improvement from the last two years-when the number was 21%-it underscores the lack of female voices in a number of categories, such as Best Director and Best Cinematography, for which a woman has never been nominated. It’s a huge snub for veteran filmmaker Scott who is yet to win a best director Oscar.

Brie Larson, Cate Blanchett, Charlotte Rampling, Jennifer Lawrence, and Saoirse Ronan were all honored for their work in a leading acting role, and Alicia Vikander, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kate Winslet, Rachel McAdams, and Rooney Mara earned nominations for supporting roles. The miss for Carol, considered an shoo-in, meant usual Oscar heavyweight Harvey Weinstein won’t have a horse in the Best Picture race for the first time since 2007.

Yes, best director nominee Alejandro González Iñárritu is Mexican.

The movie was strong on so many levels. However, the only nomination the film received was Best Supporting Actor for Sylvester Stallone’s performance as the ageing Rocky Balboa.

Perhaps the most notable snubs were for people of color in showbiz. Either way, it’s a regrettable snub.

Anna: I’m still bitter about The Martian winning BEST COMEDY at the Globes.

Netflix picked up Beasts of No Nation in March. Another film distributed by a streaming video platform, Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq, was also shut out at the Oscars. Nothing for Idris Elba. Some have gone as far as accusing the Oscars for not giving enough opportunities to people of color.

Plenty of stars had been tipped as potential candidates, including Will Smith for his performance in Concussion, Michael B. Jordan for Creed, Idris Elba for Beasts and Samuel L. Jackson in The Hateful Eight. Sadly, he didn’t bag a nomination.

In an industry with double standards, it seems that there will always be controversy every step of the way.