New Inclusion Requirements for Academy Award Best Picture Eligibility

[godisawesome]

Doing something is better than doing nothing...

...But I haven’t ever really respected the Oscars except as a kind of “Oh, and that too” thing that’s nice to have, but can also mean nothing.

Every year, there’s a few films in the Best Picture category that often take the spot because they fit what a bunch of old (usually white) dudes think is a good film... but have no other outstanding features. They can be amazingly well-directed, well-acted, and on a technical level master-pieces... but to be blunt, genuine impact on pop-culture defines good movies more than backdoor politicking for slates of films that often include boring and pretentious bits of tripe that I think some “film intelligentsia” need to let “marinate” a bit more before they start arguing it’s award worthy.

Postponing awards two or more years would d9 more to winnow out the chaff of “George Clooney’s decent but predictable Old White Dude With First World Problems movies” and perhaps show where a “popcorn” film deserves more consideration...

...though you’d still need to get more minority voices in the selection and voting processes.

[Killerbee911]

But another outcome is that some smaller films will not get made if the lack of a budget for internships/ publicity means it'll fail to meet diversity quotas, which will guarantee bad publicity and potentially taint everyone involved.

Once again you are implying that sole reason that a movie gets made is to win an Oscar, While that does happen (looking at you King Speech,Green Book,First Man) your scenario of movie not being made because internship cost too much is seems short sighted. No they would just still make up the movie if meant no Oscar chance. If winning awards is the sole reason for a making movie that is bad reason.

********

Now to more important part again they why is this happening. Imagine someone robbing you for say 40 years, When they finally catch them, Instead of making them pay back all the money they stole from you. They tell you have to wait gradually for them to pay you back for the next 40 years. Why are people who have been punished by wrong now have to wait for system to do thing correctly when the system before had no problems doing "wrong stuff"?

You can force the system to catch up as quickly as possible, yes even at expensive of the people who benefit from the system being messed up. Also let the people who where quiet when minorities were being screwed over remain quiet now that system is handing them a small handout. I don't really care for the voice anyone who is complaining about this who was not also complaining as loud that Hollywood was screwing minorities.

Why is predominantly focus white movie( I can't think of anything else getting hurt by this) more important than Hollywood trying as quickly as possible to make up for lost time with minorities? It is really hard imagine a movie not being able to meet these requirements. In the bigger picture if for some reason a smaller studio or independent movie gets hurt by the rules the greater good of all people who being put into the system outweighs the couple of incidents wrong that might happen.

"Oh nos you won't be able to make a British or American period piece that pretends that minorities don't exist in the world". Someone please help me see the great tragedy being loss here. "Oh nos Someone might not another movie about Viking or Knights and might decide to focus on another culture", I mean we have gazillion King Arthur movies, Robin Hood, William Wallace movies." God forbid someone makes a movies about maybe Moors,Maybe the Zulu tribe or Persian army. Help me please ,describe to me a movie that they are going to make with predominately white cast that they have don't ready have multiple movies of that kind. What are we actually afraid of losing here?

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

It's even just black people. Absolutely none of the actors from Parasite got a nomination for acting and The Farewell got nothing at the Oscars despite receiving many other accolades and Awkwafina herself winning a Golden Globe.

Hell, maybe this will force Hollywood to start telling new stories too. I liked movies like The Favourite and Little Women well enough but I'm sure we don't need yet another period piece that focuses squarely on white people.

The issue with Parasite is a primary English speaking Academy had to judge non English speaking roles to determine the acting they liked best. It puts them at a disadvantage. Ultimately it is an American based institution, it’s going to come with it’s own biases just like any award show in any country.

[Castle]

The new rules creates a level of artistic unequals and in thereby meaning, destroys the entire point of why the Oscars exist.

what this new rule will open the room for is obvious mediocre art to be nominated because of diversity. mediocrity is not a diversity issue, anyone can make mediocre art. whites, blacks, Latinos, Asians, lgbt, women.

Now if 70% white guys struggles to get nominated by being the best of the best and pushing the boundaries of cinema and film making, an ethnic minority, women or LGBT will be and must be nominated by default because they have to. They don't need to have the best art to get nominated. still a joke.

[mr_crisp]

What a wonderful idea. Treat people like they are boxes to be marked off on a checklist.

[Username taken]

Oscars 2002 (Denzel and Halle)
Oscars 2005 (Jamie Fox and Morgan Freeman)
Oscars 2014 (Steve McQueen and Alfonso Cuarón)

There was a time when minorities won without any tokenism rules. 2014 alone had a black director and Mexican director movie dominate the Oscars in almost every category winning the big two for best director and best picture. they won because they had the best films .

The oscars are pulling a Disney Star Wars with John Boyega. They think they are doing diversity a favour. they are not. They are only making things worse.

The point about minorities is flat out false. Your own analogy just pointed out that it’s false.

You can count the number of black actors and filmmakers that have won Oscars with a few fingers. Denzel Washington, Jaime Foxx and Sidney Poitier are the only black men ever to win a leading man best actor award. Apart from Halle Berry, I don’t even think a black woman has won a leading actress award. We’ve had Whoopi Goldberg, Mahershala Ali, Morgan Freeman, Lupita Nyongo and Louis Gosset Jr win award but all in supporting roles. Apart from Steve McQueen, has any other black film maker won a best director award?

There’s a reason the “Oscars so white” was trending years ago. Guys like Spike Lee who’s made a ton of critically acclaimed films has been overlooked and he’s pretty much labeled the Oscars racist. I believe it was so bad that Eddie Murphy called out the Academy for it many years ago.

Let’s not pretend that the Oscars have rewarded minorities over the years. They haven’t at all. They have only very recently started making changes.

[Username taken]

Parasite was a masterpiece. That was deserved.



Maybe a few? but sometimes its about quality not quantity. If black women make up 6% of the population then oscars should at least be having 6% of black wins/nominations for black women, at the same time it also about the casting and talent agencies. they need to do more and cast many black women in race anonymous roles, that is not the oscar's job.

The problem now is unlike Halle or Denzel, many black actors who will win Oscars in the future could be more about tokenism. To those who are saying i should read the article. I will respond by saying read John Boyega's GQ interview on racism and tokenism.

How do the new rules apply to what you are saying?

You’re literally making things up.

[Username taken]

It's even just black people. Absolutely none of the actors from Parasite got a nomination for acting and The Farewell got nothing at the Oscars despite receiving many other accolades and Awkwafina herself winning a Golden Globe.

Hell, maybe this will force Hollywood to start telling new stories too. I liked movies like The Favourite and Little Women well enough but I'm sure we don't need yet another period piece that focuses squarely on white people.

Exactly.

It’s not just black people. Jennifer Lopez gave a critically acclaimed performance last year and she was totally overlooked.

The narrative that the Oscars have rewarded minorities over the years is totally false. I’m old enough to remember the controversy over films like “Do the right thing” and even “X” (which Denzel Washington should have got the Oscar for) being totally snubbed. If “Straight Outta Compton” featured say the The Beatles or the The Rolling Stones, you bet your ass the movie would get a ton of Oscar buzz.

Personally, i am sick of seeing the same shit at the Oscars. I’m am tired of Meryl Streep EVERY SINGLE YEAR getting nominations while people like Lupita Nyongo get overlooked (and it’s telling that she won for playing an abused slave). It’s played out and ridiculous. We should thank God that Jack Nicholson and Anthony Hopkins don’t act much again because the Oscars pretty much reserved slots for them.

[kingaliencracker]

I have zero interest in rich, pretentious celebrities awarding each other gold statues for 4 hours.

That's my take on it.

[XPac]

Exactly.

It’s not just black people. Jennifer Lopez gave a critically acclaimed performance last year and she was totally overlooked.

The narrative that the Oscars have rewarded minorities over the years is totally false. I’m old enough to remember the controversy over films like “Do the right thing” and even “X” (which Denzel Washington should have got the Oscar for) being totally snubbed. If “Straight Outta Compton” featured say the The Beatles or the The Rolling Stones, you bet your ass the movie would get a ton of Oscar buzz.

Personally, i am sick of seeing the same shit at the Oscars. I’m am tired of Meryl Streep EVERY SINGLE YEAR getting nominations while people like Lupita Nyongo get overlooked (and it’s telling that she won for playing an abused slave). It’s played out and ridiculous. We should thank God that Jack Nicholson and Anthony Hopkins don’t act much again because the Oscars pretty much reserved slots for them.

Of course this likely won't change that. Odds are any movie studio hiring Meryl Streep will easily be able to meet the requirements these new regulations are asking for without even changing anything. For the most part nothing necessarily is actually being changed here.

[skyvolt2000]

I have zero interest in rich, pretentious celebrities awarding each other gold statues for 4 hours.

That's my take on it.

And this isn't about those folks. For whites only films can still be made.

This is about all those folks behind the scenes.

STANDARD B: CREATIVE LEADERSHIP AND PROJECT TEAM- To achieve Standard B, the film must meet ONE of the criteria below:

B1. Creative leadership and department heads: At least two of the following creative leadership positions and department heads — Casting Director, Cinematographer, Composer, Costume Designer, Director, Editor, Hairstylist, Makeup Artist, Producer, Production Designer, Set Decorator, Sound, VFX Supervisor, Writer — are from the following underrepresented groups:

B2. Other key roles: At least six other crew/team and technical positions (excluding Production Assistants) are from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group. These positions include but are not limited to First AD, Gaffer, Script Supervisor, etc.

B3. Overall crew composition: At least 30% of the film’s crew is from the following underrepresented groups:

STANDARD C: INDUSTRY ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITIES- To achieve Standard C, the film must meet BOTH criteria below:

C1. Paid apprenticeship and internship opportunities

The major studios/distributors are required to have substantive, ongoing paid apprenticeships/internships inclusive of underrepresented groups (must also include racial or ethnic groups) in most of the following departments: production/development, physical production, post-production, music, VFX, acquisitions, business affairs, distribution, marketing and publicity.

The mini-major or independent studios/distributors must have a minimum of two apprentices/interns from the above underrepresented groups (at least one from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group) in at least one of the following departments: production/development, physical production, post-production, music, VFX, acquisitions, business affairs, distribution, marketing and publicity.

C2. Training opportunities and skills development (crew)

STANDARD D: AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
To achieve Standard D, the film must meet the criterion below:

D1. Representation in marketing, publicity, and distribution
The studio and/or film company has multiple in-house senior executives from among the following underrepresented groups (must include individuals from underrepresented racial or ethnic groups) on their marketing, publicity, and/or distribution teams.

This is asking where are all those POC and so on in those positions.

Where is the black woman who does trailers to make sure the Netflix movie Cuties gets a PROPER trailer instead of the one that got folks hashtagging dump Netflix.
If they don't exist=WHY DON'T THEY?

Because that is the excuse you will hear.
Most don't exist because these jobs are never discussed at the local school level OUTSIDE of the school I went to where some of those jobs were taught to students.
While racism and segregation can be blamed-not exposing kids to those jobs is also an issue.


In fact let me tell you who this benefits-everyone whose production companies were already doing this like Regina King, Tyler Perry and Michael B Jordan. In fact most folks were already doing the above in some form.

This is going after big budget films.

[Username taken]

Of course this likely won't change that. Odds are any movie studio hiring Meryl Streep will easily be able to meet the requirements these new regulations are asking for without even changing anything. For the most part nothing necessarily is actually being changed here.

That's why the "complaints" about the changes are completely hollow.

It literally doesn't change much if anything.

What needs changing IMO is the voting process.

[Castle]

Exactly.

It’s not just black people. Jennifer Lopez gave a critically acclaimed performance last year and she was totally overlooked.

The narrative that the Oscars have rewarded minorities over the years is totally false. I’m old enough to remember the controversy over films like “Do the right thing” and even “X” (which Denzel Washington should have got the Oscar for) being totally snubbed. If “Straight Outta Compton” featured say the The Beatles or the The Rolling Stones, you bet your ass the movie would get a ton of Oscar buzz.

Personally, i am sick of seeing the same shit at the Oscars. I’m am tired of Meryl Streep EVERY SINGLE YEAR getting nominations while people like Lupita Nyongo get overlooked (and it’s telling that she won for playing an abused slave). It’s played out and ridiculous. We should thank God that Jack Nicholson and Anthony Hopkins don’t act much again because the Oscars pretty much reserved slots for them.

Meryl Streep is an amazing actress with almost a 40 year acting career, Lupita is not yet on the level of Meryl Streep. if Lupita was nominated again it should because she gave a wonderful performance not because she is black. Meryl is known for her talents and doing various roles.

there are films like straight otta compton which was a good movie but not necessarily oscar worthy. there are movies like Ray, that was oscar worthy and got nominated .

The point about minorities is flat out false. Your own analogy just pointed out that it’s false.

You can count the number of black actors and filmmakers that have won Oscars with a few fingers. Denzel Washington, Jaime Foxx and Sidney Poitier are the only black men ever to win a leading man best actor award. Apart from Halle Berry, I don’t even think a black woman has won a leading actress award. We’ve had Whoopi Goldberg, Mahershala Ali, Morgan Freeman, Lupita Nyongo and Louis Gosset Jr win award but all in supporting roles. Apart from Steve McQueen, has any other black film maker won a best director award?

There’s a reason the “Oscars so white” was trending years ago. Guys like Spike Lee who’s made a ton of critically acclaimed films has been overlooked and he’s pretty much labeled the Oscars racist. I believe it was so bad that Eddie Murphy called out the Academy for it many years ago.

Let’s not pretend that the Oscars have rewarded minorities over the years. They haven’t at all. They have only very recently started making changes.

Reread other parts of what I said, there are many factors. black actors/actress should be winning 10-13% of the categories, if there is an issue that is the fault of talent agencies. two wrongs don't make a right.


The Oscars may not have awarded minorities as much as they represented in the population because they don't get roles but at least back then, we knew the few minorities that got nominated was not for tokenism.that goes a longer way
Its funny that those who seem supportive of this rules don't seem to be taken the merit criteria that makes it fair to everyone. It reminds me of the mini controversy that black panther had in 2017-2018. Got nominated as the first comic movie because of diversity, but it became irrelevant the following year because Joker another comic book movie came along with more nominations without having to meet any Diversity rules.

This new rule is only going to hurt the credibility of minorities and it is only making their white artists look unfairly better because the white artists now have a more convincing argument that their nominations was done for merit which is the real purpose of why the oscars were created. many minorities are going to loose that privilege to say so.

[XPac]

That's why the "complaints" about the changes are completely hollow.

It literally doesn't change much if anything.

What needs changing IMO is the voting process.

I think there's a seed of validity in the complaints in a theoretical sense... I actually am in agreement that the best picture should be based on what people actualy believe is the best picture.

But it's purely an issue in theory... in practice, the exact same movies will be nominated and win or lose. Literally nothing is changing here. Nothing.

Plus, as I've said earlier the Oscars can use whatever criteria they want. It's their award. So no real harm no foul here.

[Castle]

I think there's a seed of validity in the complaints in a theoretical sense... I actually am in agreement that the best picture should be based on what people actualy believe is the best picture.

But it's purely an issue in theory... in practice, the exact same movies will be nominated and win or lose. Literally nothing is changing here. Nothing.

Plus, as I've said earlier the Oscars can use whatever criteria they want. It's their award. So no real harm no foul here.

If it is about what people should believe is the best picture, it means this is a colour blurred category, everyone needs to bring their A Game (whites, women and minorities). with the rules, a minority can bring their D game and still get a slot over another non minority who brought the.... his A game. that is just unfair.

Maybe the oscars should changed their mission statement. there is nothing so ''Academic'' about this rules.