If you’re a movie or pop culture buff, Halle Berry’s iconic Oscar win—the first and only win for a black actress in the Academy’s 88-year history—in 2002 is the stuff of daydreams. For this Small Screen Girl whose love affair with entertainment started with the big screen, it wasn’t a pie-in-the-sky achievement attained by a beautiful blonde ingénue, it was a historic moment of 'I-Can-Do-This-Too' inspiration for a black girl with movie-making ambitions.
Fourteen years later, Oscar winner Halle Berry has finally opened up about the recent #OscarsSoWhite controversy...
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Now that the holidays are just a blur of ugly Christmas sweater parties, too much food and the annual build up and consequent letdown of New Year’s, a movie-lover can usually stave off the even Polar Vortex-levels of winter blues by looking towards award show season. What’s not to love about beautiful people strutting red carpets in wearable art and diamonds while hoping their dreams’ dreams come true?
Answer: Every-damn-thing. The nominations for the 88th Annual Academy Awards were announced on Thursday, and just like last year, they are whiter than the attendees of a Mumford & Sons concert. Odds are the only person of color on the stage will be the show's host, Chris Rock. The most glaring and telling of the snubs were centered around two of the best movies of the year, Creed and Straight Outta Compton. Where the black cast and crew weren't honored while their white counterparts were. In Creed, writer-director Ryan Coogler’s jaw-dropping work completely overlooked so was Michael B. Jordan for a stellar performance as Apollo Creed’s son. The only nomination the movie received for went to Sylvester Stallone for Best Supporting Actor. The same can be said for the record-smashing NWA bio-pic Straight Outta Compton. Actors and directors were overlooked, but the writers—all white—were honored. While Hollywood touts itself as a magical industry that embraces artistry, imagination and expression, but it's obvious that it only applies to stories that fit in the increasingly narrowing and out-of-touch white gaze. People didn’t waste a second sharing their frustrations on Twitter, sadly recycling last year’s hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. The hashtag was created last year by April Reign (@ReignOfApril), NuTribeMagazine's Editor-At-Large and Managing Editor of BroadwayBlack.com. Here are some of the scathing shade leveled at the Academy below... |