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"...there are no Hispanic, Native American or Middle East nominees; .."
Hollywood Redline (Exclusive to EOC)-- Now that the winners of the nominations have been announced, it is fair game to see if they follow the inclusion rules set forth by the Academy leading up to ...today. The rules at the Academy as of airtime show yet another set of inclusion rules so it would be more appropriate, if not a bit more innovative, to look at who's been nominated for what rather than go by some industry standard.
Actor in a Leading Role: Riz Ahmed (38, Pak-British), Chadwick Boseman (deceased, African-American), Anthony Hopkins (83, White-Welsh), Gary Oldman (62, White-British)
Actress in a Leading Role: Viola Davis (55, African-American), Andra Day (36, African-American), Vanessa Kirby (32, White-British), Frances McDormand (63, White-American), Carey Mulligan (35, White-British)
Actor in a Supporting Role: Sacha Baron Cohen (49, White-British), Daniel Kaluuya (32, Ugandan-British), Leslie Odom Jr. (39, African-American), Paul Raci (72, White-American), LaKeith Stanfield (29, African-American)
Actress in a Supporting Role: Maria Bakalova (29, White-Bulgarian), Glenn Close (73, White-American), Olivia Colman, (47, White-British), Amanda Sefried (35, White-American), Yuh-Jung Youn (73, North Korea)
Directing: Thomas Vinterberg (51, White-Danish), David Fincher (58, White-American), Lee Isaac Chung (42, S. Korean-American), Chloé Zhao, (38, Chinese), Emerald Fennell, (35, White-British)
The above are just a few of the categories and the full list can be found at the Academy (cited below). The distribution appears to be almost in favor of non-Americans across the board in the individual award groups. By age, two above the age of 70 are men: Hopkins, Raci and two are women: Close and Youn Yuh-Jung. Five are White-American. The first category at the Academy for the rules of inclusion are the following:
STANDARD A: ON-SCREEN REPRESENTATION, THEMES AND NARRATIVES
To achieve Standard A, the film must meet ONE of the following criteria:
A1. Lead or significant supporting actors
At least one of the lead actors or significant supporting actors is from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group.
• Asian
• Hispanic/Latinx
• Black/African American
• Indigenous/Native American/Alaskan Native
• Middle Eastern/North African
• Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
• Other underrepresented race or ethnicity
Although there are sub-groups represented, such as of African descent, there are no Hispanic, Native American or Middle East nominees; in other words, only two, possibly three, of the seven groups are represented. It becomes clear that so long as the criteria has been satisfied, it is acceptable to exclude the others who should have representation. It then becomes clear also just how fair the standard (A.) is by placing race and ethnicity into the same category. Because of this rather ambiguous classification, ethnic representation, such as indigenous and Native Americans, have a higher likelihood of being excluded. The category is A-weighted toward other groups that are racially underrepresented;
"These two concepts (race and ethnicity) are often confused despite their subtle differences. Race includes phenotypic characteristics such as skin color, whereas ethnicity also encompasses cultural factors such as nationality, tribal affiliation, religion, language and traditions of a particular group." (SciELO)
This draws attention to the Hispanic group in particular since it can almost fall into both categories. Either way, it shows no representation in the primary actor-actress-director fields for #Oscars2021. In retrospect, the inclusion rules were hastily drawn by the Academy with no real insight or consideration for the subtleties that could arise through dividing up the classes, races and ethnicities in order to create a tokenism balance to the award distribution. Some authorities insist there are over 600 "ethnic" groups but only five "racial" groups. How the inclusion rules were decided upon, and by whom, would reveal to what degree the voters had--based on their own backgrounds (a governors' "task force")--in the necessary knowledge to create an equitable system for the awards.
Cited
Academy Standard, ACADEMY ESTABLISHES REPRESENTATION AND INCLUSION STANDARDS FOR OSCARS® ELIGIBILITY | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Oscars List, 2021 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Race vs. Ethnicity, Race versus ethnicity: differing for better application (scielo.br)
Oscar statue image; ᐈ Oscar stock pictures, Royalty Free oscar statue images | download on Depositphotos®
James C. L'Angelle: University of Nevada, Reno, English Undergraduate, Spring, 2021; New York University, Social Media Visiting Undergraduate, Spring, 2021..
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