Friend -

For those of you who don’t know me, I am a film buff.

From a young age I fell in love with movies (and tv). Though the Oscars is not a particularly high point for me it is something I find interesting, frustrating, and some much “make believe.” So what do I do when history is in the making because a favorite actress of mine, Michelle Yeoh, wins an Oscar in a groundbreaking category? And how do I feel about it when #OscarsSoWhite is still a thing?

The Oscars, to me, is an odd event. It is a place where industry insiders can award how well people dress (costumes), how well people can lie to a camera (acting), and how good people sound speaking English. It is also odd that all the technical awards that are the hard work of making a movie are never awarded on screen at this event. You know, people who work for a living.

But this year’s awards produced some of the most conflicting feelings about this odd event I have ever had. Usually I can hate it without much worry or love it when they get something right. But here it is, Michelle Yeoh wins, Ke Huy Quan wins, and “the Daniels” wins. Even some of my favorite non-Asian actors win such as Jamie Lee Curtis and Brendan Fraser. Naatu Naatu wins. (BTW, you must watch RRR, it is really amazing.) The Elephant Whisperers win. So all in all a good night, right?

But #OscarsSoWhite is still a thing. The snubs to The Woman King and Till are unacceptable. Look, I saw Tar and Triangle of Sadness. Come on, you couldn’t nominate Gina Maria Prince-Bythewood for The Woman King? And The Fablemans, a movie about a rich white guy directing a movie about himself. The Oscars are an industry event (a Disney asset) that is run by industry insiders, voted on by industry insiders. Its high point for racial equality is 17% (and only since #OscarsSoWhite became a thing) and for most critical categories less than 2% overall. And for AAPI, it was great that Everything Everywhere All at Once won so many awards. But the awards nominations for that one film constitutes 10% of all nominations for AAPIs throughout the 95-year history of the event.

I think the Oscars need a complete overhaul. Starting with who votes. Isn’t that all of our society? Who votes in elections and who votes for the Oscars needs to diversify and change. This is not a time for reform at the Oscars or for the status quo to dictate the change cuz that ain’t going to happen. It is time for an Oscars revolution. Bloodless, but it must be significant.

I am happy for Yeoh, Quan, Lee, Fraser, the Daniels, Keeravaani, Chandrabose, Gonsalves, and so many other deserving award winners. But I am so sad that people still think 98% white over 95 years is so much progress.

More WhARF news next week,

Andy Wong

Executive Director PowerPAC

PowerPAC is a social justice organization that strategically directs financial and human resources to local and state organizations working to deliver wins in legislative fights, ballot initiatives, and more. For years the money we've raised has, dollar for dollar, been given back to the communities we work with. We've made sure that your investments were being used to build power for our communities because too often we are underrepresented and ignored. 

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