On the 28th of February 2016 the 88th academy award ceremony was held. However, it was boycotted by various different actors and directors. Will Smith and director Spike Lee both announced that they would be boycotting the event due to a lack of diversity through the nominations. The first ever black director to get an Oscar provided a contrasting view. Roger Ross Williams stated online that "Staying away from something that needs to change is no way to change it". There was contrasting views across the internet and in television interviews. Which is why I'll be discussing whether the Oscars and Films in general have the amount of diversity they should have in comparison to modern television and to modern life.
Modern day television is credited to involve the most amount of diversity. The Walking Dead has recently appeared in the news for having the most diversity in the show. The programme focuses around a group surviving the zombie apocalypse. The majority of the people in the show are white American. However, other races are represented such as African American and Asian American. The on screen African American representation makes up 22% of the characters introduced whereas in the real world they only make up 12% of the world's population. Asian Americans make up 5.5% of the characters in the walking dead in contrast they make up 4.5% of the real life population. This is a big difference from what we see in films. In a study into television concluded that black males appeared more in sitcoms whereas white males appeared more in dramas. This could suggest that black people are used as some kind of comedic relief.
Although some people may argue that people who are black performances in 2015 just weren't equal to white people's performance. However, I don't believe this to be true. In my opinion there were several black actors who deserved an Oscar, or at least a nomination. On their promotional tour for their film "Ride Along 2" Kevin Hart and Ice Cube (two black actors) were asked their opinion on theOscarcontroversy. Their overall opinion was that one award can't define an actors credibility and worth to the film industry. Kevin Hart said that "if you're talented and you're true to your profession, no award should ever compromise that". Ice Cube's son, O'Shea Jackson Jr. wasone of the main black actors who were reported to be nominated for an Oscar for his performance as his father in Straight Outta Compton.
Modern day television is credited to involve the most amount of diversity and the Oscars are #SoWhite. However, your argument was so compelling it changed my mind and more importantly my sexual orientation