A lot has been made of this year's nominations for the Academy Awards with several citing an out of touch voting panel and a near whitewashing of the acting and directing categories. Specifically, the lack of nominations for David Oyelowo and director Ava DuVernay seemes to have pissed a lot of people off. So, naturally, we are going to hear about it from everybody from critics to those in the industry.
The very outspoken Spike Lee has taken to comment on the snubs for SELMA in the most colorful way possible in an interview with The Daily Beast.
“Join the club!” Lee chuckled, before getting serious. “But that doesn’t diminish the film. Nobody’s talking about motherfuckin’ Driving Miss Daisy. That film is not being taught in film schools all across the world like Do the Right Thing is. Nobody’s discussing Driving Miss Motherfuckin’ Daisy. So if I saw Ava today I’d say, ‘You know what? Fuck ’em. You made a very good film, so feel good about that and start working on the next one.”
Lee cited SELMA and BIRDMAN as the two best films of the year, in his opinion. He also cautioned that last year's wins for 12 YEARS A SLAVE did not represent a change in Academy thinking.
“Anyone who thinks this year was gonna be like last year is retarded,” said Lee. “There were a lot of black folks up there with 12 Years a Slave, Steve [McQueen], Lupita [Nyong’o], Pharrell. It’s in cycles of every 10 years. Once every 10 years or so I get calls from journalists about how people are finally accepting black films. Before last year, it was the year [in 2002] with Halle Berry, Denzel [Washington], and Sidney Poitier. It’s a 10-year cycle. So I don’t start doing backflips when it happens.”
The majority of the Oscar voters are over 63 and are comprised of 90% Caucasians, so it is tough to say that they are in touch with modern films. Lee also was upset about the snubbing of the Roger Ebert documentary LIFE ITSELF. Some may discount Lee's words and lump it in with his past comments about racial issues in Hollywood, but even the snubbing of movies like GONE GIRL, NIGHTCRAWLER, A MOST VIOLENT YEAR and THE LEGO MOVIE has had people up in arms.
I doubt the Academy is going to change until the voters are populated by a much different group, but for now it is what it is. If you are tracking what films have been winning all the trophies so far, you can probably tell which way the Academy voted. But, we will have to wait until February 22nd to find out.
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