It’s Oscars season once again. The Academy Awards are back for their 97th year, bringing Hollywood together for cinema’s biggest night as we celebrate the best the film industry has to offer. Stars like Cynthia Erivo, Zoe Saldaña, Coleman Domingo and more are nominated in acting categories this year, two of whom are back for their second acting nominations in the last ten years alone.
While the inclusion of these Hollywood heavyweights may feel like a no-brainer for us now, it was not that long ago when we saw zero Black actors nominated on Oscars Sunday (for two years in a row). Ahead of tonight’s ceremony, we’re looking back at the major cultural moment that was “#OscarsSoWhite,” and break down whether or not we think true progress has been made since the Academy was called out a decade ago.
#OscarSoWhite
Remember 2015? Just ten years ago, #OscarsSoWhite was born. Conceived by activist and writer April Reign, the hashtag took off after the Oscar nominations were released that year, where not a single acting nominee was non-white, despite plenty of performances from actors of color to choose from. To make matters worse, it happened once again in 2016, causing the hashtag to trend all over again.
Since then, the Academy has seen a drastic overhaul, and we have had more nominations for actors of color and even a handful of some historic wins. The Academy diversified their voting body, doubling the amount of female members and tripled the amount of members of color by 2020, per BBC. But has that been enough? Let’s take a look back at the last 10 years to investigate.
Wins Since 2015
Since the controversy, we’ve thankfully had some historic wins at the Academy Awards from actors of color. In 2017, a year after the second #OscarsSoWhite controversy, “Moonlight” famously took home Best Picture in what stands as one of the most shocking moments in awards season history. That night alone, the Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress categories went to Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight”) and Viola Davis (“Fences”), respectfully.
Since then, other major wins include Regina King (“If Beale Street Could Talk”), Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”) in 2021, Will Smith and Ariana DeBose for “King Richard” and “West Side Story” respectively, Michelle Yeoh for “Everything Everywhere All At Once” in 2023 and Da’Vine Joy Randolph for “The Holdovers,” to name a few. Among all of these wins are plenty of other nominations for actors of color, like Leslie Odom Jr., LaKeith Stanfield, and Octavia Spencer. Yes, this is a major improvement since 2015, but as things tend to go when it comes to progress, there is always more work to do.
What’s the Deal With Best Actress?
Best Actress, one of the most coveted awards of the night, has been historically one of the whitest categories in the ceremony’s history, despite plenty of powerful leading actress performances from actors of color. In 2002, Halle Berry made history when she became the first Black actress to take home the award...more than 20 years later, she remains the only one.
Despite nominated performances from actresses like Viola Davis, Andra Day, Cynthia Erivo, Ruth Negga, Quvenzhané Wallis, and Gabourey Sidibe, to name a few, the award has continued to remain out of reach for Black actresses. The road for actresses of color in general still seems next to impossible in the Best Actress category. Take Michelle Yeoh for example, who became the first Asian actress to win in that category in the entire history of the Oscars just two years ago. Last year, Lily Gladstone became the first Native American actress to get a Best Actress nomination for her work in “Killers of the Flower Moon...” that’s after 96 years of chances for that to have happened.
Where Do the Oscars Go From Here?
Clearly, there has been plenty of growth in this almost 100-year-old institution, specifically in these last 10 years. While the efforts to diversify the voting body and reflect a more inclusive audience and industry have proven to be effective, there is always more work to do. What’s more curious will be the next four years in Hollywood, as this country at large deals with an administration hellbent on pushing back against Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. After all, the film industry is just that, an industry, and the effects of the federal government and overall cultural shifts in this country are almost always seen in the art we consume and those chosen to critique and deem what is “best.”
There is also the possibility that we will see the opposite effect, where more boundary-pushing and inclusive art may emerge in the wake of this wake of this pushback, as we saw in the 1980s, which became a time of artistic achievement and legendary cultural moments for people of color in media all during a historically conversative administration.
Only time will tell, but the results of Sunday’s Oscars are sure to tell us how far this industry has come and where it may be headed.