| Yes, I See Strides and Let's Not Forget Chloé Zhao | |
| Last Edit: Singapore/Fling 02:33 am EDT 03/26/21 | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 02:29 am EDT 03/26/21 | |
| In reply to: ''Great strides to diversify in recent years''? - WaymanWong 01:20 am EDT 03/26/21 | |
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| I wrote a whole long answer and then when I posted it, I was told I had to log-in and my post was lost. So frustrating. So I'll attempt to capture the jist of it a second time, in brief: I agree with you that the acting nominations last year were bad. But the strides I was speaking to are in the membership, and they are the strides that not only brought us the Parasite sweep last year, but have brought us a remarkably diverse field this year, which reflect a wide variety of stories and approaches to storytelling (and I would even say we saw that work when "Moonlight" took Best Picture in 2017). Sometimes strides aren't a straight line (hello "Green Book"), and sometimes we have setbacks (19 out of 20 nominees being white), but that doesn't negate the work being done and the progress being made. In addition to the people you mentioned from "Minari", Chloé Zhao received four nominations and seems likely to go home with Best Picture, Best Director, and potentially Best Screenplay. And while "Nomadland" is not explicitly an Asian or Asian American story, when it wins on Oscar night, that will be a win for Asian and Asian American filmmaking. Let's also not forget Ramin Bahrani, nominated for his screenplay for "The White Tiger". We can get into whether Iran should be considered Asia or not, but either way, the nomination is a win for a film telling a story set in India that reflects elements of Bollywood in its storytelling. I did write extensively about the acting snubs you mentioned, prefaced with the observation that getting into the weeds of any individual actor shouldn't be taken as dismissing the historical bias in the Academy and Hollywood. I agree with you fully that the Academy has failed to recognize Asian actors in the past, though I don't think that your list of snubs are equally egregious. I won't attempt to reconstruct that part of my post, aside to say that one of them I agree with you, two I'm on the fence, and Michelle Yeoh hasn't given an Oscar worthy performance since "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", which was also her last role to garner individual nominations from serious awards bodies. I also think the reference to the SAG awards is a bit of a stretch, since Best Ensemble is their way of awarding Best Picture, and no one from "Parasite" received individual SAG nominations. The 2020 SAG nominations actually corresponded fairly well to the Oscars, except that SAG had a few more BIPOC nominees (Lupita Nyong'o, Jennifer Lopez, and Jamie Foxx). In that, I think we do see the ways that last year's Oscars - and Hollywood at large - failed BIPOC actors, but I am hopeful that this year does contain a corrective. So yes, I see strides, and work to be done, and let's see where we are a year from now. |
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| Previous: | ''Great strides to diversify in recent years''? - WaymanWong 01:20 am EDT 03/26/21 |
| Next: | re: Yes, I See Strides and Let's Not Forget Chloé Zhao - BroadwayTonyJ 08:12 am EDT 03/28/21 |
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