What are some of the Oscar snubs that haunt you? Off the top of my head, David Oyelowo in Selma, Idris Elba’s snub for Beasts of No Nation and Michael B. Jordan getting zero Golden Globe, SAG, BAFTA and Oscar nominations for Fruitvale Station (the film was also snubbed, as was director Ryan Coogler). This year, the “Oscars So White” conversation is centered around the Best Actress race. Going into the nominations announcement, every prognosticator and awards-season veteran knew that Best Actress is a two-woman race this year, a race between Michelle Yeoh and Cate Blanchett, with Yeoh pulling ahead because she doesn’t have an Oscar already. But the three other places in the category were a surprise – most people believed Viola Davis was a shoo-in for her role in The Woman King. There was also buzz for Danielle Deadwyler, who played Mamie Till-Mobley in Till, a film directed by a Black woman, Chinonye Chukwu. After the Oscar nominations came out, Chukwu wrote this on her Instagram:
We live in a world and work in industries that are so aggressively committed to upholding whiteness and perpetuating an unabashed misogyny towards Black women.
And yet.
I am forever in gratitude for the greatest lesson of my life – regardless of any challenges or obstacles, I will always have the power to cultivate my own joy, and it is this joy that will continue to be one of my greatest forms of resistance.
She’s right. It felt so pointed and LOUD that the Oscars snubbed two Black actresses in the lead category. Arguably, Deadwyler wasn’t on every critic’s shortlist, but Viola absolutely was. And both Deadwyler and Davis should have been miles ahead of Ana de Armas. Come on. As much as people want to blame Andrea Riseborough’s surprise nomination and the wave of white women backing her, I still can’t get past Ana’s nomination for Blonde. Seriously.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instagram.
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- Chinonye Chukwu attends ?Till? – UK Premiere during the BFI London Film Festival, at the Southbank Centre, Royal Festival Hall in London, England. Saturday 15th October 2022 -,Image: 730982141, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NORESTRICTIONS, Model Release: no, Pictured: LFF – ?Till? – UK Premiere, Credit line: James Warren / Bang Showbiz / Avalon
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- Chinonye Chukwu, Jalyn Hall and Danielle Deadwyle on the red carpet for the 66th BFI London Film Festival: Till UK Premiere at Royal Festival Hall in South Bank, London, United Kingdom.,Image: 730998999, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley / Avalon
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- Chinonye Chukwu, Danielle Deadwyler, Jalyn Hall and Barbara Broccolill attend ‘Till’ premiere, 66th BFI London Film Festival, UK,Image: 731555520, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Ana M. Wiggins / Avalon
I’d be embarrassed to show up if I were Ana de Armas. Her portrait of Marylin was torture porn. The director said it out loud. I guess we know there a lot of white men doing the voting.
This 👆.
I’m always GENUINELY surprised when I see comments on this site, that’s not in favour of Ana De Armas. She’s a favourite on Celebitchy with some of her die hard supporters here PRAISING her performance in this torture P0RN movie. BUT hey we are all entitled to our opinions……….. Talking fetus, forced abortion with a cinematic view of the human anatomy from the inside, B L 0 W J 0 B for JFK/ r@pe, calling almost EVERY man DADDY & the list goes on………….. WHAT A FINE PERFORMANCE. MASTERPIECE IN FILM MAKING.
The best news is that Till is considered on of the best movies of the year. I am delighted that so many good is being made and distributed.
The array of black talent is astounding, unlike the days when they had to expend so much energy to just being seen and heard.
I wish this new talent all the best in their careers.
My hope that they will find their acceptance in the level and size of their portfolios.
Although I understand the structural argument for salary concerns.
For the rest is more of the same.
Ir-regardless.
Just be.
I wonder how JLO feels that Affleck’s younger ex got an Oscar nom after she was snubbed for Hustlers. That was my first reaction when I saw the nominees lol.
That’s the first thing I thought too!
Yes, Hollywood does perpetuate misogyny towards Black women. It is not the fairy tale place we’ve been led to believe it is. And this is one glaring example.
I have said it here before and I will say it again but the Academy nominations are rarely inclusive outside of supporting actor/actress nominations. In lead acting categories, unofficially they tend to have one spot open potentially to a POC which is wild.
The bigger issue is that many projects led by Black actors and other people of colour are just not seen. It isn’t lack of availability, it is the choice to discard many of these projects and ignore their artistic merits. Moreover, these projects and performances rarely receive the amplification or networks of their white counterparts.
Honestly, it is incredibly disheartening and why I sometimes go back and forth on the need for Black actors to abandon these bodies of recognition entirely. I struggle with the Grammy’s on this as well.
White actors are no different than the general population of white folks. They will overwhelmingly cape for their own and vote for whiteness every time. There are notable exceptions, but in general, white Hollywood types ignore Black women actors.
Basically if Ana or Cait or Michelle had been in a film about a woman warrior or a mother grieving and getting justice for their child, they’d likely be nominated. What she said about creating your own joy was real. Still pissed about the lack of noms though.