Well you can say it was racist by the Academy Awards...but look at the movies up fro Best Picture in 1984: The Killing Fields, Amadeus, Places in the Heart, A Passage to India. Have you seen any of these? Extremely brilliant productions.
The Oscars only have as much clout as the public is willing to give them. If people stop having interest in the award ceremony; stop watching it on television, and whatnot the “greatness” of an Oscar will be seriously lowered. The Oscar has really only one monumental quality: it was the first organization to celebrate films, motion pictures, with awards. This began in 1927. Thomas Edison invented the Kinetograph in 1894, the first working motion picture camera (with George Eastman’s invention of flexible film – Kodak). I suppose it is only suitable that in the birthplace of cinema, we honor it each year.
But if you want to talk about racism in the cinema, a perfect example is Sidney Poitier. Here is one of the greatest living actors, one of the greatest actors of his generation, and he’s only nominated for an Oscar twice – he did win an Oscar for in 1964, making him the first black man to win an Oscar for “Best Actor in a Leading Role”. But have you seen his body of work? It deserves 5, 6 or more Oscar nominations and maybe a win or two more! “In the Heat of the Night” from 1967, a movie about racism, won almost every Oscar for that year. But, Poitier was NOT even nominated! What!? Have you seen “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” also a movie about racism (a lot of them were back then)? This was an extraordinary picture, nominated for 10 Oscars, and winning 2 of them. But Poitier was not even nominated! Have you seen “A Patch of Blue” from 1965, a very nice movie which won an Oscar and nominated for four other Oscars. But Poitier was nominated at all! Have you seen “To Sir, With Love” from 1967, a great “inspirational teacher” movie which was not recognized by anyone at the Academy but which remains one of Poitier finest roles. Or how about “A Raisin in the Sun” from 1961, not only was Poitier so terrific in that role Walter Lee Young, but the whole ensemble was outstanding. Not one Academy Award nomination. He’s probably the most snubbed actor in history.
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twistedude
18 years ago
Hey, friend. I said in another thread that I woukd hate to choose among the 5 movies nominated that year; they were awesome. I've seen all those movies; agreed, Poitier got a bum deal. Did you know (probably) that Hattie McDaniels in Gone with the Wind was the first black person to get an Oscar--1939--and was also the first black person allowed inside the building on the night Oscars were being dispensed! I wonder if Oscar ignoring has to do with the "black factor,"--when a movie has MOSTLY black actors? I can only think of three good ones I've seen: A Soldier's Story, Save the Last Dance; The Color Purple...there ware probably many more, but those come to mind. When a movie has a predominantly black cast, it becomes a "black movie." And this gives Oscar one more thing to scratch their heads over. Sort of like the Brooklyn Dodgers fielding 5 black and four white players in their starting 9 one year in the fifties....
"Thus began our longest journey together." To Kill a Mockingbird
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