Academy Awards are 'for white men'
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The reading
Many people in the movie world are angry that Hollywood and the movie industry are run by "old white men". People complained after the Oscar nominations came out last Thursday because all 20 of the actors in with a chance of winning an Oscar are white. In addition, there are no women in the directing or writing categories. The Los Angeles Times newspaper carried out a survey in 2012 on who the members of the Academy are. The members are the people who choose the men and women who are nominated for an Oscar. The LA Times survey found that the members of the academy were 94 per cent white, largely male, with an average age of 62. Critics say this means there is too little diversity in the Oscars.
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Civil rights campaigner Al Sharpton was one of the biggest critics of the Academy. He complained that: "The movie industry is like the Rocky Mountains - the higher you get, the whiter it gets." He added that: "The lack of diversity in [the] Oscar nominations is [terrible]." He said it was strange that one of the movies nominated for this year's 'Best Picture' award, 'Selma,' was about racism, but none of the actors in Selma nor any non-white actors in other movies were up for an award. Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy, said the members do their best to nominate the best people, regardless of their colour or gender. However, she did say that she hoped Hollywood would become more diverse.
Sources:
- http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30862139
- http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/academy-president-speaks-oscars-firestorm-article-1.2082198
- http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/15/us-awards-oscars-diversity-idUSKBN0KO2L920150115
