2011: The Return of the 'Oscars" White wash"

Christopher John Farley of the Wall Street Journal's SpeakEasy blog raises a valid issue, albeit a long-standing one. The acting community may be diverse and inclusive, but the accounting and investor community, which underwrites the vast majority of Hollywood productions hasn't progressed nearly as far.

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Halle Berry

In 2002, the Oscars had a breakthrough: Denzel Washington won the award for best actor (a first for a black actor since Sidney Poitier in 1963) and Halle Berry became the first-ever African-American to win the best actress honor. At that same ceremony, Will Smith had been up for best actor for “Ali.”

This year, Oscar seems to be having something of a breakdown when it comes to honoring black actors. Ten movies were nominated for best picture, and not a single one stars an actor of color in a lead role (Japanese actor Ken Watanabe had a supporting role in “Inception,” but didn’t get a nomination). Twenty actors were nominated for acting honors, and not a single one is an actor of color.

Ironically, this year’s nominations were announced by Mo’Nique, who won a best supporting actress award for the 2009 movie “Precious.”

Did Hollywood pass over deserving actors or did the best choices simply win out? Whatever the case, the numbers are stark: the 2011 nominations are the first Oscars not to feature a black actor in a decade. Asian actors were also shut out. Spanish-born Javier Bardem was nominated for best actor.

The near-shutout of actors of color from this year’s awards season is already drawing comments from bloggers and filmmakers. “Will white be the only color on the red carpet at the 83rd Academy Awards?” asked a Hollywood Reporter story in advance of the nominations.

“The nominations were as much about who got left out as who got nominated for an award,” wrote Nsenga Burton on The Root, an African-American website.

Some critics blame the fact that Hollywood’s casting choices aren’t diverse enough; others say that because Hollywood is making fewer serious films, it’s hard for any actors, regardless of their race, to find rich parts.

The Root story noted that a number of non-black potential nominees got passed over, including Mila Kunis for “Black Swan” and “Inception’s” Leonardo DiCaprio (who may be one of the best actors in the business without an Oscar).

There were a number of movies featuring actors of color that might have gotten Oscar consideration.

Berry was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role in “Frankie and Alice” but came up short at the Oscars. The drama “Night Catches Us,” a low-budget feature directed by African American filmmaker Tanya Hamilton and starring Anthony Mackie and Kerry Washington, drew positive reviews from some critics (and an 80 percent rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes) but no Oscar consideration. Tyler Perry’s “For Colored Girls” got mixed reviews, but many critics praised the performances of stars of the movie, including Washington, Janet Jackson and Phylicia Rashad.

Still, even the NAACP Image Awards seemed to have trouble finding critically-praised candidates for its coming prize ceremony. Its list of outstanding motion picture candidates includes the romantic comedy ”Just Wright” (a 46 rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes) and ”Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too?” (27 percent on Rotten Tomatoes)

In addition, “Night Catches Us,” ”Mother and Child,” which co-stars Samuel L. Jackson, and Berry’s ”Frankie and Alice,” were nominated for outstanding independent motion picture at the coming NAACP Image Awards.

An essay titled “Don’t blame Oscars for lack of black nominees” on the Grio, an African-American website, suggests that economics, not bigotry, are to blame for the lack of black nominees at this year’s Oscars.

“Movies are a function of stark economics and financial viability,” writes Javier E. David. “Ultimately, what gets green-lighted is a reflection of the public’s willingness to pay.”