On Thursday, Jan. 15, actress Jessica Chastain was awarded the Critic's Choice MVP award for her incredible work in 2014. Chastain used her acceptance speech to appeal to the other Hollywood nominees about a very serious and relevant issue: diversity in Hollywood, or rather the lack thereof. "Today is Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday," Chastain noted in her speech for the MVP Award live at the 2015 Critic's Choice Awards. "So, it got me thinking about our need to build the strength of diversity in our industry." One of the biggest and most talked about 2015 Oscars' snubs is the lack of nominations for the Martin Luther King, Jr. film, Selma.
While receiving nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Song, breakout actor David Oyelowo and director Ava DuVernay were not recognized in the nominations. Chastain then went on to call her fellow A-listers, "to stand together against homophobic, sexist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic, and racist agendas." Not a single actor or actress of color was recognized by the Academy this year, despite a number of critically acclaimed films featuring minority casts and directors. While Oyelowo's portrayal of MLK was snubbed, Selma's nomination for Best Picture made Ava DuVernay the ninth woman to direct a Best Picture nominated film, yet, denied a Best Director nomination, according to think progress.org. If DuVernay had been nominated for Best Director, she would have been the first African American female to be so nominated.
The members of the Academy who vote and nominate films for the Oscars consist of an overwhelmingly low number of minorities -- members are 93 percent white and 76 percent male. However, the president of the Academy, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, is the Academy's first black president. “In the last two years, we have made greater strides than we ever have in the past toward becoming a more diverse and inclusive organization through admitting new members and more inclusive classes of members,” Boone Isaacs responded to the backlash of the 2015 Oscars nominations. “And, personally, I would love to see and look forward to see a greater cultural diversity among all our nominees in all of our categories.” What makes this year's lack of diversity in the Oscar nominations so concerning, is that it comes following a year of extreme issues facing racial, gender, and other minorities in America. Last year was a turbulent one that brought to light issues facing minorities.
From the violent events questioning racial bias in Missouri to Emma Watson standing up in front of the United Nations and advocating feminist ideals, the dominance of white nominees and the exclusion of minorities in this year's Oscars only adds fuel to the fire. Jessica Chastain appropriately, and rather optimistically, closed her speech by saying, "I can't help but feel hopeful about the future of film -- especially looking at all these beautiful people in this room. Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.' And I would like to encourage everyone in this room to please speak up."
