It's Time.......
It's time for a change in the way Hollywood views and portrays people of color *POC* (blacks, Hispanics, Asians, etc.) actors/actresses. It's really starts with casting. They need to first cast POC actors in roles that are deemed Oscar-worthy before there can be a change. POC are almost NEVER the first ones considered for those coveted Oscar bait roles were race isn't a factor.
The people I see up in arms about more POC actors being cast in universally critically acclaimed roles are doing so out of fear. Its simple. The fear of losing their 'white privilege'. Movies are just a more recent issue in the the bigger picture. This country's demographics are changing and it's long overdue for movies and TV to reflect those changes. People aren't saying to nominate any actor of color just to meet a status quo. What I think *most* people are saying is easy to understand: In order to get nominated for an Oscar you would have to first be cast in an Oscar-worthy movie. In order to be cast you need to be.....CONSIDERED. POC are almost never considered for universally acclaimed roles unless its something where race is a huge factor to the story like 'The Help' or 'Selma'. I don't see why race would have be a factor in choosing an actor unless a story is based on true events where race is central to story. Why couldn't Idris Elba play Matt Damon's role in 'The Martian'? Do you think Angela Basset was ever in consideration to play Cate Blanchet's role in 'Carol'? I would bet the farm they weren't in consideration or even thought of for those types of roles. I'm talking about being seriously considered (and given) those roles. I don't believe for a moment that any actor of color was on the shortlist (top 5) for either of those roles. This is nothing new and has been going on since the beginning of film.
I think the real reason why POC are never considered for these types of roles is because Hollywood does not want to isolate the white majority from seeing that movie. The movie producers have been conditioned to believe that those people will not relate to Lead dramatic characters that may be too different (see race) than them and would rather choose and watch a movie with someone "more" relatable (see white face). Denzel Washington being the exception to this long standing rule.
On one hand I understand their concern because even now if you dare change the race (in film) of a fictional comic book character, the fanboys (who are usually white) go INSANE and spew all kinds of racist rhetoric and accuse X actor/producer of playing the "race card" - such a ignorant go to term used when people don't want to discuss and/or are ignorant of the truth. Which ironically is not all that different from the posts I'm now seeing on this board. Anyway, these are FICTIONAL characters where race is not central to the story; If anyone seen the (coincidentally with Jayden Smith) Karate Kid remake board or the remake of Annie (with a black actress) you would have thought you stepped backward into the 1950's. It was so over the top and preposterous that some of the poster's complaining actually started to boarder on racist rant parodies. More recently, The 'Star Wars' board is another example where people were calling for the head of one of the lead (black) actors John Boyega BEFORE they even seen the movie. It goes back to that white privilege that so many people fear is being taken away from them.
As its pertains to movies, that privilege allows you to be the de-facto race and anything other than that formula is considered a 'genre' or something other than 'normal'. Hollywood and the people backing these movies have feared that white privilege for years. They have tried over DECADES to ease those privilege based folks into accepting POC actors and have succeeded but usually they are limited to supporting roles next to the white lead.
The reality of having to share THE status quo with minorities equates to, in some people's minds, to actually losing THEIR status quo. They are giving something up but don't feel like they are getting anything return. It's not an even trade (in their minds). Because you know everything has to always be a fair even trade; just ask the Native Americans about the even "trade" the Europeans gave them for the land. Anyway that's a different subject that I (and probably Leonardo DiCaperio) would like to discuss on a another day, so I digress.
Dropping the 20 or so lily white actors, that you find relatable, every year, to around "only" 13 isn't the end of cinema.
I say too bad and stop waiting for these people of privilege to "come around" into "accepting" lead actors who are not white in critically acclaimed DRAMATIC roles (where race is not central to the storyline). It may not be popular now with current privileged persons on or off this board but in time they will get acclimated to it just like they have with sports and music. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes forced integration for people to see the wrong in their right (The board of education in 1950's Topeka, Kansas knows about that). Yes, I said forced integration. It's a shame that needs to happen in 2015 but if we had always solely waited for the majority to usher change, slavery would have ended at least 100 years later than it actually did AND the civil rights movement would not have started until the late 1980s/earlier 1990s.
Sometimes the right thing to do isn't always the popular.
As it pertains to Jada Pickett Smith, do I think she would have raised the issue if Will Smith was nominated. Absolutely NOT. Do I think the "boycott" that she initiated was self-serving to her and her husband's best interest? Yes. However, just because I question her reasons does not mean it discredits the issue. It's a legitimate issue that all actors black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, Indian, etc., having been saying for years and years; decades upon decades! Rosa Parks did not set out to change history when she refused to give up her seat on that bus. She said that she wasn't moving because she was "tired and her feet hurt". It was not due to the segregated polices of those times. That action changed history. Jada, as selfish as it probably was, has sparked the flame to a much need fire. If she is the face of this needed change, then so be it.
In a separate but related issue I'd also like to advise all the people who post about Reserve Racism please stop. You look ridiculous. There is no such thing as "reverse racism". Do people have prejudices? Yes. However, that's entirely different than racism. When have those minority groups of people ever had the power and exercised it to take away and/ or not give rights to the majority group in the history in the United States? Never. This comic explains how reverse racism does not exist brilliantly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw_mRaIHb-M
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