NEVER CRY WOLF

Will Smith (and wife Jada Pinkett Smith) are a Hollywood super couple. They have recently decided that they (along with Spike Lee) will protest and boycott this year’s Academy Awards due to what they feel is a lack of inclusion, read: racism. Apparently black actors are being ignored by the Academy for the 2nd year in a row..

White actors received all 20 of the nominations for the 4 acting categories this year.

Before I get started, let’s disclose that Will Smith, alone, has a reported net worth of 240 million dollars, most of that earned as an actor in Hollywood…yes, that Hollywood. Will Smith has also garnered 2 Academy award nominations. Hollywood has kissed this man’s ring...over and over again.

So, now we know that Will Smith and Jada are Hollywood stars who have earned hundreds of millions of dollars ..and Oscar nominations. I think Spike Lee has done pretty well too…net worth of 40 million. So, these members of the black community are appalled by the fact that for the last two years there hasn’t been a black nominee for an acting role. They are protesting...and boycotting.

So, I guess what the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is supposed to learn is that if they don’t nominate at least one black actor per year (via a type of quota, I guess) that the Academy will be on notice that they will be punished and shamed…for being a racist institution. The Academy, therefore, (actually those who vote as members of the Academy)…need to know (collectively) that they need to make sure that a black actor or actress is nominated for an Oscar. So, as people who vote for the Oscars…they should observe skin color as part of the process, part of the criteria? They should watch them as actors…but also take note of their skin color?

Black people make up 13% of the population in this country. Based on research that was done by Leondre Spook Williams McBride, a black man..... over the last 20 years, black actors and actresses have won 12.5% of all Oscars for acting. McBride pointed this out recently in an editorial....he wanted us to conclude the obvious......that 12.5% and 13% are almost exactly the same…

Also, remember something else. Films in Hollywood are made in order to make money…that is priority #1, 2 and 3....all the way up to 10. Nothing drives Hollywood but money…unless you are making a small independent film….so, if 50% of the population is white…and you want to make a film that has the highest chance of being seen……appealing to the largest demographic is a good idea…it is a good financial decision.

It’s just a fact…there are more black people watching the BET channel than there are whites. It’s probably 99%... They aren’t likely to air the movie “St. Elmo’s Fire” on the BET channel anytime soon.

There are more Asians watching films with Asians in it than there are whites watching films with Asians in them…it is just a fact..it is just human nature…I am not saying that it is right….it is just human nature to watch people who are more like you.....guys see more movies with guys in them…women see more films that feature women more prominently...…hence the term, “chick flick”.

Hollywood feels no burden, nor should they…to make films that represent every ethnicity equally…they have no board rooms that enforce that their films star white actors 50% of the time…blacks 13%, hispanics 20% and Pacific Islanders 11%.....in line with current American demographics….it has no obligation to represent the gay community similarly….nor the handicapped, the elderly, etc…maybe it would be cool if they did that voluntarily….but they are under heavy pressure to please their stock holders…AND, if they made films about the elderly, for example, commensurate with their population in society, I think they would risk losing a lot of money…because the elderly do not attend movies at near the same frequency as those who are not elderly…

I’m not saying that it is fair, right, good, bad..…but it is hard, very hard in my opinion, to make the case that the lack of black nominees in the actor categories for this, and last year, is an act of racism…..

And, the statistics provided by Mr. McBride almost prove that…

I am fully sensitized to the historical context of the African American in this country. I would march with MLK in a heartbeat were I given the chance today….so righteous was the cause…but Spike Lee and Will Smith are wasting our time with this protest..this is an awards show on TV. Why not show support for all of those 50 plus women (many of whom are black) who have been raped and drugged by Bill Cosby? Why not bring attention to the most violated and subjugated demographic in our society…the black female. Being female is being born 2nd class, but being a black female is a particularly difficult struggle…maybe not if you are Jada Pinkett Smith…but across the country…it is a very difficult assignment…being that they will be raising (alone) over 73% of black children born in this country…they will be bearing this responsibility solo….and most will be doing it with dignity….and with very limited means…certainly not with 240 million dollars in their bank accounts…

anyways, who needs 240 million dollars?

There is an old saying about “crying wolf”……I don’t see any wolf here, do you?

Food for Thought....