Metro writer Alicia Adejobi is right. Viola Davis was ROBBED of an Oscar nomination because the Academy didn’t check their white privilege at the door.
Every year there should be a quota of at least one, maybe two, black actresses nominated in this category. There is no reason to make it all white, and know what? Asians don’t count, Michelle Yeoh does not count. Latinas neither. Ana de Armas does not count. We want minimum 1-2 black actresses.
It doesn’t matter if Viola Davis didn’t even come close to giving us the best work of her career, she literally played a black (slave-owning) woman king, I mean, like, come on Academy! She was replaced with a name that Adejobi “wasn’t too familiar with – Andrea Riseborough”.
After double-checking I was indeed looking at the right category, I thought, well, this Andrea must be a phenomenal actress to have a chance at winning a prestigious Oscar alongside those other A-listers.
My disappointment then turned to frustration once I learned about the not-so-subtle campaigning for Riseborough that had suddenly happened in the weeks before the nominations were announced.
Adejobi is absolutely correct. Who is this Riseborough girl? What has she done to deserve the nomination, except being white? What the academy needs is a quota system, a total overhaul to negate merit and push through as many black actresses (1-2 of them) every year, in every acting category.
It turns out that a host of actors – who happen to be white – had pledged their support for the 41-year-old British actress and her indie film To Leslie.
What I don’t appreciate is it being at the detriment of the inclusion of Black talent when Riseborough’s nomination is quite clearly the result of white privilege – where was this level of campaigning for Davis and Deadwyler from Hollywood’s elite?
Paul Greengrass’ "The Uprising," starring Andrew Garfield, opened to $3.2M from 2,068 theaters this weekend. Yikes. The budget hasn’t been disclosed, but is said to be in the $20-$30M range.