“Oscar voters overwhelmingly white, male” — and hundreds haven’t made a movie in decades
A Los Angeles Times study found that academy voters are markedly less diverse than the moviegoing public, and even more monolithic than many in the film industry may suspect. Oscar voters are nearly 94% Caucasian and 77% male, The Times found. Blacks are about 2% of the academy, and Latinos are less than 2%.
Oscar voters have a median age of 62, the study showed. People younger than 50 constitute just 14% of the membership.
By comparison, approximately 78% of the US population is younger than 50.
Nearly 50% of the academy’s actors have appeared on screen in the last two years. But membership is generally for life, and hundreds of academy voters haven’t worked on a movie in decades.
The Academy says that they want to diversify. I can see why:
In the past 83 years of Oscars, less than 4% of the acting awards have been bestowed on African Americans. Only one woman — Kathryn Bigelow — has received the Academy Award for directing “The Hurt Locker.”
Some have argued that AMPAS membership does not need to represent U.S. demographic, but that really hides the real problem: why are Hollywood movies not more representative of U.S. demographics? Why are they still oriented around white male experience? The film industry should focus on figuring out how to recruit, train and promote women and minorities, particularly in the technological fields.
(Source: Los Angeles Times)
