Oscars, Hollywood, Chris Rock and diversity

Last month, we had the Oscar's Awards, a show that celebrates "the best in motion pictures." But much controversy came when all the nominees in the actors/actresses categories were of European ancestry!

Chris Rock was already scheduled to be the host before the nominees were announced.  So it was expected that Chris Rock would make fun of the whole "#OscarSoWhite" at the Oscars!

Chris Rock did validate the concerns that African-American actors get overlooked for awards & opportunities, but then mentioned that out of 80+ Oscar Award ceremonies, about 70 also had an "all-white" slate of actor/actress nominees, though for much of the time

Transcript of Chris Rock's 2016 Oscar monologue

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/29/movies/chris-rock-monologue.html?smtyp=cur&_r=0

It’s the 88th Academy Awards. It’s the 88th Academy Awards, which means this whole no black nominees thing has happened at least 71 other times. O.K.?

You gotta figure that it happened in the 50s, in the 60s — you know, in the 60s, one of those years Sidney didn’t put out a movie. I’m sure there were no black nominees some of those years. Say ‘62 or ‘63, and black people did not protest.

Why? Because we had real things to protest at the time, you know? We had real things to protest; you know, we’re too busy being raped and lynched to care about who won best cinematographer.

You know, when your grandmother’s swinging from a tree, it’s really hard to care about best documentary foreign short.

 But with much of the talk has been surrounded by the lack of diversity in Hollywood, Chris Rock only focused on  "black-white relations".

Oh, he did mentioned Asians, in a controversial  on-stage skit involving 3 Asian-American children.

http://www.upworthy.com/the-nasty-asian-jokes-at-the-oscars-highlighted-hollywoods-other-big-race-problem?c=ufb1

A couple of jokes, however, came at the expense of a group just as frequently ignored and stereotyped by Hollywood: Asian-Americans.

In one bit, Rock brought out three kids to represent "PriceWaterhouseCoopers accountants," a joke which appeared to trade on the stereotype that Asian and Asian-American kids are good at math.

"It's OK, it's OK, thanks guys, thanks a lot. If anybody is upset about that joke just tweet about it on your phone, that was also made by these guys," Rock said, apparently, jokingly, referring to the charge that iPhones are often made under poor labor conditions at the FoxCon factory in Shanghai. 

While that joke is nowhere near as brutal as other jokes about those of Asian ancestry, it did trigger some sensitivities among Asian-Americans, who felt stigmatized and ignored by the larger society.

some articles on the issue
"Asian-American jab at Oscars reveals deeper diversity woes"
http://www.staradvertiser.com/breaking-news/asian-american-jab-at-oscars-reveals-deeper-diversity-woes/

"Beyond Black and White: How the 2016 Oscars’ Treatment of Asians Undercut Its Message of Inclusion"

http://www.slashfilm.com/2016-oscars-asian/








But what about Latinos! Chris Rock totally missed an opportunity, as I noted in the following facebook post!

Many were focused on Chris Rock's joke on Asians, but very few actually question his comedy bit where he questioned African-American movie goers in "Compton". There is no movie theater in Compton ( a fact publicized when "Straight Outta Compton" hit the theaters). Actually, that theater was in Crenshaw-Baldwin Hills (ie border between "the hood" and "the burbs").

Also, if that interview actually took place in Compton, then you would've seen a lot more Latinos in the background, since Compton now has more Latinos than African-Americans. Crenshaw is still mostly African-American, which was another reason why that clip was filmed there instead of Compton!

So much for Chris Rock & celebrating diversity

The reason I mentioned this include


1) many people are under the mistaken impression that just Compton is still an "African-American majority" community, when it is now mostly Latinos! Yes, some African-Americans still live there, but they're not the majority there any more!


2) Chris Rock was fooling people not familiar with South Central Los Angeles and that there is a difference between Compton, Watts, Inglewood and Crenshaw!

3)  If Chris Rock really did the comedy skit in Compton, this could've been an opportunity to do some outreach with the Latino community! It would've been a great way to show both African-American and Latino voices in a comedy skit! Compton also has some Polynesians and other ethnicities in the mix and they could've been added to the skit!

4) again, Chris Rock is perpetuating the old image of the USA as just being "black & white" while ignoring other non-white minorities!




as for that so-called "Compton" theater that is actually in Crenshaw-Baldwin Hills area, you can learn more from the following article

"Where was Oscar host Chris Rock's 'Compton' movie theater? Not in Compton"
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/la-et-ct-oscars-2016-chris-rock-compton-movie-theater-20160229-story.html

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Enough of Chris Rock (for now), I want to share another post about Hollywood & diversity!


The post was in response to a New York Times article the difficulties non-white actors/actresses go through in in auditioning for roles


"Don't Call Me the Black 'Seth Rogan' "
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/opinion/sunday/dont-call-me-the-black-seth-rogen.html



And here's my  facebook post

There has been stories of non-white actors going through what they fell are auditioning for degrading roles! I understand the frustration, but really, if you're auditioning for a role in someone else's story, then you're just there to tell someone else's story! 

Better to go independent and make your own films and tell your own story!

Easier said than done, but it has been done!