“Selma,” a critically-acclaimed film depicting the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march spearheaded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was nominated for this year’s Best Picture and Best Original Song Academy Awards. But those in the media who felt the film deserved more nominations are now chalking the film’s “snub” to overt or institutional racism.
Vox’s headline straightforwardly claimed, “Selma was snubbed because the average Oscar voter is a 63-year-old white man.” Ironically, much of the piece is spent explaining many of the non-racial factors that likely led to the snub, including the pitiful job Paramount Pictures did promoting the film. (RELATED: DNC invokes Selma’s Bloody Sunday to recruit volunteers)
Although Vox is supposedly a “wonky” blog, they apparently felt comfortable allowing a piece filled with pure speculation. Author Todd VanDerWerff claims “’12 Years a Slave’ only “barely eke[d] out a win over the finish line” last year, but ballots are completely anonymous, meaning no one knows how much any given film won by. He also bizarrely claims that Selma would have had won more nominations if Clint Eastwood had directed the film… despite the fact that Eastwood was also snubbed in the Best Director category.
Meanwhile, The Wrap took the same approach, claiming the “‘Selma’ Snub Means Diversity Is Still Sparse in a White Hollywood.” Author Sharon Waxman writes: “It is hard to ignore that “Selma” comes in a year when crowds of angry young people of all colors and races are filling the streets of America demanding a more equal society, fair treatment by police and an end to random shootings of young black men.”
Variety’s Brent Lang added sexism the mix, noting that Oscar voters ignored “Unbroken” director Angelina Jolie and “Citizenfour” director Laura Poitras. However, critical reviews for Unbroken were pretty bad, and no documentary director has ever been nominated. (RELATED: “Dick Poop” Nominated For An Oscar)
It’s worth noting that despite a strong nomination showing at the Golden Globes, Selma was also not nominated by the Producers Guild, Directors Guild and Screen Actors Guild (it wasn’t eligible for the Writer’s Guild). But hey, maybe they’re all racists, too.