Barbados Times

Barbados, Caribbean & World News
Tuesday, Apr 16, 2024

Oscars: Danielle Deadwyler claims Hollywood is 'deeply impacted by racism'

Oscars: Danielle Deadwyler claims Hollywood is 'deeply impacted by racism'

US actress Danielle Deadwyler has claimed the film industry is "deeply impacted by systemic racism", after no black women were nominated for best actress at this year's Oscars.

Deadwyler was expected to be recognised for her performance in the drama Till.

But she missed out on a nomination, as did Viola Davis, who was also widely tipped to be in the running.

Deadwyler said there is a "trickle-down effect" of racism in society on many institutions in American life.

In Till, the actress plays the mother of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old black boy who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of whistling at a white woman.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, Deadwyler said: "Cinematic history is 100+ years old. I would dare say the system is deeply, deeply impacted by systemic racism that has shaped our country.

"And if we're still dealing with systemic racism in this country that is leading us to the loss of a Tyre Nichols, that carries us from the loss of Emmett, there is a trickle-down effect of how racism impacts our lives - from the educational system to the film industry to everything, any part of quotidian American life."

Deadwyler (right) plays Mamie Till-Mobley in the film, the mother of Emmett Till, played by Jalyn Hall

Deadwyler was widely praised for her performance in Till, and was considered one of the favourites to be nominated in the leading actress category at this year's Academy Awards.

After she was snubbed when the nominations were announced in January, Till writer and director Chinonye Chukwu accused Hollywood of "unabashed misogyny towards Black women".

Referring to those comments, Deadwyler told Radio 4: "Yes there is value to what [Chukwu] said, and it's imperative that every quality of our life begin to truly, deeply interrogate and shift and rupture and radically shift the way they seek to actually be an equitable institution."

Asked whether the Oscars or wider society needs to change, Deadwyler replied: "It's from both ends... It's got to come from every angle."

The Academy has increased the number of female and black and ethnic minority voters since the #OscarsSoWhite controversy in 2015.


'Critical questions'


Deadwyler noted that very few black women had been recognised at the Oscars, and there were often "numerous decades in between" those who had.

She referred to Hattie McDaniel's supporting actress win in 1940 and Halle Berry's leading actress win in 2002, which remains the only victory in that category for a black woman.

"You have to begin to question why there are these gaps," Deadwyler said. "Before I was even in consideration for anything, these are the things that I witnessed.

"So these are critical questions of, how do you begin to actually bring equity to spaces which have long been led or deeply impacted by white supremacy, ideologies, thoughts and practises?"

Halle Berry, pictured with Denzel Washington in 2002, is the only black woman to have won best leading actress at the Oscars


This year's best actress nominees are Michelle Yeoh, Cate Blanchett, Ana De Armas, Michelle Williams and Andrea Riseborough.

British actress Riseborough scored a shock nomination following a campaign driven by a number of Hollywood A-listers.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences conducted a review into the campaign and said some tactics "caused concern", but her nomination was not revoked.

Williams was recognised despite a debate in Hollywood over whether she should have been nominated in the supporting actress category.

No black men are nominated for best lead actor this year. Two black performers - Angela Bassett and Brian Tyree Henry - are in the running in the supporting categories. The winners will be announced on 12 March.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Barbados Times
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
BBC Personalities Rebuke Accusations Amidst Scandal Involving Teen Exploitation
A Swift Disappointment: Why Is Taylor Swift Bypassing Canada on Her Global Tour?
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
Unilever Plummets in a $2.5 Billion Free Fall, to begin with: A Reckoning for Misuse of Corporate Power Against National Interest
Beyond the Blame Game: The Need for Nuanced Perspectives on America's Complex Reality
Twitter Targets Meta: A Tangle of Trade Secrets and Copycat Culture
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
×