On Monday morning, Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas were wide awake and excited to announce nominations for the 93rd Oscar. It makes sense that they were very excited, considering they were broadcasting from London, where it was late. However, the nominations for this very different and challenging year for the film were announced and they overcame the diversity and inclusion that was defined by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Golden Globe – but don’t get too excited. That barrier was ridiculously low, but that does not mean that the Academy did not make some notable advances with Oscar nominations when it came to the hot and busy topic of diversity and inclusion.
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After the mess that was the Golden Globe, we were willing to accept any sign of inclusion with the Oscar nominations – and they complied. First, there were a lot of “firsts” to celebrate.
Nomadland filmmaker Chloe Zhao became the first black woman to be nominated for Best Director in Oscar history. Note that 2021 marks the 93rd edition of the ceremony, so there has been a long time without a woman of color being nominated. This compares to Zhao’s victory earlier this year at the Golden Globes, where she was the first woman of Asian descent and the second woman to win the award for Best Director. It was also the first time that three directors were nominated in the category.
Metal soundis Riz Ahmed and MinariSteven Yeun was nominated for Best Actor alongside the late great Chadwick Boseman, who is on a winning streak for his phenomenal performance in Black Bottom by Ma Rainey. It was a pleasant surprise to see Ahmed and Yeun – two actors of Asian descent – being nominated when, normally, in a situation like this, history and systemic issues would show us that there would normally be room for just one.
Still, Ahmed makes history as the first Muslim actor nominated for Best Leading Actor, while Yeun makes history as the first Asian American actor to receive a nomination in the category – which is a big deal. Compared to the categories of Golden Globe actors, this category is much more inclusive, but the omissions of performances by actors Delroy Lindo in Da 5 Bloods and John David Washington in Malcolm and Marie did not go unnoticed.
This brings us to the category of Best Supporting Actor, which includes nominations for Leslie Odom, Jr. for One night in Miami as well as Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield for Judas and the Black Messiah. For the latter, Kaluuya was expected to be competing for a spot in the category, but many would argue that Stanfield should have been included in the Best Actor category.
On the actress’s side, the main and supporting categories were much more inclusive than the Golden Globe, which had almost no black women beyond Andra’s Day United States x Billie Holiday and Viola Davis for Black Bottom by Ma Rainey. Day ended up winning the Golden Globe, which can give her a little warmth, but today, Davis got her Oscar nomination for best performance, making history as the most nominated black actress in Oscar history. In addition, Yuh-Jung Youn, who is known to many as Korea’s Meryl Streep, won a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her incredible performance in Minari, becoming the first Korean actress to receive a nomination.
All of that is good, but Youn was the only black actress in the supporting category. If you ask me, Dominique Fishback’s Judas and the Black Messiah should have been included in the mix.
Returning to the Best Director, Minari ‘s Lee Isaac Chung joined Zhao as another person of color in the category – and that’s it. Chung and Zhao are nominated alongside David Fincher for Mank, Thomas Vinterberg for Another round and Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman. It is clear that One night in MiamiRegina King, who was nominated for a Golden Globe, was despised in this category. Newcomer Shaka, king of Judas and the Black Messiah it could also have been included in the mix, but unfortunately it was not.
Yet, King was nominated alongside Will Berson for the Original Screenplay, while Chung was nominated for the newsroom Minari. Zhao also received a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for Nomadland and Kemp Powers won one for adapting his own game One night in Miami. For the representation of South Asia, Ramin Bahrani received a nomination for adapting the Aravind Adiga The White Tiger. So when it comes to inclusion on the writing side, it’s pretty decent compared to the Globes, where Zhao was the only person of color in the script category.
We saw inclusive nominations for Best Documentary for Crip Camp which helps to reinforce the representation of people with disabilities and saw a nomination for Garrett Bradley’s Time that puts the spotlight on the abolition of prisons. For Best Film nominations, the Academy gave love to Judas and the Black Messiah, Minari and Nomadland all commanded by and / or presenting people of color.
Sure, there seems to be a lot of inclusion in this year’s Oscar nominations compared to the Golden Globe, but when examining the nominations, there is a lot of room for improvement. We saw no love for Spike Lee’s work Da 5 Bloods while Regina King’s One night in Miami received little recognition other than a nomination for Leslie Odom, Jr. Other forgotten candidates from the award season who could have participated in the Oscar game was Zendaya’s performance in Malcolm & Marie, and why there was no sparkle to Alan Kim’s brilliant and lovely treasure from Minari.
Are this year’s Oscar nominations more diverse and inclusive than the Golden Globe? yea. But, as mentioned, the bar was low. We can see some slow and steady changes as a result of the Academy’s effort to increase the inclusion of its members – but there is always room for improvement. It’s not really a #OscarSoWhite year type. It’s more like a #OscarsKindOfWhite year.