There have been conversations, thinkpieces, news stories and even some data journalism about the lack of diversity in the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, a.k.a. the people who decide which movies and actors get Oscars. As illuminating as those numbers and statistics are, they don’t really capture the mentality of some of these Oscar voters as well as their own words.
5 quotes from an Oscar voter that will make you lose faith in the Oscars
Alex Abad-Santos is a senior correspondent who explains what society obsesses over, from Marvel and movies to fitness and skin care. He came to Vox in 2014. Prior to that, he worked at The Atlantic.
The Hollywood Reporter had a candid interview with a female Academy member who, under the shield of anonymity, made the life choice to paint herself as the type of person you do not want making important decisions about art.
Here are the most cringe-worthy responses:
On Patricia Arquette, nominated for Boyhood
I’m voting for Arquette. She gets points for working on a film for 12 years and bonus points for having no work done during the 12 years.
On Selma’s cast
I’ve got to tell you, having the cast show up in T-shirts saying ‘I can’t breathe’ [at their New York premiere] — I thought that stuff was offensive. Did they want to be known for making the best movie of the year or for stirring up shit?
On why Selma is actually a piece of affirmative action
What no one wants to say out loud is that Selma is a well-crafted movie, but there’s no art to it. If the movie had been directed by a 60-year-old white male, I don’t think that people would have been carrying on about it to the level that they were.
On why The Lego Movie is the true victim of Oscar robbery
If you can call anything a “snub,” this year, it was The Lego Movie, which was one of the best movies of the year. I don’t know what happened there, but it is inconceivable to me.
On why the Academy couldn’t possibly be racist
And as far as the accusations about the Academy being racist? Yes, most members are white males, but they are not the cast of Deliverance — they had to get into the Academy to begin with, so they’re not cretinous, snaggletoothed hillbillies.
Read the whole interview at THR.
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