Why Doesn’t Hollywood Award Diverse Artists? 🏆

Written by: Guenevere Chin

October 9th, 2021

Diversity seems to be a major issue that the Entertainment Industry has a hard time including in all major aspects that make up the field. From film creators, cast and crew they are what keeps the industry afloat. With major callouts every year from film creatives and celebrities these industry award shows have not changed their ways when choosing a winner for their major categories. The Oscars, Emmys, Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and more are the award shows that have lacked this diversity among their winners for some time. Many critics have speculated that there is a structural issue happening within those award organizations. Especially since these issues have been called out multiple times and nothing has changed. The Emmys took a step forward this year by announcing a wide range of diverse nominees for all categories but failed to award any POC actors. This issue with many awards shows consistently lacking to include representation in their acting nominees has been an occurrence every year.

The Emmys took a step forward this year by announcing a wide range of diverse nominees for all categories but failed to award any POC actors.

According to NBC News, after analyzing the Emmy Awards acting nominees from the past 10 years it showed that a vast majority of 80 percent of winners were white performers. Through research it showed that 15 percent of nominations went to African American performers, 3 percent to Latinos, 2 percent to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and 1 percent to those of Middle Eastern or Northern African descent. This data clearly shows that there is a huge inequality for award winners. These actions have led to questioning Hollywood’s ability to celebrate the industry’s excellence equitably. The organizations that vote for these awards only rely on the popularity of a nominee rather than the performance. This leads to a systematic issue that doesn’t allow all artists in the film industry to be fully appreciated for the role that they play to bring these stories to life.

While this sets back the industry from changing its ways many have spoken out about this and believe these changes are good. Frank Scherma, the chairman of the Television Academy that awards the Emmys said during the show, “It’s so great to see that television and the stories we tell are finally becoming a reflection of every part of our society. Voices of Black, Latinx, Asian American, and Indigenous creators, along with the LGBTQIA+, neurodiverse and disabled communities are being heard by larger audiences than ever before.” Television and movie watchers have long demanded more diversity in the stories that are portrayed on the screen to better reflect themselves. While television show creators and artists from underrepresented communities have been asking to get the few opportunities to tell their stories. Awards like the Emmys and Oscars mirror the peak of success and exposure that comes from awards can open more doors for people to continue telling their stories.

"Its so great to see that television and the stories we tell are finally becoming a reflection of every part of our society." says Frank Scherma, chairman of the Television Academy that awards the Emmys.

Even though media has reflected society more it still hasn’t awarded that artist the same way they have with predominately white artists. The presenters for the majority of the awards were not POCs and it was called out during the Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series category. The creator and main cast of the FX on Hulu comedy series “Reservation Dogs” used the stage time to talk about the importance of authenticity for Indigenous representation on screen. With the many years of disappointment from these award shows Hollywood needs to keep their promise to their artists, audiences, and industry to “do better” on diversity in media, entertainment, and awards.

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GUENEVERE CHIN

Why Doesn’t Hollywood Award Diverse Artists? 🏆

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