From Bohemian Rhapsody to Green Book, here's the major controversies to hit the Oscars

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On the 25th February 2019, The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, gave the movie Green Book the award for Best Picture, and this decision has proved divisive to viewers.

This came after it was revealed by The Guardian that lead writer, Nick Vallelonga, agreed with Donald Trump’s anti-Muslim tweets. The movie itself has been accused of being a ‘white saviour” movie.

As a reaction to the film winning the Oscar, one Twitter user said "Never underestimate Hollywood’s love of ‘white saviour’ movies".

However, this is not the first time there has been a racial controversy at the Academy Awards over the years.

For example, the 2015 and 2016 Academy Awards both had no black actors nominated for any awards.

In fact, it’s become so bad that another Twitter user has since referred to the academy as “your white friend in school who thinks he’s black cause he listens to rap music.”

So why do people think this?

Well, there have actually been a long list of controversies about race at the Oscars.

This could be seen as a coincidence, but this article by Variety states that movies such as Creed (2016), Straight Outta Compton (2015) and Beasts of No Nation (2015) provided plenty of opportunities for black actors to be nominated in 2016/15, which has led many to believe the Academy has an ‘institutional bias against minorities’.

However, over the years there have been more than just racial controversies.

For example, the 2018 Oscars happened shortly after Harvey Weinstein was accused of many cases of sexual harassment.

This resulted in the #MeToo movement, where many female Hollywood celebrities spoke out about their own experiences with sexual harassment.

Therefore, when the Oscars and Golden Globes, another prestigious hollywood awards ceremony, came around, many actresses wore black dresses on the red carpet to make people aware of the problem of sexual harassment in Hollywood.

In this article by Harper’s Bazaar, Meryl Streep explained the black dress, saying: “I think people are now aware of a power imbalance and it’s something that leads to abuse, it has led abuse in our own industry. We want to fix that and we feel emboldened in a thick black line dividing then from now.”

At the 2017 Oscars, Casey Affleck won best actor, even though he had been accused of sexual assault. This did not sit well with Brie Larson, the actress chosen to present the award and long-time advocate of sexual assault survivors.

While on stage she did not applaud Casey Affleck, and later, in an interview with Vanity Fair she said “I think that whatever it was that I did onstage kind of spoke for itself. I’ve said all that I need to say about that topic.”

The following year, The Academy reversed their decision on Casey presenting the award for best actress, due to the sexual assault allegations.

Looping back around to the 2019 Oscars, the director of Green Book was also revealed to have exposed himself to people in Hollywood “at least 500 times,” according to this article by The Guardian.

There have also been controversies revolving around homophobia in the industry.

Just before the 2019 Oscars, Kevin Hart stepped down from the role of host due to some “joke” tweets he made 5 years ago that can be perceived as homophobic.

According to this article by Vox, Hart was allowed to continue hosting if he apologised, but he changed his mind. In a tweet said: “I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists.”

This was after the 2018 Oscars where the Academy nominated the movie Call Me by Your Name, a movie about a relationship between two men, for Best Picture, and it also won Best Adapted Screenplay.

When this happened many thought the Oscars was finally becoming more progressive, but then the 2019 Oscars seem to have done the complete opposite.

Another reason this had such bad backlash is that many believe that there is a lack of good representation of the LGBT community in Hollywood.

For example, one source has suggested that since 1942 only 26 LGBT actors and actresses have been nominated for best actor/actress, and only five of them actually won the award.

As you can see, controversies surrounding questionable decisions by the academy and inappropriate behaviour by nominees isn’t anything new.

However, this raises an interesting question. should the Academy be judging the art of movies purely on the movie itself, or should they be taking its creators and stars pasts and actions into consideration as well?

Rebecca Liu, a journalist who wrote this article about Green Book, told me:

“You'll often find that art, including movies, raise ideas and perspectives that come from the creator: movies are made by people, and transmit ideas that come from people. So, judging an artwork can often bring in the ideas and beliefs of its creators. It's an evolving issue that we're seeing much more long-overdue discussion about, so I'm sure we can expect to see a lot more discussion on this in the future.”

I also asked her why it’s important for large organisations such as The Academy to recognise different races and LGBT people working in the industry? She replied:

“It's important that our narratives and art reflect the world we live in, and illustrate the full range of different lives, cultures, and ideas that are in it.”

Liu also added that prestigious institutions like the Oscars carry a large weight in shaping which movies, stories and characters we think are worthy of attention, and that if they all look the same, it’s a problem.

Finally, I asked Liu if she believes that Hollywood is becoming more progressive, or if they’re still a long way from being more progressive?

She believes it is moving forward as movies like Black Panther (2018) and Crazy Rich Asians (2018) have proved that diverse narratives can be box office hits.

However, she also added: “It's important that as we recognise these welcome changes, however, that we make sure this momentum and conversation doesn't stop and we recognise that there's a long way to go. The Green Book debate, for example, has raised important questions about how racism and the struggles of minorities are depicted on screen, which requires evolving the current conversation beyond representation in itself.”

Many believe The Oscars urgently need to start learning from their mistakes and trying to become more diverse. The awards have been riddled with controversies for years, and if they don’t change now, there isn't going to be any representation outside of their small elite group that's currently being recognised.

There won’t be any black people or members of the LGBT community being recognised, which will demoralise the younger generation of those cultures.

No black children will want to become actors/actresses. No LGBT children will want to become directors. They will feel like they are unwanted in the industry.

And that's why these controversies are important. They aren’t pointless celebrity gossip about who actors are dating, they are important because they show the industry as a whole still has a lot to do before it is a place where everyone is welcome, and everyone can be successful.