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Oscars recognize few minorities The Associated Press
There are only two. While 19 percent of the Screen Actors Guild and 8 percent of the Directors Guild of America are black, Hispanic or Asian, minorities have received only 19 nominations in the top five Oscar categories in the last decade, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. The only two nonwhites to receive Oscars in one of those categories were Whoopi Goldberg, supporting actress in "Ghost," and Cuba Gooding Jr., supporting actor in "Jerry Maguire," both of whom are in the cast of "Rat Race," a comedy due this year. The other major categories for individual achievement are best actor, actress and director.
The only minority nominees for top awards this year are Taiwan-born director Ang Lee for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and Puerto Rico-born Benicio Del Toro, nominated for best supporting actor in "Traffic." Filmmakers blame the lack of Oscar recognition for minority actors and directors on factors ranging from Hollywood insularity to studios' efforts to woo overseas investors. "This is a closed-door, segregated industry," said producer Warrington Hudlin, who also is the founder of the Black Filmmakers Foundation. "It is perhaps the last closed-door, segregated industry in America. And they have shown no interest in changing." Eighty to 90 percent of members of each major guild — Screen Actors, Directors, Writers and Producers — is white, and the majority are male. Twelve of the 15 executives who have the ultimate power to approve movies at the most important studios are white males, and the other three are white women. Hollywood is increasingly looking to foreign investors to finance films. Those investors, mainly from Europe and Japan, often prefer casts with white lead actors, which reduces the number of roles given to minority actors. "There is a historical shading in favor of the European American actor for the international marketplace," said Peter Graves, an independent marketing consultant who was president of marketing for Polygram Films in 1999. American producers say they are forced to negotiate content and casting with foreign investors because they provide as much as 70 percent of a movie's financing, and films with white male stars tend to be most successful internationally. Arnold Schwarzenegger's "The 6th Day," which made only $34 million here, garnered $67 million overseas. Leonardo DiCaprio's "The Beach," which made $39 million at home, raked in $110 million abroad, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. "Remember the Titans," starring Denzel Washington, made $115 million domestically but only $45 million abroad. "Shaft," starring Samuel L. Jackson, made $70.3 million at home compared with $14 million abroad. An exception is Will Smith, whose "Men in Black" — which co-starred white actor Tommy Lee Jones — made $337 million in international sales alone and whose "Enemy of the State" brought in nearly $139 million abroad. In 1972, three blacks were nominated for Oscars in the major categories — Diana Ross, actress in "Lady Sings the Blues," and Paul Winfield and Cicely Tyson, actor and actress in "Sounder." Never in the history of the Oscars have so many minority actors been nominated in the same year. More headlines
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