In response to the backlash the Academy faced this year due to the hashtag, #OscarsSoWhite, according to a press release, they have pledged to double the number of women and diverse members of the Academy by 2020.
The Academy has recently come under fire because for the second year in a row, it has included only White actors in its nominee pool. Will Smith, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Spike Lee have announced that they will be boycotting the Oscars. Actors George Clooney and Lupita Nyong’o have spoken out against Hollywood’s diversity issue.
Under the Academy’s new rules, each member’s voting status will last 10 years and will only be renewed if the member had been active in a film during that time period. If the new member does not meet these qualifications, they will be moved to emeritus status and will not be able to vote. The plan also adds three governor seats as well as additional new members to their executive board. The press release stated that the Academy will launch “an ambitious, global campaign to identify and recruit qualified new members who represent greater diversity.”
In the press release, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the Academy President, said, “The Academy is going to lead and not wait for the industry to catch up. These new measures regarding governance and voting will have an immediate impact and begin the process of significantly changing our membership composition.”
It’s a bit ridiculous to read about all the forms of backlash the Academy faced before it felt compelled to change. The fact that for two years in a row the Academy believed it was appropriate to feature only White actors in its nominee pool is horrifying. It needed celebrities speaking out against Hollywood’s diversity issue, boycotting the Oscars and a hashtag in order to push change within the Academy. Yes, it’s frustrating that it took so long for the Academy to realize its past mistakes (there are plenty of women, people of color and women of color who have been doing phenomenal work in Hollywood for decades now), but it’s truly a great move to see the Academy directly tackle the diversity issue amongst the its ranks. Once we start seeing more diverse faces on that stage, perhaps we can expect to see other forms of media following suit and choosing to diversify its actors and actresses. Maybe we’ll finally have media that adequately reflects the diverse face of the United States.
