Yesterday, the Oscars nominations were announced and, as expected, there were a lot of mixed reactions.
Soon after the nominations went live, the hashtags #OscarsSoWhite and #OscarsSoMale began trending on social media with users calling out a clear lack of diversity in the lineup.
Listen to the GOAT team break down all the Oscar snubs in the latest ep of It’s Been A Big Day For…. below:
While plenty aired their grievances online, 16-year-old actress Elsie Fisher took the opportunity to rewrite the Oscars nominations in her very own ‘Elsie Awards.’
“I’ve decided to start my own film awards because sometimes other ones suck, so here are the nominations for the first annual Elsie Awards,” she tweeted yesterday afternoon.
In her list, Fisher nominated Us actress Shahadi Wright Joseph for Best Young Performer who responded “Humbled.” The Eighth Grade actress also nominated Booksmart director Olivia Wilde for Best Director, who asked Fisher, “Please be in Booksmart 2!”
Elsie Fisher also gave nods to Parasite actress Park So-Dam for Best Supporting Actress, Us actress Lupita Nyong’o for Best Actress, and The Farewell actress Awkwafina and director Lulu Wang.
It wasn’t just film fans that had their feathers ruffled by the Oscar nominations, celebrities and those up for consideration weighed in on the diversity debate as well.
When announcing the Oscars Best Director category for Good Morning America actress Issa Rae rattled off the names before saying “congratulations to those men,” while looking deadpan into the camera.
The cast and crew of Little Women also shared their opinions on the lack of female representation in the Best Director category, including Florence Pugh, who told Deadline it was a “big blow” that director Greta Gerwig wasn’t nominated.
“She created a film that is so her and so unique and it’s just come out of her, and it’s been a story she’s wanted to do for so long. I think everybody’s angry and quite rightly so. I can’t believe it’s happened again, but I don’t really know how to solve it. I don’t know what the answer is, other than we’re talking about it,” she said.
Pugh is right – it’s important to keep these conversations going to encourage positive change but it’s also equally-as-important to be the change we want to see. That’s why Elsie Fisher’s ‘Elsie Award’ nominations are so empowering.
We need to show Hollywood, the Academy and all the bigwigs who make casting and nomination decisions who we think deserves the accolades. The first step is showing appreciation for the films and talent you love the most.
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