Is Boycotting The Oscars Necessary?

Recently there has been some controversy surrounding the Academy Awards and the lack of diversity within the nominations. It began when Jada Pinkett Smith addressed the situation after her husband Will Smith was not nominated for his performance in 'Concussion'. She then continues to say that she and her husband will not be attending this years ceremony or watching it. But is there really something wrong with the Academy? And should people be boycotting the Oscars over this issue?

You cannot deny the fact that there is a lack of diversity in this years nominations, but does this come down to racism? Or just the fact that people such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Christian Bale and Kate Winslet put in great performances in their films? Don't forget that just two years ago the film '12 Years A Slave' picked up nine Academy Award nominations, and walked away with three on the night, including Best Film and Best Actress In A Supporting Role (Lupita Nyong'o).

In previous years there have been many diverse sets of nominations, including two years in which Will Smith himself was nominated. In 2002 Smith was nominated for his performance in 'Ali', but he lost out on the Leading Actor award to Denzel Washington (Training Day), who had won one Oscar previously to this. 2002 is the same year in which Halle Berry walked away with the Leading Actress award for her role in 'Monster's Ball'. In 2006 Smith was nominated a second time for his performance in the film ' The Pursuit Of Happyness', but lost out again but this time to Forest Whitaker (The Last King Of Scotland). 2006 is the same year that Eddie Murphy (Dreamgirls) and Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond) were in contention for Best Actor In A Supporting Role, and the same year that Jennifer Hudson walked away with the Oscar for Best Actress In A Supporting Role for her stunning performance in 'Dreamgirls'.

Despite having diverse sets on nominations in the past, this year has been very different. The big shock was Idris Elba not receiving a Supporting Actor nomination for his brilliant performance in 'Beasts Of No Nation'. There is definitely a lack of diversity within the Academy Award board of governors, with the majority being older white males, despite the President being Cheryl Boone Isaacs, who has come out herself saying she was disappointed with the lack of diversity within this years nominees, but also made a valid point, that this issue should not take away from those performances in which were nominated. Boone has mentioned that there will be a shake up within the governors, so there is a diverse group of people.

Even if the board of governors were different this year, there would not be too much difference within the nominations, other than maybe Idris Elba being nominated. This is because films such as 'Straight Outta Compton' were great, but the acting was not up to scratch with movies like 'The Revenant', mainly because the actors lack experience, in a year or two after doing a few more films the young actors in this movie may be in contention for awards. Even movie legend Michael Caine has gone on the record to say it took him years to get a nomination. He was 34 by the time he received his first Oscar nomination, and 54 when he won his first Academy Award for 'Hannah And Her Sisters' (1987).

I believe that Jada Pinkett Smith had every right to speak up about this issue, and maybe has a valid point, due to the lack of diversity within the board of governors, but I do not think that this makes boycotting the Oscars necessary. It's been shown that the Oscars do not always lack in diversity, it just so happens that this year the governors believed that the actors/actresses nominated put in better performances than others who were in contention. Despite this I do believe that there should be a mix up within the governors, so that there are some younger people in there, and they are planning to do just that, so now all we can do is enjoy this years awards, and see how these changes affect next year's ceremony.