Danny DeVito Admits To Racism In Hollywood When It Comes To Oscars
January 24, 2016
Though the Academy addressed the allegations of racism in the way they nominate for their Oscars, there are still people among the elite that are stating what they think is the truth. In an interview at the Sundance Film Festival, Danny DeVito discussed the Oscars diversity controversy. DeVito spoke on the country and society as a whole:
“It’s unfortunate that the entire country is a racist country…
“Even though some people have given really great performances in movies, they weren’t even thought about. We’re living in a country that discriminates, and has certain racist tendencies.”
This certainly takes a different approach than many other Hollywood celebrities over the past few days, some either calling for a boycott of the show and others claiming that complaints are unfounded and unwarranted. DeVito added to his thoughts in a chat with The Daily Beast:
“We do live in a racist country. We have to evolve and have to realize that truth and reconciliation is here, too—it’s not only in South Africa or Cambodia. Young people have to learn what happened in our history, and we need people to know that we’re walking on the boards of genocide.”
He then continued that “This is a place where people settled in and they came to be called Native Americans. Now all of a sudden these big ships appear out of the blue like demons in the daylight, and everything changed. Genocide happened and we’re all in it. But we can’t lean on that xenophobia. We need to understand what happened and realize that we’re all human beings who are cut from the same cloth.”
“Listen to Noam Chomsky, get the Howard Zinn, and try to elevate your children, brothers, and sisters…”
The video also features Don Cheadle and Sam Neill weighing in on the matter. Cheadle echoed similar comments he made last night after the screening of his Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead. “I applaud [The Academy’s] attempt to do something about it, which is great, but again,” he said, “this is dealing with the symptom and not starting at the root cause, how we even get to results like this.” Meanwhile, Neill was somewhat more diplomatic and self deprecating, but said that he is “baffled” by this year’s nominees. “I would have thought that Idris Elba and Sam Jackson would have been a shoo-in for nominations.”
This year, no black actors were nominated in the Academy Awards’ individual acting categories. In the award’s history, only 31 out of more than 2,900 Oscars awarded have gone to black winners. Big names like Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith, and Spike Lee, have all called to boycott the awards show, and many are following suit. Because of the widespread disgust with the Oscars, the Academy of Arts and Motion Pictures released a statement on January 19 that they would be taking dramatic steps to double the number of women and minorities in the Academy by 2020.
With this reform, which calls for members to renew their membership every 10 years instead of being set for life, there’s more opportunity for fresh faces in the voting body, and likely a greater chance that a wider, more diverse group of nominees may be selected for the Oscars each year. Although the Academy’s response is not solving the greater problem of racism in the United States, as DeVito suggested, it is positive step forward for the Oscars and everyone in Hollywood.
Do you agree with DeVito’s comments about racism in Hollywood? Sound off below.
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