After the release of this year's Oscar nominees the other day, much has been made about the whiteness of those being recognized. With virtually no minorities present in major categories, some have decided to boycott the ceremony, hoping to bring further awareness to Hollywood's lack of diversity in its most prestigious films.
I could not agree more. And I believe we must go further. Not only are minorities underrepresented, but so are left-handed people. This is completely unfair to all the hardworking filmmakers who deserve to be recognized, as well as to the many left-handed moviegoers who want to see themselves represented both on the screen and in the production process.
In the acting and directing categories, 25 nominees overall, only one--Jennifer Lawrence--is left-handed. Since over 10% of the general population is left-handed, including yours truly, this 4% representation is unacceptable. And with only one of 25, I'm catching a strong whiff of tokenism with Ms. Lawrence. I can hear the deniers now: "It's not on purpose. Hey, some of my best friends are left-handed!" Even one of film's most famous southpaws, Best Supporting Actor front-runner Sylvester Stallone, is actually right-handed. If that isn't a blatant case of "right-washing," I don't know what is. It's bad enough that we are discriminated against in virtually all facets of life, and we are statistically less educated, less wealthy, and even less healthy than our right-handed counterparts. But we are also snubbed in our place of entertainment.
Movies should do more to represent all of America, not just the right-privileged. This has gone on too long. We even have a left-handed president, for crying out loud! When will Hollywood realize this is the 21st century? We lefties must stand together in this struggle. Boycott the awards and forward this hashtag. After all, that is where real change comes from.
I could not agree more. And I believe we must go further. Not only are minorities underrepresented, but so are left-handed people. This is completely unfair to all the hardworking filmmakers who deserve to be recognized, as well as to the many left-handed moviegoers who want to see themselves represented both on the screen and in the production process.
In the acting and directing categories, 25 nominees overall, only one--Jennifer Lawrence--is left-handed. Since over 10% of the general population is left-handed, including yours truly, this 4% representation is unacceptable. And with only one of 25, I'm catching a strong whiff of tokenism with Ms. Lawrence. I can hear the deniers now: "It's not on purpose. Hey, some of my best friends are left-handed!" Even one of film's most famous southpaws, Best Supporting Actor front-runner Sylvester Stallone, is actually right-handed. If that isn't a blatant case of "right-washing," I don't know what is. It's bad enough that we are discriminated against in virtually all facets of life, and we are statistically less educated, less wealthy, and even less healthy than our right-handed counterparts. But we are also snubbed in our place of entertainment.
Movies should do more to represent all of America, not just the right-privileged. This has gone on too long. We even have a left-handed president, for crying out loud! When will Hollywood realize this is the 21st century? We lefties must stand together in this struggle. Boycott the awards and forward this hashtag. After all, that is where real change comes from.