After making her hashtag #OscarsSoWhite go viral last year by claiming the Oscar nominations were racist and urging a boycott in protest, April Reign is still unhappy. This year, seven of the 20 nominations in acting categories went to minority actors and three films in the Best Documentary category are about black experiences in America. But Reign has now taken her hashtag tweeting advocacy campaign onto another social justice issue – stating that she’s still waiting for LGBT comedies and disabled superheroes.
Daniel Nussbaum at Breitbart noted she told the Los Angeles Times:
“One year does not make up for over 80 years of underrepresentation of all genders, sexual orientations, races, abilities and First Nation status…#OscarsSoWhite is about the inclusion of all marginalized communities, both in front of and behind the camera, throughout the entertainment industry...”
“Everyone is saying the Oscars are more diverse this year. No they’re not. They’re blacker, but where are the Latinx movies, the LGBTQIA movies? The Asian American/Pacific Islander community has had a worse year. We can’t forget [them] just because we have black nominees this year. #OscarsSoWhite is about everybody.”
In another interview, she told The Hollywood Reporter:
“While these films this year reflect the black experience, I’m still waiting for films that reflect the Latin experience, for a romantic comedy with two LGBTQ members, for a disabled or differently-abled superhero. We’ve actually seen a step back in respect to the Asian-American and Pacific Islander experience with movies like Ghost in the Shell or Tilda Swinton in Doctor Strange. So there’s still more work for #OscarsSoWhite. We haven’t gotten there yet, but today was another step in the right direction.”
Prior to last year’s Oscars, the hashtag campaign divided Hollywood last year as some believed more of an effort needed to be given to get more minorities in the film industry, while others maintained racism was not a factor in how the Academy made its film selections. There was even a protest hours before the Oscars, led by none other than ambulance-chaser of all things racial, the Rev. Al Sharpton. “They claim to be liberal in Hollywood,” the MSNBC host told reporters at the protest. “You couldn’t tell from their selections the past two years.”
The Academy has tried to boost diversity in front of and behind the scenes of the film industry, even sending a record 683 invitations to target women and minorities, even changing a rule that went from allowing members to have voting rights for life to a much shorter term of 10 years. Although this opens its doors to members of diversity, it can also be viewed as phasing out members who happen to be older and white.
