Words are Wind: Oscars Remain Lots of Talk and Little Change

The long-standing blight of Hollywood is making an attempt at redeeming the formerly lavish, respected title it boasted. Amid flagrant abuses of power, sexual misconduct, and the gender and racial inequality that is part of the foundation of the institution of celebreality and Hollywood business, the #MeToo movement and masses of heroic women across media have been striking back at an intolerable status quo. We hear about exorbitant Hollywood wealth adding to the $4.8 million in fundraising for various charities last year, but what’s being done to promote the rhetoric of social change that’s so prevalent in their seemingly incessant speeches and tweets?

The Oscars were this past Sunday and in the wake of the Weinstein accusations, the #MeToo movement, and light being shed on the ugly imbalance of representation and poor treatment of women in Hollywood, the event made a feeble attempt at doing better. In an effort to cast the historically white, male-dominated academy as more inclusive, the show tried to highlight more women and underrepresented minority groups. A great effort magnified by dazzle and circumstance, but overshadowed by a visible fact: of the 39 people who won Academy Awards this past Sunday, six of them were women.

The Women’s Media Center measures the numbers against the previous year saying that 80% of nominees last year were men and that this year 77% of nominees were men, veritably citing no change at all. How Hollywood begins to synthesize these facts as women rise together within the industry and without will be telling of how they truly view the current imbalance. Actress Ashley Judd spoke of a “mighty chorus speaking up” and the voices of women in the spotlight were heard, but later when the winner for best actress, Frances McDormand, urged the female nominees to stand, the scarcity was palpable. New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor tweeted about the moment: “The most striking thing, here in the room, about watching the female nominees stand? There were so few of them.”

Hollywood is at a crossroads; the power and voices of women in media need to be heard loudly and unceasingly. For Hollywood, the spotlight is bright and the world is waiting to see if their claims of championing social justice and equality are being put to action or if they’re empty. It may be too early to see, but the Oscars certainly highlighted the lengthy work ahead.