Social media is surely one of the strongest forces in the world in this day and age. Will Smith, his family and the ‘Oscars So White’ hashtag are the most recent proof.
Jada Pinkett-Smith Announces Absence from Academy Awards, Will Smith Joins In
Jada Pinkett-Smith went to Facebook and Twitter to announce that she was not attending the 88th Academy Awards. Many were overjoyed and many were offended. The impact of posts on social media are known start entire trends, and this was no exception.
The Academy President, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, doesn’t seem to support the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag. She responded to Pinkett-Smith’s declaration with extreme disappointment. She said that ‘the Academy is taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership.’ This means that one tweet, one Facebook post can change a whole powerful organization.
The Power of A Single Tweet or Facebook Post Can Start A Whole Movement
The Academy of Motion Picture Sciences is responsible for awarding out some of the most respected honors to the members of the visual media arts community. Jada Pinkett-Smith is joined by Spike Lee and her husband Will Smith in choosing not to attend the ceremony because the Academy shows the world who they believe should represent the visual media arts. Apparently, only white people should represent the visual media arts.
The Academy President is actually African American. In fact, so is the award show’s host for the year, Chris Rock. However, it’s hard to stand by idly without making a comment. Chris Rock took to Twitter to call the Oscars ‘The White BET Awards’, and Boone Isaacs expressed her disappointment in the lack of diversity among the nominees for the major categories. To be exact, this year’s Oscar nominees were 94% white and 75% male.
Will Things Change by the Time the 89th Academy Awards Come Around?
After having said that the Academy is re-evaluating the nomination process, Jada Pinkett-Smith only said that she looks forward to the future. She and her husband are still set on not attending the ceremony. Even Caucasian celebrities like Mark Ruffalo are still debating whether or not they will attend.
This altercation shows the real power of social media as a tool to connect people. Members of all communities and all walks of life are coming together to defend the movement. They are calling out the exclusion within the Academy against every race that is not white. We might actually see some change, but we may see this get swept under the rug. Until then, people can follow up on the movement by looking up the ‘Oscars So White’ hashtag.
