On Tuesday morning (7th January), the nominations for the 73rd BAFTA Awards, which will take place on 2nd February, caused an uproar on social media and beyond for its severe lack of diverse nominees.
In an unfortunate turn for 2020, the awarding body has failed to nominate any people of colour in the acting categories, with only white actors being recognised. Nominees include Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro in the Best Leading Actor category, with Scarlett Johansson and Margot Robbie both nominated twice. Though this will surely be a competitive show, it is lacking in representation of people of colour – as well as lacking in women for the Best Director category, as all nominees are male.
Unlike the Golden Globes that took place in LA on Sunday (5th January), where a wider range of actors were celebrated, the BAFTA nominations look even less inclusive, in comparison. Black actors such as Lupita Nyong’o, who starred in Jordan Peele’s horror ‘Us’, and Cynthia Erivo who played revolutionary Harriet Tubman in Kasi Lemmons’ ‘Harriet’ gave performances that were widely praised, yet are absent from the Bafta nominations. In addition, other possible contenders could have included Jennifer Lopez for her adored role in ‘Hustlers’ and Awkwafina (real name Nora Lim) for her performance in ‘The Farewell’; both actresses of colour have been nominated for other awards, evidently considered to be worthy elsewhere.
There seems to be a repetition in regards to race being a factor that counts out nominees; similar circumstances occurred around the 2016 Oscars, which sparked the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite for only having white nominees. Stars such as Jada Pinkett-Smith decided to boycott the awards in a form of protest, and an attempt for change but from the looks of this year nominees it seems like there needs to be more than just a boycott to change the outcomes of nominees. Without taking away from those currently nominated, it’s impossible to say that not one actor from another race didn’t deserve consideration for a BAFTA. The world has seen too much talent for only one race of people to get recognition and praise just because of a one-sided judge panel.
Though things like boycotts and hashtags draw attention to the problem, it hasn’t helped change things as quickly as hoped. It’s clear that there needs to be an alteration in who decides on the nominees in the first place. It seems the entertainment industry needs to improve on recognising, not just black people, but people from all backgrounds and their contributions in entertainment.
