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Till writer and director Chinonye Chukwu is calling out the Oscars for their “unabashed misogyny towards Black women.”
On Jan. 24, the award-winning filmmaker took to Instagram to slam the Academy after her 2022 biopic Till didn’t receive a nomination, Entertainment Weekly reported. The film, which garnered praise from film critics, tells the story of Mamie Till-Mobley’s fight for justice after her son, Emmett Till, was lynched in 1955.
“We live in a world and work in industries that are so aggressively committed to upholding whiteness and perpetuating an unabashed misogyny towards Black women,” Chukwu penned Tuesday. “And yet. I am forever in gratitude for the greatest lesson of my life — regardless of any challenges or obstacles, I will always have the power to cultivate my own joy, and it is this joy that will continue to be one of my greatest forms of resistance.”
Chukwu’s fiery caption included a photo that showed her smiling alongside civil rights activist Myrlie Evers-Williams. The legendary freedom fighter and her late husband Medgar Evers played an instrumental role in helping to publicize the vicious hate crime.
Twitter calls out The Oscars for snubbing Till star Danielle Deadwyler
After the 2023 Academy Award nominees were announced Tuesday, fans were shocked to see that Till actress Danielle Deadwyler wasn’t included on the list. Fans were certain she would receive a nod for Best Actress due to her stellar performance as Till’s mother.
“The Oscars snubbed Danielle Deadwyler. Her performance in Till was EVERYTHING,” wrote one Twitter user, while another fan tweeted:
“Danielle Deadwyler’s Oscar snub this morning is one of the worst I can recall in recent memory. That’s me putting it mildly. Awards aren’t everything, but for that performance to not even be nominated just shows that somethin is seriously wrong.”
A few film buffs also criticized the Academy for snubbing Viola Davis, who shattered box office charts after The Woman King was released in September 2022. Some Twitter users resurrected the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite to sound off about the issue.
LA Times writer Jonah Valdez noted that this year was “the 83rd time film academy voters did not nominate a Black actress for a lead performance.”
“For Black actors, it’s the 74th lead-performance snub,” he added.
Hollywood Vet Viola Davis and Rihanna were nominated for an Oscar this year according to Hello Beautiful. Bassett received a nomination for best supporting actress for her portrayal of Queen Ramonda in the Marvel blockbuster Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. She’s the first person of color, the first woman and the first Marvel actor to be nominated for a comic book-inspired film.
Rihanna, who is currently making her return to the spotlight after a six-year hiatus, also snagged a nomination. The Bajan beauty received her first Oscar nom under the best original song category for cowriting “Lift Me Up,” a tune that appears on the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack.
What do you think about this year’s nominees? Did the Oscars fail to include Black excellence on the list? Tell us in the comments section.
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