#OscarsSoWhite – a hashtag that has haunted The Academy Of Motion Pictures Of Artists and Sciences for several years, due to the system’s inability to rightfully honor black artists in it’s 90-plus year history.
What can be a greater example of this neglect than the fact that Halle Berry still remains the one and only actress in the entire history of The Academy to have won the ‘Best Actress’ award.
That was in 2002, and it still hasn’t been repeated since.
Which means that they have passed on talents like Viola Davis, Cicely Tyson, Angela Bassett over the years.
Of course, the argument also remains that the lack of wins is simply proportional to the lack of opportunities and right roles given to non-white artists in Hollywood, but that still doesn’t change some of the most evident instances of snubs suffered by artists of color over the years.
Today, we list down some of the biggest and most shocking moments of Oscars snubbing black artists, revisiting which still hurts our hearts, simply for the love of cinema – if not for anything else.
Angela Bassett – What’s Love Got To Do With It
Angela Bassett remains one of the most formidable and revered actresses in Hollywood, yet she hasn’t been given her flowers, very often. The biggest example of that was her snub at the 1994 Oscars when she lost in spite of delivering one of the most unforgettable biopic-performances of all time, playing the role of Tina Turner. The ‘Best Actress’ Oscar this year was won by Holly Hunter for her amazing performance in The Piano, but we still feel Angela had a slight edge over other nominees that year.
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Chadwick’s performance in this film was nothing short of extraordinary, and no, we’re not saying this because he passed-away by the time this film started garnering all accolades. Perhaps his performance was overlooked because they didn’t want to make it seem as if he was being given an honorary posthumous award, but if you watch his stellar act in this film, it just proves why he deserved it – a lot more, than Sir Anthony Hopkins, who won it for The Father.
Whoopi Goldberg – The Color Purple
Perhaps the most riveting debut female performance in film history. Whoopi’s act in The Color Purple was so awe-inspiring, that it was hard to believe it was the same girl who later gave us Sisters Act. Despite being so young, the way Goldberg conveyed the inner turmoil of her character, and portrayed the most brutal of emotions on-screen, still remains etched in every cinema lover’s memory. The award for ‘Best Actress’ that year went to Geraldine Page for The Trip To Bountiful, in what clearly appeared like a ‘lifetime achievement honor’ than anything else.
Margaret Avery – The Color Purple
An understated performance from this Steven Spielberg masterpiece, that was nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category but did not win. Margaret was so subtle with her act and said so much through her eyes, than most actors can with words, that her character brought-out some of the finest moments in this iconic film. Oprah Winfrey – who was also nominated in the same category for her role in the film, also delivered a fine performance – but it was Margaret who deserved it all the way. The award was given to Anjelica Huston for her act in Prizzi’s Honor.
Cynthia Erivo – Stand Up! (Song from From Harriet)
Cynthia Erivo captured the soul and essence of the struggles of Harriet Tubman in this goosebumps-inducing composition as featured on her starring role in ‘Harriet.’ Lyrically, the song summed-up Harriet’s story and her legacy in the best way anyone could have imagined, and while it was nominated in the ‘Best Original Song’ category, the Academy chose to give the award to a rather unforgettable offering from Sir Elton John, from the film ‘Rocketman’, giving him his second Oscar.
Andra Day – The United States Vs. Billie Holiday
Singer-turned-actress Andra Day put her heart, soul and spirit in recreating Billie Holiday on celluloid for this Lee Daniels’ film. This was no less stellar than Rami Malek’s act as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody for which he won an Oscar a few years before. And while Andra won big at the Golden Globes, indicating a big win at the Oscars, she was snubbed at last, as they announced the most unexpected winner of the ceremony – Frances McDormand for Nomadland.
Denzel Washington – Malcolm X
In a career filled with barely any misses, this stands out as perhaps the finest piece of work by one of the most formidable acting talents to have come out in the last 40 years. Denzel Washington breathed life into the role of Malcolm X and it is still astonishing to think how he lost the award, despite being nominated, to a much underwhelming act from Al Pacino in Scent Of A Woman – which was perhaps another ‘giveaway’ by Oscars for making-up to Pacino for all the times they didn’t rightly honor him in the past.
Forrest Whitaker – The Butler
Forrest delivered an absolutely riveting performance in this hard-hitting piece of historical drama, yet the Academy failed to even nominate him for the role. Lee Daniels’ The Butler may have been panned by a few historians, but the performances in this powerful drama were top-notch, and the least the Academy could have done was – acknowledge it with a nomination.
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious
You would think Academy would learn it’s lesson, after giving us one of the most unforgettable snubs by not honoring Whoopi Goldberg for The Color Purple in 1985, but you’d be wrong as they did it again in 2010. Neglecting a gut-wrenching act by Gabourey Sidibe in her debut performance in Precious, the award was given to perhaps the most undeserving performance in all of Oscars-history to – Sandra Bullock, for a role that itself didn’t have much to offer in ‘The Blind Side.’
Denzel Washington – American Gangster
How is it possible that you deliver a performance like this and do not even get a nomination from the Academy, while George Clooney gets acknowledged for a much underwhelming act in Michael Clayton? This major diss from the 2008 Oscars is still unfathomable, but Denzel’s act shines on it’s own – in what can easily be termed, one of the best ‘underworld crime’ movies of all time.
Some other black artists who haven’t been aptly recognized by the Academy include – Taraji P. Henson for Hidden Figures, Morgan Freeman for Driving Miss Daisy and The Shawshank Redemption, Viola Davis for Doubt, Denzel Washington for Fences, Lawrence Fishburne for What’s Love Got To Do With It, Samuel L. Jackson for The Pulp Fiction and Spike Lee for all the amazing and culturally important movies he’s brought to the table over the years (to name a few).
Also, don’t forget to check out our list of the – ‘Worst ‘Best Actress’ Oscar Winners Of All Time‘!