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Danielle Deadwyler cites racism, misogynoir in Oscar snub

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Danielle Deadwyler cites racism, misogynoir in Oscar snub

Danielle Deadwyler says racism and misogynoir played a role in this year’s Academy Awards nominations, where she and Viola Davis were overlooked in the best actress category.

Going into Oscar nominations last month, Deadwyler was widely seen as a likely nominee for her lauded performance as Mamie Till-Mobley in “Till.” But the best actress field, perhaps the most competitive category this year, didn’t shake out as expected: Both Deadwyler and Davis were left out.
Davis, a four-time Oscar nominee and one-time winner for her performance in “Fences,” had been celebrated for the historical epic “The Woman King.” Deadwyler had been nominated by the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the BAFTAs in the run-up to Oscar nominations and won best lead performance at the Gotham Awards.

That two prominent Black actors were among the most striking snubs has been seen by some as a reflection of racial bias in the film industry. The day after the Oscar nominations, “Till” director Chinonye Chukwu posted on Instagram: “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.”

Asked for her reaction to that comment on an episode of the “Kermode & Mayo’s Take” podcast posted on Friday, Deadwyler strongly agreed with Chukwu.

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“We’re talking about people who perhaps chose not to see the film — we’re talking about misogynoir — like it comes in all kinds of ways, whether it’s direct or indirect,” said Deadwyler. “It impacts who we are. I think the question is more on people who are living in whiteness, white people’s assessment of the spaces they are privileged by.”

Misogynoir, a term coined by the Black feminist author and activist Moya Bailey, refers to misogyny and prejudice directed at Black women.

“I think the question is more on people who are living in whiteness, white people’s assessment of the spaces they are privileged by,” added Deadwyler. “We’ve seen it exist in a governmental capacity — it can exist on a societal capacity, be it global or national.”

That Deadwyler and Davis were edged out of an Oscar nomination is part of what fueled the initial backlash to the star-studded grassroots campaign for actress Andrea Riseborough. After a string of celebrity-hosted screenings (a regular feature of Hollywood’s awards season), Riseborough unexpectedly landed a nomination for her performance in the indie drama “To Leslie,” alongside Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”), Cate Blanchett (“Tar”), Ana de Armas (“Blonde”) and Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”).

After the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced an inquiry into the Riseborough campaign, it found no reason to rescind her nomination or take any other action — though Bill Kramer, academy president, said some social media and outreach campaigning tactics “caused concern.”

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But the conversation has continued on how money, race, status and connections can influence awards campaigns. “The Woman King” director Gina Prince-Bythewood said earlier this week that she questioned how people in the film industry are using their social capital.

“People like to say, ‘Well, Viola and Danielle had studios behind them.’ But we just very clearly saw that social capital is more valuable than that,” Prince-Bythewood told The Hollywood Reporter. “That type of power is exercised in more casual ways in social circles, where folks are your friends or your acquaintances. There may be diversity on your sets but not in your lives. And Black women in this industry, we don’t have that power.”

Deadwyler, whom The Associated Press named one of the breakthrough performers of last year, said on the podcast it was everyone’s responsibility to ensure an equitable playing field.

“Nobody is absolved of not participating in racism and not knowing that there is a possibility of its lingering effect on the spaces and the institution,” she said.

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Noorul Hassan joins star cast of Selahaddin Eyyubi

Noorul Hassan joins star cast of Selahaddin Eyyubi

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Noorul Hassan joins star cast of Selahaddin Eyyubi

Noorul Hassan, a popular TV show host and a veteran TV actor known for his versatile roles in several drama serials over the last two decades, has joined the star cast of the Turkish drama serial Selahaddin Eyyubi, which is a combination of action, historical drama and adventure.

A private TV channel will soon telecast Selahaddin Eyyubi in the Urdu language. 

Previously, this drama serial is being telecast by a Turkish TV channel at 9pm every Monday.

This drama serial is based on the life of the inspiring Muslim ruler and military commander Sultan Selahaddin Eyyubi.

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Turkish actor Ugur Gunes is playing the role of Sultan Selahaddin Eyyubi in the drama serial also featuring Pakistani actors Adnan Siddiqui, Humayun Saeed, Kashif Ansari, Junaid Ali Shah and others.

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Aamir Khan to appear on ‘Kapil Sharma Show’ for 1st time

Aamir Khan to appear on ‘Kapil Sharma Show’ for 1st time

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Aamir Khan to appear on 'Kapil Sharma Show' for 1st time

Bollywood icon Aamir Khan will make his debut appearance in an interview with comedian Kapil Sharma.

He recently filmed an episode for Netflix’s upcoming series, “The Great Indian Kapil Show,” as teased in a newly released promo.

Despite having shared public interactions previously, this marks the first time the two stars have collaborated professionally.

According to NDTV’s report last year, during the trailer launch event of “Carry on Jatta 3,” Aamir Khan questioned why he hadn’t been invited to Kapil’s show yet.

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In response, Kapil innocently stated, “I’ve always approached him amidst crowds and requested him to join our show. However, he often mentioned being occupied with other engagements.”

Aamir, the lead actor of “Ghajini,” then assured, “I’ll definitely make it, but please avoid calling me around my movie releases. I prefer not to promote them and would rather entertain.”

Nearly a year later, he has fulfilled his promise.

This is a significant gesture from Aamir, who typically refrains from interview appearances unless it’s for promotional purposes.

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US artist Richard Serra, known for enormous steel sculptures, dead at 85

US artist Richard Serra, known for enormous steel sculptures, dead at 85

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US artist Richard Serra, known for enormous steel sculptures, dead at 85

American artist Richard Serra, whose enormous steel sculptures coated with a fine patina of rust decorated landscapes and dominated oversized galleries in the world’s finest museums, died on Tuesday, the New York Times reported. He was 85.

The artist died at his home on New York’s Long Island of pneumonia, the Times reported, citing his lawyer, John Silberman.

Born in San Francisco in 1938 to a Spanish father and Russian mother, Serra grew up visiting marine shipyards where his father worked and also labored in steel mills to support himself in his youth, according to his San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Guggenheim Museum biographies.

Despite the large scale of his works, artistically he was considered a minimalist, letting the dimensions of his art relative to the viewer, rather than elaborate imagery, make its point.

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After studying at the University of California, Berkeley, and Yale University, he moved to New York in 1966 where he began making art from industrial materials such as metal, fiberglass and rubber.

Though he would later become quite popular, one of his 1981 works was so poorly received that it was removed from public view in Lower Manhattan, ARTnews said.

“Tilted Arc,” a 120-foot (36-meter) bar of steel, is today “remembered as one of the most reviled works of public art in the city’s history. It was ultimately taken away because people hated it so much,” ARTnews said.

He made a breakthrough in 1969 when he was included in “Nine Young Artists: Theodoron Awards” at New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

After traveling to Spain to study Mozarabic architecture in the early 1980s, his work gained renowned in Europe and with solo exhibitions at major museums in Germany and France.

Serra’s work was especially appreciated in his father’s native Spain, where the Reina Sofia museum offered a 1992 retrospective of his work and he had an exhibit dedicated exclusively to his work at the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim museum in Bilbao.

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A 2002 New Yorker magazine profile entitled “Man of Steel” described him as a “stocky, powerful-looking man with a large head, a fringe of close-cropped gray hair, and black eyes whose intense stare reminds you of Picasso’s.”

That same piece told of Serra’s self-realisation that he was not a painter, after seeing Diego Velazquez’s 1656 work “Las Meninas” in the Prado museum in Madrid.

“It pretty much stopped me,” Serra said. “Cezanne hadn’t stopped me, de Kooning and Pollack hadn’t stopped me, but Velazquez seemed like a bigger thing to deal with. That sort of nailed the coffin on painting for me.”

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