People Editor
Every February, the Oscars cause millions of people to flock to their TV screens to catch a glimpse of their favorite movie stars as they strut across the red carpet in designer gowns and suits. Everyone watching waits in suspense to see who will win best actor, actress, best picture, and so many other categories that award the movies of the year with the quintessential recognition unique to this show. Every year, there is always a comedic host that takes the stage to entertain the audience while they wait for more awards.
When exploring past hosts of the iconic show, I noticed that there has been a huge lack of diversity among them. Many of those who have hosted the iconic award show in the past have been white men or women; only in recent years have more diverse hosts graced the Oscar stage. And even though females have hosted before, only a handful have appeared without a male co-host.
The award show has also faced a lot of controversy with its most recent selection of a host, actor and comedian Kevin Hart. Due to a series of homophobic tweets from a number of years ago, the actor has been under fire. To make matters worse, Hart refused to apologize for these controversial tweets and instead turned down the opportunity of a lifetime because he didn’t “want to be a distraction” to the show.
As a result, the academy is frantically looking for a new host to take over, and are even considering doing the show without any host at all, something which hasn’t happened in many years. It seems that, although the show is searching for a new host, they are conveniently ignoring minorities for the big job, angering many people on social media and affecting the shows potential ratings for this year. As we know, the Oscars is a huge platform and many think that minorities need this kind of recognition to give a recognizable voice to the millions of people who watch the show every year.
In the end, the Oscars needs to take into account the possibility of new and fresh faces to host and show more representation throughout the film community. In hopes of change, Sandra Oh, an Asian American actress who hosted the Golden Globes this year, said in a heartfelt speech when speaking out about diversity, “I’m not fooling myself, next year could be different, it probably will be, but right now this moment is real. Because I see you, all of these faces of change, and now, so will everyone else.”
As the faces of fame begin to change, award shows such as the oscars need to change with it. The loss of a host will hopefully push the academy in the right direction to choosing a new host that is representative and recognizable with the many different communities that take part in the film industry.
Categories: Opinion, Web Exclusive