This Sunday is the 2012 Oscars ceremony. The Oscars are awarded based on the votes of nearly 6,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; however, the Academy keeps the identities of the voting members secret, so there’s little knowledge of who, exactly, determines the recipients of Oscars, prestigious awards within the industry that can increase interest in a film, increase job opportunities, and generally raise the profile of winners.
Sangyoub Park sent in a link to an article at the L.A. Times story about Academy voters. Times reporters were able to verify the identity of 89% of current voters, and the paper provided this breakdown of their demographics; as it turns out, those deciding who wins an Oscar are overwhelmingly White non-Hispanic and male:
Within some categories of voting members, Whites are even more dominant; they make up 98% of writers and executives. Voters are also disproportionately older; the median age is 62, and the Times reports that only 14% were under age 50.
As the Times story illustrates, many inside and outside of the film industry believe the make-up of Oscar voters influences which movies, actors, and directors have a serious chance of winning, with those that appeal to middle-aged White men inherently advantaged because of the lack of diversity among voters.
Comments 11
Gilbert Pinfold — February 23, 2012
'Middle-aged white males' sounds almost like code for conservative. Yet we know that Hollywood is an ultra-liberal enclave within one of America's most liberal cities.
Doctressjulia — February 23, 2012
No surprise there... white d00ds run everything.
And it will always be that way, so deal with it. /s
Gilbert Pinfold — February 23, 2012
OK, seen it. It would be interesting to juxtapose some stats on what women watch to see if audiences are 'Bechdel sensitive'. If not, ie, woman like Bechdel-failing movies as much as they like Bechdel-passing movies. then we have a potential 'false consciousness' issue.
I mean, are these successful, experienced, (and arch liberal talking) guys like Spielberg trying to keep women and minorities down; are they just oblivious to the concept of point-of-view as the video suggests ('picking stories they can relate to'); or are they giving people what they want?
Bechdel Testing the Oscars « Pondering Postfeminism — February 24, 2012
[...] On a similar note, Sociological Images looks at the breakdown of those who vote for the Oscars: “Who are the Oscars voters?” [...]
The Boys Club | mediaBlitz — March 21, 2015
[…] well received, so what gives, Academy? Perhaps this is due to the fact that the Academy is mostly made up of men. Or maybe it digs deeper at the limited amount of women who are able to get their projects made. […]