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Guyana sends its apan jaat thing to Hollywood

Jan 30, 2016 Letters

I believe this topic and how it plays out here in Los Angeles has relevance to Guyana and indeed any multi-ethnic society. For the second year in a row the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has nominated an all-white cast (20 performers) for the annual Oscar awards. The ceremony, considered the greatest razzle dazzle in television broadcast, will take place on February 28. As is usual, millions around the world will watch the spectacle in high definition.
The controversy over the all-white nominees is raging in Social Media (#OscarsSoWhite). On the ground the most notable voices are those of director Spike Lee, actor Will Smith, and his actress wife Jada Pinkett Smith. Comedian Chris Rock (for the second time) will host the proceedings. He was asked to give it up but is staying and will revise his script to reflect the issue.Noteworthy too is that Whoopie Goldberg did not lend her voice to the protest.
The Academy has over 6,200 members. Though no official demographics are kept, an unofficial report just a few years ago found that whites were 93%, males 76%, and the average age 63 years. Clearly these numbers do not reflect the diversity of the movie consuming public. One saving grace is that the selections were made by the actors branch of the Academy, which has 1,333 members and that branch is much more diverse than the overall institution is.
Yet one wonders, was any core principle breached in the all-white selection? Were the selectors totally colorblind? Were their choices based exclusively on excellence and merit? If there were deficiencies in the aforementioned departments, then certainly there would be cause for concern. And if so, the next question would be, which of the 20 white performers are undeserving. And it doesn’t end there. The follow-up question would be, which non-white actors should take the white actors’ places. Do you see where this is going?
And let us not forget, cinema is a high art form. Just like painting, music, literature, etc., you don’t want to set strictures, limits, and other forms of encumbrances. The Academy is not like a government department. It is not sustained and supported by public funds. I don’t think it is beholden to reflect the diversity of the general populace, even voluntarily. More importantly, it must first and foremost promote the art of filmmaking. In so doing, it will become diverse because the soaring talent of ethnic peoples will not be held back. It happens to be too a for-profit business. What is sellable will hit the market regardless of the shade of its makers.
In response to the outcry the 51-member Board of Governors of the Academy held an emergency meeting to address the matter. At that meeting it was resolved to double the membership of women and minorities so that by 2020 women would make up 48% and minorities 14%. Evidently the Academy did the politically correct thing, even though it is not a political animal. So what, you might say, even the U.S. Supreme Court at times adopts a market-place agenda and does the politically correct thing. Now when blacks, Latinos, and Asians and others who become voting members as a result of this “quota/affirmative” opening, will they, as mandated by their admission route, vote more on the grounds of race, gender, and ethnic origin, in other words, apan jaat? People of Guyana, you are not alone. We have been doing the apan jaat shuffle since, let us say, time immemorial. Now we have company. Please welcome to the club Hollywood’s the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
P. D. Sharma

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