after making a post about with statistics about black oscar nominees/winners, i was asked to do it for other PoC so here you go, a compilation post
since the academy awards began in 1929:
a black man has been nominated for best leading actor 20 times
- out of these 20 nominations, there are only 13 different black men who have been nominated
- only twice were more than one black actor nominated in the same year
- out of these 20 nominations, only four won (not including Chiwetel Ejiofor, who is nominated this year and will hopefully win)
- out of these 20 nominations, 16 were for roles that had to be played by black men (i.e. they were based on real people or the storyline called for it)
- Out of the mere 4 roles in which the actor being black was not specifically required, only 2 roles could really have realistically been played by an actor of another racewithout it being awkward/unrealistic/changing the story (Denzel Washington in Flight, and Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption)
a black woman has been nominated for the academy award for best leading actress 10 times
- only once was more than one black actress nominated in the same year
- out of these 10 nominations, only one won
- every single role required a black actress
an asian man has been nominated for best leading actor 3 times
- out of those three nominations, two won
- only two different asian men have been nominated
- out of those three nominations, all three had to be played by asian men
- there have never been more than one asian man nominated in the same year
- the last time an asian man was nominated for best leading actor was 11 years ago
an asian woman has been nominated for best leading actress 1 time
- no asian woman has ever won the oscar for best leading actress
- the role did not require an asian actress
- the last time an asian woman was nominated for best leading actress was 79 years ago
a latino or hispanic man (including those born in and outside the US) has been nominated for best leading actor 10 times
- of those 10 nominations, only 1 won
- of those 10 nominations, only 6 different men were nominated
- of those 10 nominations, 4 had to be played by hispanic/latino men
- at least half of the men nominated have been white-passing (this is not just an opinion: they played specifically white characters such as italians and greeks)
a latina or hispanic woman (including those born in and outside the US) has been nominated for best leading actress 4 times
- no hispanic or latina actress has ever won the oscar for best actress
- every role nominated required a hispanic or latina actress
do you see the problems here?
- ridiculously low number of PoC nominees, and even lower number of PoC winners
- lack of opportunities presented to PoC actors: the roles that do not specify a race are overwhelmingly given to white actors, leaving only the PoC-specific roles for PoC actors
- the number of movies starring PoC people or with the cast being a majority PoC, but not about their race, is stunningly low