Watch ‘Last Week Tonight’ Explain Hollywood Whitewashing in Four Minutes
There’s not shortage of controversy around this year’s Oscars. But there is a shortage of roles for people of color in Hollywood — or at least that’s the argument that tends to get made by those who think that it’s not fair to blame the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for selecting an all-white field of acting nominees (for the second year in a row). The fault, they claim, lies with the Hollywood filmmakers who don’t make opportunities for actors of color in the first place. The system of honoring actors is merely a reflection, supposedly, of the larger system of moviemaking, and all its flaws.