Are new diversity requirements for Best Picture too much or not enough?
On Sept. 8, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a new set of diversity requirements for Best Picture eligibility at the Oscars. According to the Oscars website, these standards are “designed to encourage equitable representation on and off screen.”
To qualify for Best Picture, a film must meet two of the four requirements: on-screen representation, creative leadership team representation, industry access and opportunities, and audience development. These standards provide several options for representation in each category, such as requiring one lead actor from an underrepresented racial group, 30 per cent of the film crew from underrepresented groups, or paid internship opportunities for underrepresented groups.
These requirements will be gradually implemented into Best Picture qualifications over the next four years, beginning with a confidential Academy Inclusion Standards form in 2022.
Over the years, the Oscars have been criticized for their lack of representation, even leading to the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag. Despite a slow increase in female film directors and lead actors of colour, these films are not winning many Oscars or even being nominated for Oscar awards. In response to possible biases in their voting members, the Academy has also doubled the number of women and racially underrepresented members in their A2020 initiative.
Either the Academy has done this as a publicity move in response to #OscarsSoWhite, or the industry has so few minority groups that it needs to make some major changes. Or both.
When I first heard of these new requirements, I was glad that minority representation was being put in the limelight. It is important for everyone to see themselves in films and stories, to be empowered by characters with the same identities as themselves. In looking at the requirements, it seems that it does not take much to adhere to this new policy. One must only meet two of the four requirements to be eligible for Best Picture. A film does not even have to include underrepresented groups on screen or in the creative department to be eligible.
In addition, these requirements are for a single award. A film can still be made and can still win an Oscar without adhering to these rules. The Academy has very low expectations for diversity — almost insultingly low. Perhaps it was created this way to act as a statement of the Academy’s priorities more than a new set of rules, encouraging all films to include representation, whether or not they are striving to win Best Picture.
However, as important as these changes are, I am wary of an Academy that implies that a film can only be the best if they adhere to certain policies. As much as I believe in encouraging representation, I also believe in fair hiring practices — which means that racial identity, gender, and sexual orientation should not be considered. The film industry cannot always abide by this because it must hire actors with specific physical characteristics for certain stories. This may be a sign that new, diverse characters should have their own stories to embody.
Is representation far more important than the principle of enforcing it? At this point in the game, I believe so. A movie’s purpose is to tell a story to an audience. So, what stories are being told? Who has been left out of the intended audience? Maybe it’s time for privileged people to step back and let others take the reigns.
I certainly wish to see representation in everything I watch — to be shown a story from someone who is different from me, and to see myself on and off screen — and I am happy to see an effort toward diversity. My only worry is that the Academy (and other groups in the industry) will choose to expand on these rules. I will be watching to see what unfolds over time: if the Academy expands their requirements for more diversity across more awards, if the film industry commits to fair hiring practices, and if these changes make a dent in increasing diversity.
Danaye studies English and procrastination at UFV and is very passionate about the Oxford comma. She spends her days walking to campus from the free parking zones, writing novels she'll never finish, and pretending to know how to pronounce abominable. Once she graduates, she plans to adopt a cat.
