Oscars Preview: A Look at the Films, and Hollywood and Race

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This years Academy Awards nominations created a huge controversy when the academy nominations included only white actors for the second year in a row. A number of actors have said they will boycott the awards ceremony because of its lack of diversity. But as they say “the show must go on.” 

Movie critic Jeff Meyers joins Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson to take a look at this year’s nominees. Meyers and Henderson are then joined by Bossip.com cultural commentator David Dennis to talk about the controversy surrounding race in Hollywood. Here are a couple highlights from that conversation: 

• Black Actors and Movies: “There are movies that are qualified… Black people are acting in movies and making movies and doing things that are Oscar-worthy,” says David Dennis. “It’s still an insult that [the Academy] think they’re representing all of the best of Hollywood, and they’re not.”
• Change in Hollywood: “From my perspective, Oscars should change… we should all be honoring the work of good artists, whatever their color.” says Jeff Meyers. “We can’t pretend it’s color-blindness, because it’s not.”