Why #OscarsSoWhite may have it wrong about racism and the academy

The controversy over this year'sfailure bythe 6,000 memberAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciencesto nominate any black actorscontinues to gather steam, with suggestions that their exclusionis indicative of systemic racism among those selecting the nominees.

But asmost industry observers note, the snubbing of well-received performances is a time-honoured academytradition. Indeed, theidea that theOscars has ever been ameritocracy is absurd asthere are many factors including who are the better schmoozersthat oftendetermine whether an actor, director or film will get a nomination.

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"Toimply that this is because all of us are racists is extremely offensive," actressPenelopeAnn Miller, a member of the actors branch of the academy, told The Hollywood Reporter.

"I don't want to be lumped into a category of being a racist because I'm certainly not, and because I support and benefit from the talent of black people in this business. It was just an incredibly competitive year."

To date, actor Will Smith, who had a starring role in the well-reviewedfilmConcussion, his wifeJadaPinkettSmith,director Spike Lee anddocumentarianMichael Moorehave all said they will sit out theshow.

Meanwhile, #OscarsSoWhitehas become a popular twittermeme. There have alsobeen calls for African-American host Chris Rock to back out,while activistssuch as Rev. AlSharptonare promising tolead a campaign encouraging people not to watch the Feb. 28 telecast.

"Hollywood is like the Rocky Mountains, the higher up you get, the whiter it gets,"Sharptonsaid."And this year's Academy Awards will be yet another Rocky Mountain Oscars."

On Friday, reacting to the backlash, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced it woulddouble its invitation-only membership of women and minorities by 2020.

The current controversy stemsnot only fromtheslate ofall-white actor nominationsthis year, for the second year in a row,but for its overlooking of such critically acclaimed work as that performed by WillSmith,IdrisElba inBeasts of No Nation and the black stars and directors of filmslikeCreed and StraightOuttaCompton.

Other works snubbed

Defenders of the nominations, however, note that thework of anumber of other artists who critics saidwere deserving of nominations was also excluded. They includedMichaelKeatonfor hissupporting actor rolein Spotlight,RidleyScott fordirectingThe Martian and ToddHayneswho directed Carol, a film many critics felt was deserving of a best picture nomination.

Scott Feinberg, an awards analyst andwriter for the Hollywood Reporter, said that none of this year's excluded films either starring or directed by blackswere thought to be slam-dunks going into the nominations.

"None of the people who were nominated instead of them were indefensible selections. It's a tough pill to swallow, but it was just a terrific year for actors, lead and supporting."

Kyle Smith, movie critic for the New York Post, was more sneering in hisdefence of the academy, chiding actors like George Clooney for suggesting that racism may have played a role in the selection process.

Academy pretending 'not to be racist'?

"No blacks were nominated for acting Oscars this year, or last year. But the membership of theAMPASdoesn't change much from year to year," Smith wrote.

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"IsClooneysaying that the same people who were not racist when they gave the Best Picture Oscar to 12 Years a Slaveturned racist 10 months later for some reason when they 'snubbed'AvaDuVernayby not nominating her for Best Director for Selma?

"Were they racist the whole time but decided to pretend not to be racist in March of 2014, only to stop pretending in January of 2015?"

While the competition is tough, so too can it be a challenge to ensure a film is actually seen.

It's not exactly a secret that members of the academy do not watch every single film in contention, meaning when movieslike Beasts of No Nation are released on an untraditional platform like Netflix, it's unlikely it had a widespread viewing.

That's why lobbying by studios are seen to playa big role in the nominations and winners.

For example,the tireless schmoozing efforts of producer Harvey Weinstein to ensure hisfilms are seen by academy membershas been followed by scores of Oscar nods and wins for his films,including the surprise victory of the 1998 filmShakespeare in Love over the heavily favoured Saving Private Ryan.

And asFeinberg pointed out,the distributor of Creeddidn't realize it was an awards contenderand may have been too late to mobilize a fully-effective campaign.

Sentimentality is also a significant factor in the decision-making process. Senior actors or acclaimedactors who have been repeatedly snubbed over the yearsare sometimes rewarded more for their body of work than the performance they actually get an Oscar for.

No one really believedthat Al Pacino was at his best when he won the best actor award for Scent of a Woman. While critics are hailing Sylvester Stallone in Creed, he is certainly the sentimental favourite, in part by giving a nuanced performance so at odds with his usual bombastic roles in action films.

Wrong target of boycott campaign

Some critics, such asFeinberg,say the Academy is the wrong target in this boycottcampaign, and that blame should fall on the studios who hirerelatively few African-Americans todirect or star in major U.S. movies.

As the Economist points out,blacks are 12.6 per centof the American population, and 10 per centof Oscar nominations since 2000 have gone to black actors.

But blacks are under-represented in the roles that count for the Oscars, getting just nineper centof the top roles since 2000, according to the Economist's analysis.

"The numbers indicate that, whereas the film industry most certainly fails to represent America's diversity, the whitewashing occurs not behind the closed doors of the Academy, but in drama schools (shown in the SAG membership) and casting offices."