By Emil Guillermo, Diverse Education
We didn’t get a Sacheen Littlefeather moment, a spontaneous show-stopping bit at the Oscars where a statement is made that calls the Academy to task.
Songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez collaborated on the Disney animated release “Frozen.” (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
But we did get impromptu pizza runs and spontaneous selfie-taking.
The unscripted moments were more silly than not.
Certainly, not like the one where in 1973, Marlon Brando, the winner of the Best Actor award for “The Godfather,” gave up his time to Littlefeather, a Native American activist, who then used it to speak out against the treatment and portrayal of American Indians in the film industry.
In more than 40 years, Native Americans are still under-represented. And we still have Hollywood giving us films where Johnny Depp plays Tonto.
But I don’t want to downplay the surprising diversity Oscar actually displayed Sunday night.
This year, the Oscars honored some tremendously talented people of color—for a change.
There was nothing token about this gesture.
This year, an Asian American of Filipino descent, Robert Lopez, won for best original song, “Let it Go,” from “Frozen.” Lopez co-composed the song with his wife Kristin Anderson-Lopez, with whom he sang a clever rhyming acceptance. It was a nice way to celebrate a special win as Lopez at 38, becomes the youngest to complete what’s tantamount to entertainment’s quadruple crown. He’s now won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony.
That would have been a nice diversity touch right there.
But we weren’t done for the night.
“Gravity” amassed most of the Oscars handed out. But its top award was to its visionary director, Alfonso Cuaron–born in Mexico City.
Read the full article by Emil Guillermo from Diverse Education.
