Spike Lee dan Jada Pinkett Smith akan Memboikot Acara Oscar

Acara penganugerahan piala Oscar tahun 2016 ini sepertinya mengundang kontroversi. Beberapa bintang dan sineas menyebut acara tahun ini sebagai acara “kaum kulit putih”. Dengan fakta yang telah tersajikan bahwa dari semua kategori di bidang akting, semuanya adalah aktor dan aktris berkulit putih. Dari 20 orang yang masuk dalam nominasi kategori Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor dan Best Supporting Actress tidak ada yang berasal dari aktor maupun aktris golongan lain. Hal ini banyak menimbulkan perbincangan di banyak kalangan sehingga memunculkan istilah #OscarsSoWhite di media sosial.

Dengan keadaan ini, sineas kenamaan, Spike Lee (Oldboy)menyerukan pemboikotan acara Oscar tahun ini dan menyatakan bahwa ia dan istrinya tidak akan menghadiri acara ini meskipun Lee mendapat penghargaan Honorary Oscar atas pencapaian dan usahanya di dunia sinema. Sutradara ini mengatakan bahwa ia sangat kecewa terhadap daftar nominasi yang telah dirilis oleh pihak Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Hal ini diungkapkan Lee melalui akun Instagram pribadinya.

“We Cannot Support It And Mean No Disrespect To My Friends, Host Chris Rock and Producer Reggie Hudlin, President Isaacs And The Academy. But, How Is It Possible For The 2nd Consecutive Year All 20 Contenders Under The Actor Category Are White? And Let’s Not Even Get Into The Other Branches. 40 White Actors In 2 Years And No Flava At All. We Can’t Act?”

#OscarsSoWhite… Again. I Would Like To Thank President Cheryl Boone Isaacs And The Board Of Governors Of The Academy Of Motion Pictures Arts And Sciences For Awarding Me an Honorary Oscar This Past November. I Am Most Appreciative. However My Wife, Mrs. Tonya Lewis Lee And I Will Not Be Attending The Oscar Ceremony This Coming February. We Cannot Support It And Mean No Disrespect To My Friends, Host Chris Rock and Producer Reggie Hudlin, President Isaacs And The Academy. But, How Is It Possible For The 2nd Consecutive Year All 20 Contenders Under The Actor Category Are White? And Let's Not Even Get Into The Other Branches. 40 White Actors In 2 Years And No Flava At All. We Can't Act?! WTF!! It's No Coincidence I'm Writing This As We Celebrate The 30th Anniversary Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday. Dr. King Said "There Comes A Time When One Must Take A Position That Is Neither Safe, Nor Politic, Nor Popular But He Must Take It Because Conscience Tells Him It's Right". For Too Many Years When The Oscars Nominations Are Revealed, My Office Phone Rings Off The Hook With The Media Asking Me My Opinion About The Lack Of African-Americans And This Year Was No Different. For Once, (Maybe) I Would Like The Media To Ask All The White Nominees And Studio Heads How They Feel About Another All White Ballot. If Someone Has Addressed This And I Missed It Then I Stand Mistaken. As I See It, The Academy Awards Is Not Where The "Real" Battle Is. It's In The Executive Office Of The Hollywood Studios And TV And Cable Networks. This Is Where The Gate Keepers Decide What Gets Made And What Gets Jettisoned To "Turnaround" Or Scrap Heap. This Is What's Important. The Gate Keepers. Those With "The Green Light" Vote. As The Great Actor Leslie Odom Jr. Sings And Dances In The Game Changing Broadway Musical HAMILTON, "I WANNA BE IN THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENS". People, The Truth Is We Ain't In Those Rooms And Until Minorities Are, The Oscar Nominees Will Remain Lilly White. (Cont'd)

A photo posted by Spike Lee (@officialspikelee) on Jan 18, 2016 at 5:03am PST

Selain Spike Lee, artis Jada Pinkett Smith yang merupakan istri dari actor Will Smith juga mengatakan bahwa ia tidak akan menghadiri acara ini. Pinkett Smith juga merasa adanya ketidak adilan terhadap golongan kulit berwarna dalam ajang tahun ini. Suaminya, Will Smith juga tidak masuk dalam nominasi Oscar meskipun Smith mendapatkan nominasi di ajang Golden Globes dalam film Concussion. Aktris yang pernah bermain di film The Matrix Revolutions ini mengungkapkan kekecewaannya melalui akun facebook pribadinya.

“Is it time that people of color recognize how much power, influence, that we have amassed, that we no longer need to ask to be invited anywhere?” “Maybe it’s time that we recognize that if we love and respect and acknowledge ourselves in the way in which we are asking others to do, that that is the place of true power.”

Baca Juga: 8 Kejutan dari Nominasi Oscar 2016

Maraknya tanggapan negatif mengenai hal ini menyebabkan presiden dari Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Cheryl Boone Isaacs ikut angkat bicara. Isaacs mengatakan bahwa ia juga kecewa dengan keadaan nominasi ini, kurangnya keberagaman sepertinya menjadi isu utama dalam hal ini. Dalam pernyataannya kepada The Hollywood Repoter Isaacs juga mengatakan bahwa pihak Academy sedang membentuk suatu komite untuk membahas dan meningkatkan keberagaman dalam acara ini. Bukan hanya kepada warna kulit, tapi juga kesetaraan gender dan lainya.

“I’d like to acknowledge the wonderful work of this year’s nominees,” she said. “While we celebrate their extraordinary achievements, I am both heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion. This is a difficult but important conversation, and it’s time for big changes.”

Acara Oscar tahun ini akan dilaksanakan pada tanggal 26 Febuari 2016.

Bagaimana menurut kalian daftar nominasi yang telah ditetapkan oleh pihak Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ini? Apakah cukup adilkah, terutama untuk kategori dibidang acting ?