Hello! I hope you’re as excited as
I am for Sunday’s telecast of the 88th Academy Awards. I’ve already
filled out my ballot at the production company I work at. While filling it out,
I stopped for a minute when I landed on the “Best Original Song” category. It
brought a smile to my face to see that two of my favorite songs from last
year’s movies happened to be nominated. They are Manta Ray from the thought-provoking documentary Racing Extinction, and Simple Song #3 from my third favorite movie of the year, Youth. I would
have selected one of those two, but I reminded myself that I need to win this
ballot and filled out the most obvious choice. (Wonder which one it is?)
However, I was deeply saddened
earlier during the week one morning on my way to work. I was listening to a
segment on KPCC about ways in which producers will shorten the awards show. It
was heartbreaking to hear that I won’t get to hear my two favorite songs
performed live simply because they are not “commercial” enough. As opposed to
having all five nominated artists perform their songs like they normally do,
this Sunday you’ll only be seeing The Weeknd (Earned It from Fifty Shades
of Grey), Lady Gaga (Till It Happens
to You from The Hunting Ground),
and Sam Smith (Writing’s on the Wall
from Spectre).
I haven’t really jumped on the
#OscarsSoWhite bandwagon or been vocal about the lack of diversity (I mean,
it’s a good year for Mexicans. Viva México!) at this year’s awards, but I
wonder if I now have observations in regards to this because these are my
favorite songs, or because it is now beyond the lack of diversity in the acting
category. Anohni, who would have performed Manta
Ray, is the first transgendered performer to ever be nominated in the
category. Why is this not making headlines? Why isn’t Caitlyn Jenner tweeting
about it? Sumi Jo, who would have performed Simple
Song #3 is a South Korean soprano.
I can only
imagine how these two phenomenal singers felt when the weeks passed by after
they learned they were nominated and not hearing back from anyone working on the show. Anohni wrote an open essay voicing her thoughts and concerns, and
explains why she decided not to attend the ceremony on Sunday.
“…Now the papers were naming me as one of two artists to
have been ‘cut’ by the Academy due to ‘time constraints.’ In the next sentence
it was announced that Dave Grohl, not nominated in any category, had been added
to the list of performers,” Anohni wrote. “…The deeper truth of it is impossible to
ignore. Like global warming, it is not one isolated event, but a series of
events that occur over years to create a system that has sought to undermine
me, at first as a feminine child, and later as an androgynous transwoman. It is
a system of social oppression and diminished opportunities for transpeople that
has been employed by capitalism in the U.S. to crush our dreams and our
collective spirit.”
