Was Selma's best picture nomination a "make up" call?

Unless you've been asleep for the last 24 plus hours you have heard or read the uproar over the lack of Oscar nominations for Ava DuVernay's movie, Selma. Although the picture was nominated for best picture, it missed out on what many thought would be sure bets for best director (Ava DuVernay) and best actor (David Oyelowo). Now some thinks it's due to racism at worst or the lack of diversity among the Academy Awards voters at best. (I personally think it's because the voters couldn't properly pronounce their names.) Most of the voters are white males over 65, so it goes to figure that the overwhelming majority of those nominated or white and male.

Now I know some are asking, "Well George if that's true how in the hell did Selma get nominated?"

Well I'm glad you asked that. If you have ever watched a basketball game you know there's something known as a "makeup" call. That's when the referees make a bad or questionable call on one team and then make it up to that team by making a bad call the other way. No referee will admit this happens, but we all know that it does. I think that's what happened with Selma getting a best picture nomination.

To be honest I don't even think that Selma was originally among the best picture nominees. I think that after the tallies were done someone looked at them and said, "Hey guys we didn't nominate any black people for sh*t!"

In my mind the conversation, after that was discovered, went something like this:

Old White Guy #1: What's that you say?

Old White Guy #2: We didn't nominate anyone of color.

Old White Guy #3: What about that black director that made that movie about Martin Luther King?

Old white Guy #4: You mean Spike Lee?

Old White Guy #2: Are there any other black directors?

Old White Guy #1: Well just put Spike's name up there.

Old White Guy #3: What about the voters?

Old white Guy #4: Trust me, they won't notice. It's not like they actually read the ballot.

Old White Guy #1: Hey wait a minute we can nominate up to ten movies for best picture, and we only nominated eight!

Old White Guy #2: Great idea, we just need a movie with black people.

Old White Guy #4: Oh, I vote for Ride Along!

Old White Guy #1: Didn't Tyler Perry make a movie this year?

Old White Guy #2: Guys! We can just put the Martin Luther King movie in that spot, and we will have added a tad of diversity. It's not like it will win anyway.

Old White Guy #1: Agreed!

Old White Guy #3: Agreed!

Old White Guy #4: Agreed!

Yup, that what I believe happened. Selma's addition to the Best Picture category was a makeup call. What do you think?

George L. Cook III, AfricanAmericanReports.com Email: georgelcookiii@gmail.com

Spike Lee Comments On ‘Selma’ Oscar Snubs

During an interview with Marlow Stern at The Daily Beast film director Spike Lee commented on the Oscar snubs of Selma for best director. Read his colorful comments below:

“Join the club!” Lee chuckled, before getting serious. “But that doesn’t diminish the film. Nobody’s talking about motherfuckin’ Driving Miss Daisy. That film is not being taught in film schools all across the world like Do the Right Thing is. Nobody’s discussing Driving Miss Motherfuckin’ Daisy. So if I saw Ava today I’d say, ‘You know what? Fuck ’em. You made a very good film, so feel good about that and start working on the next one.”

“Anyone who thinks this year was gonna be like last year is retarded,” said Lee. “There were a lot of black folks up there with 12 Years a Slave, Steve [McQueen], Lupita [Nyong’o], Pharrell. It’s in cycles of every 10 years. Once every 10 years or so I get calls from journalists about how people are finally accepting black films. Before last year, it was the year [in 2002] with Halle Berry, Denzel [Washington], and Sidney Poitier. It’s a 10-year cycle. So I don’t start doing backflips when it happens.”

Read the full article here: Spike Lee Blasts ‘Selma’ Oscar Snubs: ‘You Know What? F*ck ’Em’