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Home » Hollywood devotes itself to racial quotas

Hollywood devotes itself to racial quotas

The New Neo Posted on by

It’s almost as complicated as the Nuremberg Laws. Please take a look:

To be eligible for best picture, a film must meet at least two standards across four categories: “Onscreen Representation, Themes and Narratives,” “Creative Leadership and Project Team,” “Industry Access and Opportunities” and “Audience Development.” Within each category are a variety of criteria involving the inclusion of people in underrepresented groups, including women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people and those with cognitive or physical disabilities. (Other Oscar categories will not be held to these same standards, but the contenders for best picture typically filter down to other feature-length categories.)…

The new standards will not go into effect until the 96th Oscars in 2024. But at a time of racial reckoning both for Hollywood and the nation as a whole, the academy believes the requirements provide a road map for how the industry can ensure that at least those films that compete for its highest honor reflect the diversity of the moviegoing audience and the wider world.

Sure, that’s why people go to the movies – to see them “reflect the diversity of the moviegoing audience and the wider world” in a “time of racial reckoning.” And here I thought it was escape, entertainment, or even to be moved by something (although that’s the aim of fewer and fewer movies, it still happens now and then). I haven’t gone to the movies for years except on extremely rare occasions, and I rarely even rent or stream a movie that was made more recently than twenty years ago. But the people who do go to the movies aren’t going for those reasons, I can almost guarantee.

And yet Hollywood has become obsessed with this. It goes almost without saying – but I’ll say it anyway – that this is a combination of abject virtue-signaling and fear of being called racist or homophobic or transphobic.

A sample of the actual standards:

For the 96th Oscars (2024), a film must meet TWO out of FOUR of the following standards to be deemed eligible:

STANDARD A: ON-SCREEN REPRESENTATION, THEMES AND NARRATIVES
To achieve Standard A, the film must meet ONE of the following criteria:

A1. Lead or significant supporting actors

At least one of the lead actors or significant supporting actors is from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group.

• Asian
• Hispanic/Latinx
• Black/African American
• Indigenous/Native American/Alaskan Native
• Middle Eastern/North African
• Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
• Other underrepresented race or ethnicity

A2. General ensemble cast

At least 30% of all actors in secondary and more minor roles are from at least two of the following underrepresented groups:

• Women
• Racial or ethnic group
• LGBTQ+
• People with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing

A3. Main storyline/subject matter

The main storyline(s), theme or narrative of the film is centered on an underrepresented group(s).

• Women
• Racial or ethnic group
• LGBTQ+
• People with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing

STANDARD B: CREATIVE LEADERSHIP AND PROJECT TEAM
To achieve Standard B, the film must meet ONE of the criteria below:

B1. Creative leadership and department heads

At least two of the following creative leadership positions and department heads—Casting Director, Cinematographer, Composer, Costume Designer, Director, Editor, Hairstylist, Makeup Artist, Producer, Production Designer, Set Decorator, Sound, VFX Supervisor, Writer—are from the following underrepresented groups:

• Women
• Racial or ethnic group
• LGBTQ+
• People with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing

At least one of those positions must belong to the following underrepresented racial or ethnic group:

• Asian
• Hispanic/Latinx
• Black/African American
• Indigenous/Native American/Alaskan Native
• Middle Eastern/North African
• Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
• Other underrepresented race or ethnicity

B2. Other key roles

At least six other crew/team and technical positions (excluding Production Assistants) are from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group. These positions include but are not limited to First AD, Gaffer, Script Supervisor, etc….

It goes on – and on and on – with much more. But I think you get the idea. I note with interest that having “women” as a main storyline, theme, or narrative of a film is considered to fulfill at least one of the inclusion criteria. I had no idea there was such a dearth of chick flicks that we needed affirmative action to ensure that we have more.

What a travesty. Jobs by identity group numbers – the future of America, if the left has its way. Note also that California will be voting this November on Proposition 16, which would allow the state to discriminate in employment based on race:

Proposition 16 is a constitutional amendment that would repeal Proposition 209, passed in 1996, from the California Constitution. Proposition 209 stated that discrimination and preferential treatment were prohibited in public employment, public education, and public contracting on account of a person’s or group’s race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin. Therefore, Proposition 209 banned the use of affirmative action involving race-based or sex-based preferences in California.

I don’t believe any of that would affect the movie industry, since it is not public employment, public education, or public contracting. But it is an indication of the determination on the part of the left to make race-based preferential quotas the law of the land, both de facto and de jure.

I didn’t leave the movies, the movies left me – a long time ago. But hiring people by the numbers is just another way for them to hurt themselves.

Comments

Hollywood devotes itself to racial quotas — 72 Comments

  1. It is very strange indeed that both professional athletics and the entire entertainment industry are so thoroughly infested with “woke” insanity that they fail to understand the very real possibility that many millions of ordinary citizens may well decide to forego sports as well as movies, since they have no desire to support industries which are predicated upon falsehoods and propaganda. Wealthy progressives usually feel no financial discomfort from espousing idiotic policies which harm only those less fortunate, but perhaps Hollywood and the NFL/NBA/MLB will soon experience a significant decline in revenue.

  2. Unless it’s Denzel Washington (and not always then) I won’t watch a current Hollywood movie with a black lead, because I know the film is guaranteed to contain a lot of Critical Race Theory vegetables, which I am supposed to eat because they’re good for me.

    Whatever happened to the Hollywood maxim, “If you’ve got a message, send a telegram”?

    (Interesting discussion of quote at https://quoteinvestigator.com/2019/05/11/send/ .)

  3. So who is going to decide what a ‘main storyline’ is?

    Also, are people going to have to declare themselves LBGwhatever now for bookkeeping purposes?

    I look forward to the racial purity controversies. That’ll be fun.

    Idiots.

  4. Thank you Hollywood for finally recognising the great wisdom and justice of the Southern segregationist Jim Crow way of life. It’s about time — Halaluehia!

    However, there is one category missing from your New Segregationism: the best film about Fascism. What about it? Give us People of Pallor something more to root for!

    Oh, Hell. Hollywood is dead. Long live Hollywood! The iPhone and the internet killed it — Governor Newsum merely planted a stake in the corpse.

    /sarc

    j e asks “ It is very strange indeed that both professional athletics and the entire entertainment industry are so thoroughly infested with “woke” insanity that they fail to understand….” dissent?

    We have a ruling class that does not grasp the middle class and their values and virtues and does not want to.

    To me, the question is answered that simply. If they did, there would be introspection, worry, and outreach in the mass media.

    Because there isn’t, they don’t care. They care only about their narcissistic preoccupations of moral superiority.

  5. Neo-KKK? Neo-Nazis. Marxist. Diversity dogma encompasses systems, processes, and beliefs that deny individual dignity, deny individual conscience, normalize color quotas, color blocs, and affirmative discrimination. Diversity is a fundamental principle of the Pro-Choice, selective, opportunistic, politically congruent (“=”) quasi-religion (“ethics”) of the ostensibly “secular” Progressive Church. Social justice anywhere is injustice everywhere. #BabyLivesMatter #HateLovesAbortion

  6. I thought the Blaxploitation movies of the 80s had kind of provided the affirmative action necessary to make Hollywood more inclusive.

    Then there’s this list of black actors and their movies:
    Morgan Freeman (Amistad; Hard Rain; Deep Impact)
    Sidney Poitier (Sneakers; The Jackal)
    Samuel L. Jackson (Sphere; The Negotiator; Star Wars: The Phantom Menace)
    Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix; Event Horizon; Hoodlum)
    James Earl Jones (Meteor Man; Gang Related)
    Charles S. Dutton (Nick of Time; The Relic; Mimic)
    Denzel Washington (Fallen; The Seige; He Got Game)
    Harry Belafonte (White Man’s Burden; Kansas City)
    Wesley Snipes (Down on the Delta; The Big Hit; Blade; Upcoming: Shaft; Have Gun, Will Travel; Blade 2)
    Danny Glover (To Sleep With Anger; the Rainmaker; Beloved; Switchback; Lethal Weapon 1-4)
    Carl Weathers (Happy Gilmore)
    Cuba Gooding, Jr. (Boyz N Da Hood; Gladiator; Judgement Night; Jerry McGuire; As Good As It Gets; upcoming: Instinct)
    Mario Van Peebles (the Posse; Solo)
    Will Smith (Wild, Wild West; the Mark; Enemy of the State; Shaft)
    Not exactly evidence of systemic racism.

    Well, Hollywood has been separated from middle America for a long time. Looks like they want to make the divorce permanent. Sad.

  7. Huxley avers “Unless it’s Denzel Washington (and not always then) I won’t watch a current Hollywood movie with a black lead, because I know the film is guaranteed to contain a lot of Critical Race Theory vegetables….” Indeed, usually.

    One pleasant exception is last winter’s biopic about Harriet Tubman. TotoinHollywood.com has Post on why Hollywood allowed religion into this telling historical saga of the Underground Railroad and her heroism.

    I saw the link last night and haven’t read it yet. But I believe it’s because she developed the reputation of a Prophet, probably aided by having epilepsy.

    In olden times, religion and religious frames were used to make sense of weird phenomenon. And in Tubman, these merged with the slaves freedom story.

    I say, Huxley, make this film one of your exceptions to the rule. It is rather well done and authentic.

  8. The Nuremberg Laws of Adolf et al. were not that complicated, IIRC. They were simply, purely anti-Jew oppressive. Those laws ratcheted down in sequential steps in order to keep the oppression manageable pending implementation of the Final Solution of the Jewish Problem.

    Now in Hollywood, the key is “underrepresented”; dwarfs and/or imbeciles and/or amputeees and/or the blind or deaf have to be cast in a certain amount of “minor” roles. All sorts of minorities will have their minor slots. It is only the American minority that still believes in a monotheistic God that has no place.

  9. huxley,

    I like Denzel too…but he really messed up with “The Magnificent Seven”…

    Simply no comparison to the original…

  10. “many millions of ordinary citizens may well decide to forego sports as well as movies” j e

    It’s already happening but they see it as a ‘road bump’ on the way to mandatory viewership. Of course mandatory viewership has long been imposed in the schools. There are now books claiming that white babies are inherently racist.

    J.E.,

    Your list hasn’t one woman on it. See how far we have to go? ‘Proof’ of your “unconscious bias” rather than a simple oversight of course.

    That such an impressive and extensive list of highly successful actors puts the lie to the proposition of systemic racism is simply an inconvenient, “alternative fact”.

  11. J.J.–not a single woman on the list. Let this be a warning to you, or back to the camps you go!

  12. It’s like Dennis Prager has said…”everything the Left touches, they destroy”. I listen to the classical music station KUSC continuously. For the last couple years, “black this, woman that”. Who cares?? Is the music good? Anything else is nonsense and highly annoying as intro material.

  13. Great movie clip! I enjoyed that. “Words, words, more words!” Indeed. It’s a problem with our laws, too.

    I agree that Hollywood has a problem, well described in this post. But sometimes there are gems in the manure. I recommend that everyone watch two movies that were released online this summer during our current pandemic lockdown: “Hamilton” (on Disney Plus) and “Mr. Jones” (on Amazon Prime Video).

    Neo, I know you don’t like “Hamilton.” You’ve said so in comments before. Yes, it’s a little rough on Jefferson. But it’s pretty good with regard to Washington. Most important, the bigger story – the founding of our country – is a good one and it needs telling again and again. We need always to be reminded of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. “Hamilton” vividly demonstrates that “American history can be told and retold, claimed and reclaimed, even by people who don’t look like George Washington and Betsy Ross.” (Source: “Hamilton: The Revolution,” a book about the musical, by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter, page 95.)

    While “Hamilton” tells the GOOD story of the founding of the United States, “Mr. Jones” tells the BAD story of Stalin’s Soviet Union and the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s – the Holodomor – AND the reprehensible coverup of that disaster by Pulitzer-prize winner Walter Duranty and the New York Times. That story needs to be told and retold, too.

  14. I liked Men of Honor with Cuba Gooding, jr.

    Don’t recall seeing any of those movies, but as it happens, I don’t see many anyway.

    As with big time sports, I already wasn’t paying attention. I don’t even know which sponsors to boycott.

  15. I totally agree about movies made in the last 20 years, there have been a few that I have enjoyed, mostly history or war theme and those are few and far between. About once a week my wife and I try to share a movie while we eat in front of the TV and I like to watch free ones on Prime or Netflix and I am amazed at how many bad movies I have to look through to find a decent movie.

    We don’t care for all the angst and creepy stuff, we prefer movies that leave us feeling good and either have clearly good guy heroes or really funny humorous situations that can be a bit off color if it fits the plot. Those type of movies have not been made very often in the last 20 years and with the new criteria the Oscars will become even more meaningless.

  16. Cicero:

    The classifications and regulations were actually somewhat complicated:

    On November 14, 1935, the RMI issued a supplement to the Nuremberg Laws of September 15, 1935, which created the racial categories of German, Jew, half-Jew (Jewish Mischling first degree), and quarter-Jew (Jewish Mischling second degree), each with its own regulations. Apparently, Hitler decided for the time being to keep half-Jews as such rather than treating them as full Jews. Full Jews had three to four Jewish grandparents. According to Hitler, when someone was more than 50 percent Jewish, he was beyond the point of saving and was evil (uebel). Half-Jews had two Jewish grandparents, and quarter-Jews had one Jewish grandparent. The Nazis had to resort to religious criteria to define these racial categories, ultimately determined by birth, baptismal, marriage, and death certificates. Often stored in churches and courthouses, these records indicated what religion one adhered to or had left. When a Mischling belonged to the Jewish religion or was married to a Jew, the Nazis counted him as a full Jew. Jews could only marry Jews or half-Jews, and half-Jews could only marry Jews or other half-Jews. Quarter-Jews could only marry Aryans, although in practice they experienced difficulties in doing so. Marriages between a Jew and an Aryan that had occurred before 1935 were called “privileged mixed marriages” and provided some protection for the Jewish spouse. Most Jews who survived the Holocaust in Germany were married to non-Jews. At the same time, Hitler allowed some Mischlinge to apply for exemptions under section 7 of the supplementary decrees of November 1935.

    See also this chart.

  18. JJ, I am not a big movie buff, but maybe a few others to add to your list include Sammy Davis Jr., Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, and .. oh, you know, that other guy, .. yeah, him.
    Thinking about black actresses the only names that quickly came to mind were Halle Berry and Whoopi Goldberg, but there must be 2 or 3 more where my response would be “oh, that’s right!” if you mentioned their names.

    But the thing is that (at least after the earlier portrayals that paved the way – Poitier, Belafonte?) the affirmative action process had pretty much succeeded [late 80’s/early 90’s??] such that these were not black actors (and actresses) but actors who just happened to be black. Their box office pull was based on their personal manner, carriage, demeanor, etc., along with whatever hype was out there about a given movie. You went to see a movie because of the actor(s) in it, not to assuage any past or current racial guilt. Obama and Holder have a lot to answer for.

    And if you went down the TV side of entertainers, another sizable list is available, but I am not at all qualified to expound on that.

  19. It’s about time Hollywood canceled itself. Too much bread and circuses keeps these humans well sedated and distracted, motivating them not to kill their massas.

    they fail to understand the very real possibility that many millions of ordinary citizens may well decide to forego sports as well as movies, since they have no desire to support industries which are predicated upon falsehoods and propaganda. Wealthy progressives usually feel no financial discomfort from espousing idiotic policies which harm only those less fortunate, but perhaps Hollywood and the NFL/NBA/MLB will soon experience a significant decline in revenue.

    It is like they are being mind controlled… by Trump’s alliance.

    If people refuse to pay attention to sports and Hollywood, then they become as Ymar. This is how Ymar became Ymar after all.

  20. Hollywood stars are your intellectual and moral superiors and know what’s good for you so do as you are told and everything will be just fine.

  21. “I can’t understand why we didn’t win. We had a blind film editor and a deaf sound editor!”

  22. So does Hollywood Accounting become Nigerian Accounting?

    Asking for a Friend.

    You just can’t make this @$%^ up anymore, can you?

  24. Someone mentioned Eddie Murphy above and if you want to watch a nice, old fashioned movie that is actually fact based check out ‘Mr. Church’ which is I believe available on Amazon Prime.

    There are newish movies out there but sometimes you have to search for them.

    ‘Mr. Church’ is worth it though. Good stuff.

  25. Tubman biopic review.

    https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/how-harriet-didnt-follow-hollywoods-faith-averse-formula/

    More good stuff from Mr. Toto (Toto too?)

    https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/reasons-oscar-diversity-rules-disaster/
    6 Reasons Why the Oscar Diversity Rules Are a Total Disaster
    Artistic merit gets the heave ho under the woke laws coming to a theater near you
    “Forcing diversity doesn’t change hearts and minds. Heck, it might even harden some.”
    “Now, the Oscar system is permanently altered due to the diversity demands. It’s less about artistry and more about checking boxes. That will embolden voters to be more woke, more progressive with their selections. And, in the process, movie goers will tune out on Oscar night in even greater numbers.”

    https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/west-wing-golden-girls-princess-bride-trump/
    ‘The West Wing,’ ‘Golden Girls’ and ‘Princess Bride’ reunions go to bat for Biden
    (I can live with 2 of the 3, but PB going PC breaks my heart.)

    “The Zoom-based “Golden Girls” reunion required more imagination.
    Three of the show’s four leads have since passed, with only Betty White still alive and well.”

    I tried to find an old cartoon about the legendary Ms. White, where Adam and Eve ask God about a very elderly lady sitting under the trees in Eden, and He replies, “That’s Betty White. She was here when I got here.”

    Of course, DuckDuckGo can’t find it, but it did come up with a Tonight Show skit I had not seen, as I quit watching when I left for college in 1970.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih6LxwdwvlA
    Betty White & Johnny Carson in Funny Skit as Adam and Eve on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show, 1979

    Trivia note: My Dad let us stay up and watch the show with him all during my High School years, so I suspect the humor then was somewhat less risque than in this sketch, although I will admit that the topic does invite double entendres.

    JRTR, I will not miss seeing the Oscar shows, as I quit watching year ago once the nominees quit including any of the shows I had actually seen.

  26. I say, Huxley, make this film one of your exceptions to the rule. It is rather well done and authentic.

    T J: I’m flexible. I’ll put Harriet Tubman on my movie list. I was already curious from this Ed Driscoll post on Instapundit last year with a suggested design for the $20 bill showing Tubman brandishing a Colt Python…

    https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/347163/

  27. Looking on the bright side, I see this as hastening the collapse of the New New Hollywood. In due time they will be as dead as the old studio system after “Easy Rider” came out.

    You just know there will be up-and-coming film kids and an audience to match who won’t have patience for this kind of constipation. Though I’ll admit it’s taking longer than I thought.
    ____________________________________________

    –Eric Idle – “Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJUhlRoBL8M

  28. Neo:
    A minor point: You referred to the Nuremberg Laws.

    theholocaustexplained.org says “The Nuremberg Laws, announced at the Nazi Party annual rally in Nuremberg in late 1935, marked an escalation in the persecution of the Jews.

    “There were two main laws. The Reich Citizenship Law declared that only ‘Aryans’ were Reich citizens. As Jews were considered non-‘Aryan’, this law stripped them of their German citizenship and made them stateless in their own country.

    “The Nazis defined anyone with Jewish ancestors as Jews, even if someone who only had one grandparent who had converted from Judaism to Christianity as a child. This made lots of people who had previously not thought of themselves as Jewish, or those who no longer practiced Judaism, potential targets of persecution.

    “The second Nuremberg law was the Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour. This law banned marriages and sexual intercourse between Jews and ‘Aryans’, and forbid the employment of ‘Aryan’ women under the age of 45 in Jewish households.

    “These two laws aimed to racially cleanse and protect German people of true ‘Aryan’ descent. For Jews and people of Jewish descent, they were terrifying.”

    xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

    The many laws decreed subsequently, about, inter alia, property, farming, academic and judicial positions, were not Nuremberg Laws.

  29. Cicero:

    I was talking about the laws described at the site I linked to, which established the many categories of people the quote described. The laws defined people according to their degree of Jewishness in a rather complex way. As the site says, “The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 laid the foundation for the next 10 years of racial policy.”

    But even prior to 1935 there were already many restrictive laws on Jews. The Nuremberg Laws were passed in order to define more clearly who was Jewish, and to what degree, and therefore to facilitate the carrying-out of the discrimination decreed by the already-existing laws. And then afterward, more and more restrictive laws were passed. See this.

  30. Oh my, I forgot the ladies. Well, here’s a list to click on over to. Got pictures as well – a bonus.
    https://www.imdb.com/list/ls066061932/

    Diahann Carrol. I saw her up close in Reno in 1967. She was singing at Harold’s Club. Beautiful woman, beautiful voice. A real star. She won a Tony in 1962 And never looked back. Passed in 2019. May she R.I.P.

  32. It’s kind of amusing, actually, seeing all these subcategorizations. Will it be only the Oscars that have these rules, or will the Emmys and whatever else is out there (I don’t follow this stuff, so not sure) take up similar rules and regs down the road? I say go for it. Do it, Hollywood! Slit your throat and put yourself out of our misery.

    Did the unions have a lot of input into this? I wonder if they’re the ones who came up with this, maybe? Unions like these types of micro-regulations, don’t they? I’ve never been a member of one, so I only hear the stories.

    huxley, it is indeed an interesting psychological point. I had an idea the other day: what if everybody, instead of saying… you know, that word… instead were to substitute ‘Voldemort’, in mid-stream, as it were? As a sort of semi-inside joke, if you see my point.

  33. Rhetorical question; how long till the Oscar’s new restrictions are legally applied to qualifying for any job?

    Answer: as soon as a democrat administration with a Congressional majority can expand the number of seats on the Supreme Court. Which as things currently stand is not more than a generation or two away.

    The deplorables must be reeducated and the irredeemables ‘disappeared’.

  35. My employer, a large tech company, employs a Diversity Officer whose mission it is to explore our diversity status. As a member of the management team I get a quarterly report that lists the numbers of so-called minority or diversity qualifying employees in my organization, by office location. Why diversity of gender, race, ethnicity, and skin color among the employees is important to the business is never explained, it is just assumed to be good. Likewise these new rules for Oscars.

    Personally I don’t care about the Oscars nor about how they choose to give out awards and pat themselves on the back.

  36. As I have brought up over the past ten or so years now, imagine if they tried to make those Lord of the Rings movies today, the three “old movies” that came out between 2001-2003.

    They couldn’t. Almost all, if not all, of the actors involved in those movies are white. Today, half of all the elves, half of all the hobbits, etc would have to be cast with black actors. The wise old wizard would absolutely need to be played by Morgan Freeman. Even though the main “love” storyline involves people of two species (human and elf), that’s not enough–it would need to be an interracial interspecies relationship. And while there were several prominent female characters, it wasn’t enough and several of the main roles would need to be gender-swapped, like that of the main character. While we’re at it, the skin of the evil orcs would need to be lightened and they would be given blond hair and blue eyes (like the elves previously had) to make sure that everyone knew that they were “white” characters. And don’t get Hollywood started on the lack of gay/lesbian/trans storylines in the Lord of the Rings, which would need to be remedied…

    As I type this, I’m fascinated that these movies are still allowed to play on cable TV.

  37. Hollywood has already been operating under these rules for many years. This merely formalizes them.

    Take for example the recent “Perry Mason” remake on HBO.

    It wasn’t a bad show at all, in fact, quite good in parts. However, you could see the efforts made to make it “woke” every step of the way. Perry Mason’s love interest was a Mexican woman. Perry Mason’s lead investigator was now a black character, a former cop with a tangential back story full of boilerplate 1920’s racism. Perry Mason’s secretary was now a lesbian, and if future seasons of the show are made, the groundwork has been laid for her to become a lawyer herself and Mason’s business partner, not some mere assistant. They never touched on the topic of transgenders in the show, which means that will likely be crux of the main court case in season 2.

    Watching this and suspecting what was coming, I felt like one of the “characters” on an early season of MTV’s “Real World” after they became self-aware, wondering who was cast as “the gay one”. That’s how it feels watching any product out of Hollywood today, wondering how the “diversity” and “woke storylines” are going to be foisted upon you.

  38. In a certain irony, group B2 (and a small slice of B1) was banished to a separate Oscar ceremony not terribly long ago.

    I quite caring about the Oscars almost twenty years ago. It dawned on me that I never saw one movie star show any interest in the awards the industry in which I worked at the time have or. If they didn’t care about mine, why should I care about theirs?

  39. Phillip Sells — I’m not sure about SAG, but I’m willing to bet that the union for group B2, IATSE, didn’t have input — or at least its membership didn’t. If you are not in the union, it’s virtually impossible to get union jobs in LA or NY unless you are related to a union member. There only way to get in the union is to work union jobs. Unless you’re related to a union member. And if you’re in the union (say, you managed to get in by working in a different city until you got in) , but not related to a union member, it’s still very difficult to get jobs in NY or LA without being related.

    This may be good news for film industry in Georgia and the Carolinas, though. (And Hawaii, and Arizona…) There are more minority IATSE members there. (Hollywood is great and finding a way around rules. What better way than to really pack the B2 group with acceptable minorities.)

  40. So best picture will be the movie that most closely follows the identity group guidelines. Two thumbs up

  41. Deedson,
    The Della Street/Hamilton Burger story line in the Perry Mason show was a bit of Hollywood insider fun. IIRC, Raymond Burr would go to his “girlfriend’s” house at night to “have dinner.” In reality, this was the beard for him to remain viable as a male lead, as he took a nap in order to go out with the boys later.

  42. I think Hollywood should be required to watch Sullivan’s Travels (1941)

    “A Hollywood director, John L Sullivan, sets out to experience life as a poor, homeless person in order to gain relevant life experience for his next movie.”

    But he finds out that people go to movies to laugh, to escape, not to be preached to and looked down on.

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034240/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_39

  44. Years ago, though it was poo-pood by pretty much everybody, Hollywood was in fact infiltrated by communists.
    The Russian govt. at the time realized – way before everybody else- that cinema would make a great propaganda tool, esp. if the “message” was not overtly in your face.
    I wish I remember the title of one of the film shorts I saw – directed by a very famous Hollywood director – that showed life in the USSR as a idyllic , utopian paradise where everybody was happy, well fed and well clothed.
    Note that Joe Stalin was running the show in the USSR at this time and he had already exterminated millions of his own citizens, which, of course, never bothered US communists and still doesn’t .
    (Compared to Stalin, Hitler was an amateur when it came to mass murder).

    This short film – or perhaps it was a newsreel- was produced just after Germany attacked the USSR in May 1941 (Operation Barbarossa). This was the time that Hollywood and the CPUSA did a 180 and began agitating for US entry into the war. The DAY BEFORE and for the previous 2 years they had been agitating to keep the USA out of the war (in deference to the Hitler-Stalin Pact of nonaggression and “friendship.”)

    “Red Star Over Hollywood,” by Ron Radosh describes some of this. Radosh is a former 1960s leftist student radical whose has also written about the Rosenbergs, and about his own family life growing up in a communist family in Sunnyside, Queens, NYC. (not far from where I grew up).
    You really need to read his book ,”Commie,” to realize the depth and extent of the communist movement in NYC in the 1950s and 60s. It was an absolute eye-opener for me.

    Anyway, Hollywood has finally fully come out of the closet once again and has decided to impose and promote their new Stalinist agenda on the useful idiots of Hollywood

    Let’s hope ANTIFA and BLM barge into the mansions of the Hollywood elites – destroy and burn down some homes – and do likewise at the next Oscars. Would be interesting to see the commentary of those Hollywood actors/producers/directors after they have been beat up / assaulted.

    Let me guess, they will blame Trump.

  45. I know about Raymond Burr, so I assumed that the rebooted Perry Mason character would be gay. That he wasn’t was the biggest surprise of all!

  46. It took me a bit of thinking to remember that movie making is a business, the goal of any business enterprise should be to return a profit to the owners/investors and in order to do that proceeded from sales are required to exceed expenses. Of course I am aware that movie/TV accounting is voodoo and that all sorts of shares are paid out before there is a bottom line but the entertainment business up to now has only been non-profit ventures by default.

    Maybe they are in the process of coming up with a better business plan based upon the old 1967 Mel Brooks show the ‘Producers’ with the hit song, ‘Springtime for Hitler’, try making that today. Perhaps losing money by hitting every diversity slot will end up with movie people getting richer, or something.

  47. Speaking of Mel Brooks, quite clearly it is “Blazing Saddles” that the Democrats are using as their playbook. (Of course, the latter could never admit to this.)

    But I would not be at all surprised if he was actually down in the basement with Biden & Co. plotting strategy. (With shades of “Young Frankenstein”?).

  48. And this is why I pretty much only watch foreign films anymore — mostly Bollywood, but others also.

    They don’t have any of this American political crap. I’m sure there’s political stuff for their own country, but it flies right over my head as I lack cultural context, so I can just enjoy whatever story is being told.

  49. John Tyler — The Writer’s Guild of America West’s magazine, “Written By” had a salute to the Hollywood Ten maybe 10-15 years ago. Unfortunately they don’t have a searchable archive, so I’m going by memory, but almost all, if not all, of them admitted to being members of the Communist Party. Some were underground members, which means following Party orders without revealing yourself to be a Party member. IIRC, some of them joined well into the ’50s, long after Stalin’s murderous ways were known.

    J.J. — thanks for the list of “black” actresses” (am I still able to use that word?) . Notice how many of them are mixed-race. Are they counted as fully qualifying, or do you only get partial credit for a mischling?

  50. Notice how many of them are mixed-race.

    African or African-American. The latter are at best 1/2. Must they be black… Black, or is the judgement and label inclusive of white, brown, albino, yellow, etc.?

  51. Neo;
    Noticed you put a short film clip of Sunset Blvd.

    In the highly unlikely event you were unaware of the musical theater production of “Sunset Blvd,” and if you enjoy musical theater, you may wish to listen to it’s sound track. Really good – if you like musical theater.
    It’s an Andrew Lloyd Webber production.

    speaking of musical theater and Stalinist dogma in general; that ENTIRE population of actors, singers, dancers, producers etc., are all hard core liberal progressives, if not socialists or communists.
    . These days everybody knows that if your are black or hispanic, your chances of being cast in a role, especially a role on Broadway, are far better than a white person. In fact, in audition announcements they now oft times specifically call for black or hispanics (i.e. seeking a black or hispanic for…..).
    Imagine if they asked for a white person!!
    Also, those Bdwy shows that are politically correct or have majority black/hispanic cast or have a “pro” minority theme, are always – and I mean always – given good reviews.
    You know; “refreshing take on an old classic;” “modern version of….” etc. ; even if the show is really bad.

    But what if an actor is a white, non-indigenous person from , say , Columbia, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, etc.
    Well, they too are shit out of luck because they don’t “look” hispanic or black hispanic.

    Welcome to 1984 folks !!!

  52. Richard Saunders:

    Most American black people, unless recently arrived from Africa, are of mixed race. They can have two black parents and be of mixed race, sometimes with a very large white contribution and sometimes with a rather small one. I believe that, DNA-wise, the range of black genetic contribution in most Americans we see as “black” (phenotype) is something like between 30% and 85%. The rest is ordinarily various European groups, notably British, Irish, etc. “Biracial” is partly cultural as well as genetic – having one white parent and one black tends to put the child into both camps, culturally. But biracial people often have less than 50% black DNA, unless one of the parents is from Africa in which case it’s probably close to 50/50 for the biracial child. Otherwise it’s less than 50/50, because the black parent usually has some white genetic contribution to one degree or other, if that person’s ancestors were in this country for a while.

  54. This is quite clever of Hollywood to push the “woke” SJW agenda. Many across America aren’t really into small independent films which usually broadcasts the wokeness. Many non-serious movie goers/film buffs don’t know about the acclaimed films shown at festivals like Cannes. Oscar BP is sort of treated by the layman as a “top list”, like a NYT best sellers, so they’re going to go off of it if they want a movie to watch. BP is will soon be just a list of “diversity” movies, though I wonder how this will effect screenwriters and directors in their creative process. Will past stories that haven’t been green lighted be changed to fit the new criteria?

  55. Francesca;
    Oops!!!
    Sorry. I goofed.
    I really do know how to spell it, but I was careless.
    thank you for the corection.

  56. @ Lee: Good point about union membership in the film/tv industry. It sort of speaks to my observation of casting where, depending on the project, there’s at least six degrees of separation between the cast members of one project to another.

    Take for example the Marvel Universe and the relatively small film Jojo Rabbit. I just finished a good majority of the MU films and casually created a mental list of the actors who had degrees of separation/acquaintances. It was somewhat astonishing.

    Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow, JoJo Rabbit) acted with Chris Hemsworth (Thor) who both worked with Taikia Waititi (director of JoJo Rabbit and third Thor). Johnasson acted with Evangaline Lilly (Wasp, Hobbit franchise) who worked with Thomasin McKensie (JoJo Rabbit, Hobbit franchise) who work with Dale Dickey (Leave No Trace) who worked with Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone, X-Men which is Marvel). There’s probably more I missed.

    There’s some serious gatekeeping in Hollywood that builds a hierarchy of actors. Casting isn’t a revolving door. Actors are recycled in a post-studio-actor world. The irony.

  57. IIRC, Raymond Burr would go to his “girlfriend’s” house at night to “have dinner.” In reality, this was the beard for him to remain viable as a male lead, as he took a nap in order to go out with the boys later.

    I believe Burr made a consistent living as an actor, but prior to 1957 he was cast in character parts and supporting roles.

    Burr kept company with Natalie Wood for a time ca. 1956. Whether it was a contrivance or it was two friends enjoying themselves or it was actually dating is a puzzle. Dennis Hopper once crossed paths with them when they were out on the town and his assessment was ‘who knows what was going on there?’ Per Dominick Dunne, Wood during the years he knew her was ‘protected by a palace guard of homosexual men’; he didn’t say that Burr was among them, though.

    Burr himself appears to have appended himself to Robert Benevides around about 1960. Benevides is still alive, though over 90. He’s been reticent about Burr up until now, except when talking up the businesses they operated.

    Burr assembled a mess of fictitious elements for placement in studio biographies and reference books. These deceptions were underway by 1960 and perhaps earlier. There’s independent verification of productions he was in through film and theatre databases. You can identify where he was born, the names of family members, and a few places he lived. It can be verified he was briefly married in 1948. It can be verified that he was not married in the fall of 1940, when he signed a draft card indicating he was living at the Y on 63d street in Manhattan and working for ‘Kaznar Productions’ (he listed his mother in Solano County, California as a contact). It can be verified he lived in a boarding house in Los Angeles in the spring of 1940; in Oakland, Ca. in 1935; and with his mother and siblings in Vallejo, California in the spring of 1930. You can verify that he claimed 2 years worth of post-secondary schooling in 1940. As far as anyone can tell, two of the three marriages listed in his Current Biography entry were fictitious, as was a child he was supposed to sired in 1941. That was pretty audacious.

  58. When I read of the new Hollywood formulas, I couldn’t help but think of the Sokol affair and the postmodernism generator.

    Remember the delicious scandal of the Sokal hoax? Sokal was a physics professor at NYU. Tired of his academic colleagues’ embrace of postmodernist nonsense, he submitted an article to Social Text, an academic journal of postmodern cultural studies. In the article, Sokal claimed to demonstrate that quantum gravity is a social and linguistic construct. The paper was nothing more than a mish-mash of postmodernist babble. Of course, it was published in May, 1996.

    Also in 1996, The Postmodernism Generator was written and posted online. The program creates postmodernist writing that’s almost indistinguishable from the jargon-filled papers published in journals that cater to postmodernism.

    Now that Hollywood has posted a detailed formula for an Oscar-wining movie, that formula could be easily used by artificial intelligence and computer graphics applications. The result would be countless numbers of Oscar-eligible movies. Unfortunately(?), none would be watchable.

  59. Neo,

    A few things should be emphasized here.

    – This criteria is only for films that are to be considered for the Academy Awards ‘best picture’ nominations – not for any other categories. This means filmmakers, studios or indies can still make the films they want to their way. Not all filmmakers make films to win Best Picture. And, in fact, the Oscar committee who came up with this said they would not do it for other categories. [Though it does send a message].

    – Your headline says ‘Hollywood’ but this was not something decided by ‘Hollywood ‘ or the studios. It was decided by the a committee of the Academy. Technically, yes, they are in Hollywood but they are a committee and not all of Hollywood. They did it in part because the studios were not diversifying enough. No doubt plenty of filmmakers would not want this. The Coen Bros for instance have said in the past that quotas don’t work for movies.

    – There is definitely push back on this by many people in the industry. Or at least criticism. And not just conservatives. One poll I saw was 30% for it, 30% against it and 30% think it’s the right idea but too much.

    – One last thing. As someone who sees over 100 new movies a year as well as watches another 100 plus movies from the 1920’s thru 2000 I can say movies are still pretty good. Get out and see some. Or stream some. And there is plenty from other countries or indies and documentaries that are not from Hollywood studios. Too many to count.

  60. Montage:

    If you think the best picture awards don’t hugely affect film-making, you’re wrong. If you think that the racist identity-based philosophy (de facto or de jure) expressed in these best picture rules is or even will remain limited to the best picture awards, you’re wrong. It permeates film-making and has for many years, actually. It did not spring full-blown from the head of Zeus.

    The Academy is very much “Hollywood” as the term is ordinarily used. And no amount of “diversity” is enough for the woke crowd, nor should positions be given on the basis of diversity. They should be given on the basis of artistic and technical skill, which does not follow exact quotas.

    And there’s actually a reason I don’t go to films anymore, and the reason is not ignorance. The reason is that for several decades of going, or renting, and watching films that are supposed to be good and were highly praised, I judge nearly all of the ones I’ve seen to be garbage. What’s more, most of the ones I read about (reviews, for example) and chose not to see have been on topics that do not interest me and with actors and actresses I find mediocre and uninteresting.

    Your mileage obviously differs. But hey, that’s true on just about everything.

  61. Neo — that was sarcasm. I thought that was obvious from my use of the word “Mischling.”

  62. As someone who sees over 100 new movies a year as well as watches another 100 plus movies from the 1920’s thru 2000 I can say movies are still pretty good. Get out and see some

    Montage: I borrow DVDs from the library and I do check recent films unless the woke index is obviously too high. My response is pretty much the same as neo’s: garbage.

    De gustibus and all that, but what films since 2000 are going to be remembered past a year or two? “The Color of Water”? Compare the 90s Academy Award winners/nominees with those since. It’s grim.

    I’m not a knee-jerk curmudgeon towards the new — I think the long-arc TV shows have been running pretty strong from the “Sopranos” on.

    I don’t know if the 90-120 minute movie format is played out or Hollywood’s obsession with woke politics and Chinese box office has brought down movie quality, but something is wrong.

  63. Richard Saunders:

    I thought it was sarcasm, but I decided to take an opportunity to explain a few things about the genetics of “biracial,” in case some people weren’t aware of some of it.

  64. “IIRC, some of them joined well into the ’50s, long after Stalin’s murderous ways were known.” – Richard Saunders

    Joining the Communists in the early years, when they were a distant, somewhat romantic, ideological utopia is one thing.
    Joining after Stalin’s atrocities (and Lenin’s) became common knowledge … explains a lot about the American Left.

    https://www.thenewneo.com/2020/09/10/where-have-all-the-swing-voters-gone/#comment-2514503

    Hereogar on September 10, 2020 at 7:38 pm said:
    The cause of most of this societal fracturing is from the previous gen not dealing with communism as the enemy is was in a competent and complete manner.

    Now, the disease has spread so far and so deep that anyone opposing communism is “divisive”.

  65. Be of good cheer – everyone gets quotas!
    https://babylonbee.com/news/oscars-announce-christian-movies-will-not-be-considered-for-best-picture-unless-they-star-kevin-sorbo

    BEVERLY HILLS, CA—In response to massive public outcry for diversity quotas in films from two Huffington Post writers, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced sweeping requirements for any film wishing to be considered for Best Picture. In addition to quotas for minorities, women, and non-binary mermaid queens, they will now require all Christian movies wishing to be considered for Best Picture to star Kevin Sorbo.
    …
    In addition to the Sorbo quota, Christian films will be required to include all of the following:

    At least one depiction of an atheist who gets hit by a car
    A minimum of 2 Newsboys songs
    An altar call and link to an online Bible study during the credits
    20% queer representation in the characters, but they all must get saved at the end
    12% Amish representation in the cast and/or crew
    Equal representation for Calvinists and Arminians
    A minimum of 20 solid minutes of screen time for a majestically waving American flag
    A maximum of 1 instance of light swearing, words such as “heck,” “darn,” and “freakin”

    The Academy has expressed hope that this will lead to greater inclusion and higher artistic quality in Christian films for years to come. They are also assuring the public that nothing will change in their favorite Christian movies since most of them already conform to the new standards.

  67. ” . . . the movies left me . . . ” Couldn’t agree more; now it will get worse. Apparently they hope to engage sufficient numbers of viewers to keep the movie industry going; I hope they’re right, for their sake. I only watch old movies any more; nothing made since 2000. Sad.

  68. On the same general subject, I just read a review of “Re-Animator” (1985) written for its 30th anniversary which criticized the film for its “gender dynamic” and “racial representation.” The review was pretty positive overall but the idea that someone felt the need in 2015 to politically “tut, tut” a movie like “Re-Animator” is a pretty good demonstration of how consumed people are with this stuff.

    Mike

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