Source: TGON
The Screen Actors Guild Awards aired last Saturday (Jan. 30th) and not only was there better race representation among the nominees than some other award shows (cough cough the Oscars), but there was also a more diverse display of winners. Before you get too excited though, there could be some other factors at play here, as well…
Most of the wins for African Americans came in TV categories. If you remember correctly, the Oscars do not give out TV awards, so if we were to remove them from the SAG awards, the nominee/winner list would still look very pale.
And the Latino community was still all but forgotten.
If we look strictly at movies here, and really compare performance, you’ll see the real problem is the lack of roles for African Americans and Latinos. It can’t surprise you that most movie nominations go to Caucasians…who still rule the film world. If you’ve got (for example) 10-20 great African American and Latino performances competing with 50 great Caucasian performances, how are you supposed to come out well represented? The odds are not in their favor.
Another factor here is that you have to be a member of SAG-AFTRA to vote in the SAG awards. There is so much more forward and diverse thinking in the actor community than in many others, so it’s no surprise that more diversity was represented in their choices.
The good news here is that people are passionate about change. It’s also being handled respectfully, and changes to the Academy have already been made. All we can hope for is better race representation during awards season next year, and the good press coming out of the SAG awards could be the start to that.
For a glimpse into that “diverse tv”, here’s the full list of winners:
Movies:
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: Spotlight
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: Brie Larson, Room
Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Supporting Role: Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Supporting Role: Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Television:
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series: Downton Abbey
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series: Orange is the New Black
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series: Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series: Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series: Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series: Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries: Idris Elba, Luther
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries: Queen Latifah, Bessie
Stunt Ensembles:
Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture: Mad Max: Fury Road
Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy Series or Drama: Game of Thrones
