The film industry is in the middle of a PR crisis and everyone is blaming the Oscars but, Tyler Perry says he knows how to solve the issue.
As the backlash against this year’s Oscar nominations continues, Hollywood producers like George Clooney, actors like Jada Pinkett Smith, and twitter users have expressed their rage against the film making industry.
Recently, Whoopi Goldberg said production companies should be the ones leading the charge.
“There has not been a plethora of black movies because people believe we don’t want to see movies with black people in them,” Goldberg said. “This happens every year. Until there are more movies made with people of color. You get the people with the productions companies to hire. You make a stink all year – not just once a year, but all year!”
But, the former highest earning person in the entertainment industry, Tyler Perry, revealed what he thinks would change the Oscars and it’s pretty damn simple and smart.
“If the Academy – I think all this would go away if they revealed the votes,” Perry said. “If you look at a movie like ‘Straight Outta Compton’ right and just say it got 1,000 votes and ‘The Revenant’ got 1, 001 votes, is that racism or is it just this is the way the votes went?”
Actors George Clooney and David Oyelowo also criticized the Oscars.
“I don’t think it’s a problem of who you’re picking as much as it is: How many options are available to minorities in film, particularly in quality films?” Clooney said in a statement to Variety.”We need to get better at this.”
However, it is important to point out that George Clooney has not featured a person of color in the last four movies he directed.
“For 20 opportunities to celebrate actors of color, actresses of color, to be missed last year is one thing; for that to happen again this year is unforgivable,” Oyelowo said at a gala honoring Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs Monday.
“When you’re dealing with a movie that costs 100 million dollars or more, you don’t want to take risks,” said Tim Gray, awards editor at Variety. “It’s more based on what worked last year and what worked five years ago, ‘let’s do it again this year.’ And so you’re seeing that lack of imagination, which also means lack of diversity.”
Even Lupita Nyong’o, who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2013 for her role in 12 Years a Slave also expressed her disappointment in the film industry.
Tyler Perry is currently casting and filming his new movie A Madea Halloween in Atlanta, Georgia. For the latest casting calls click here.
