Are the Oscars still too white?

Five years after #OscarsSoWhite was trending in response to a lack of diversity among Academy Award nominees, the 2020 nominations have met with similar furor.

With nominations announced on 14 January, a number of categories are lacking in representation from non-white creators in key categories.

The Tom Phillips-directed Joker leads with the most nominations with 11 in total, including Best Actor, Best Picture, and Best Director.

Us, a critically-acclaimed horror film from director Jordan Peele failed to garner any nominations.

There was also a noteworthy lack of female nominees in key categories such as Best Director, which did not feature any women. While the film Little Women was included in the best film category, director Greta Gerwig failed to nominate.

The nominations were not entirely bereft of diversity, however. The South-Korean horror film Parasite has made Oscar history with six nominations including Best Picture and Best Director, the first South Korean film to do so.

Acclaimed horror writer Stephen King divided people with remarks on Twitter about how he approached art and diversity. Mr King suggested that diversity was not something he personally took into consideration when evaluating art. Instead, The 72-year-old author of It and The Institute argued that “only quality” should be considered. “It seems to me that to do otherwise would be wrong,” he wrote.

Mr King later clarified that he believed in giving creators from all backgrounds a fair shot, “You can’t win awards if you’re shut out of the game.”

The 92^nd Academy Awards take place on 10 February at 12 pm AEDT.

Jonathan Foye is Insights’ Editor