Were there truly that many great performances and films with blacks in 2016? Or were the large numbers of Oscars a reaction to last year's #OscarsSoWhite?

The big fuss that was created by all of the whiners last years absolutely tainted the Oscars this year. Who can really say why anyone gets a award now?

Quoted from the NY Times: “After two years when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was criticized as racist for overlooking black actors and films about African-American experiences, this year’s nominee list was remarkably diverse. Six black actors received nominations, a record.”

Are you saying more African Americans should have won awards?

@jca – just the opposite.

I’m wondering if there were white performers that might have deserved awards, but didn’t get them because of the heightened sensitivity after last year. In other words, was this year’s high number of black actor awards tokenism and compensation for last year?

The awards shows usually have a few films that dominate. This year there were a few exceptional films with a lot of black participants. They won some awards. There was one notable film with a lot of white participants, it won a lot of awards as well.

Making movies isn’t like track and field, where everything comes down to time and distance, these awards are always a judgement call by just a few people, and a lot of things can make a film great. One of those is the climate it’s made in.

Some great films were made, they won awards, some equally great films won nothing but got to go to the biggest party in their industry. It used to be a celebration, but all I’ve seen today is talk about who was wronged by the whole process… whites, blacks, women, Trump, muslims, and probably others.

It’s a party where they hand out trophies. Well done, people who got trophies, well done people who were nominated, thanks for all the great entertainment.

There were truly that many African-American great performances this year. So much so that many such as Naomi Harris and Denzel Washington and Ruth Negge, who might have won in another year, didn’t. It was a wonderful year for movies! About time.

Every year there are great films, actors, etc that deserve to be nominated/win but don’t. Every year there are films, actors, etc that are nominated/win but don’t deserve to*. This year is no exception.

(*This all is, of course, a purely subjective call, and everyone will have their own opinion on who deserves what.)

I think there is a possibility you haven’t considered. First, the major response from the Academy to #OscarsSoWhite was “well, give us more good stuff with black actors and directors.” So they did. Second, the awards have always been political. Some of what happened last night was surely a statement about the state the US is in right now.

I can’t believe that anyone takes the Oscars this seriously, though.

I’m having difficulty understanding why this question is necessary. If African-American actors give outstanding performances, they deserve to be recognized. It seems that the only way this question is necessary is if one believes African-American actors are not capable of creating exemplary performances.

And then in a comment in the thread, @elbanditoroso wonders if these were tokens given to less deserving performances to assuage the academy’s guilty conscience for nominating no people of color last year. This reinforces the sentiment in the OP that the awards went to lesser deserving performances only because the recipients were African-American, thus an example of reverse racism.

Let’s be blunt. Reverse racism is only possible if racism is real. If African-Americans are not subject to a harsher reality than white Americans, then there can be utterly no reverse racism targeting them. Since there is suspicion that these African-American actors have stolen the awards from more deserving white actors, then the racism that besets the African-American actors must logically be real.

In a world free of racism, this question does not exist.

@JeSuisRickSpringfield As someone on another site just put it, “I’m a movie geek and this is my Super Bowl.”

@JeSuisRickSpringfield I check the photos after to study the exquisite gowns and jewelry.

If we really want the best movie/actors to win this year everything should have went to Moonlight. That movie stayed with me for weeks. The music, the acting, the story…one of the best movies I have ever seen. But that did not happen. Though I’ll give Viola Davis a pass. She is exceptional in everything she does.

The fact that this question was even asked makes me 100% sure racism exists in Hollywood and within the academy.

Living in L.A., the Oscars are big news here. I know what the academy tends to lean toward. Politics is very much a part of it.

@tinyfaery I agree, I thought it blew everything else away. And I was delighted that it eventually won Best Picture over that vapid musical even though the awarding was badly bungled.

I haven’t seen Moonlight yet. I’m waiting for it to be shown here. I did see Viola Davis in Fences and thought she was fabulous. I’m sure we could look at many of the white actors who have been awarded Oscars over the years and some would be political rather than they were the ‘best’ actor in that year. If Moonlight was the best film, it should be given the accolades it deserves. I don’t think its success should be diminished because it happened to win in the year following protests about white dominance of the academy.

@janbb To be honest, I don’t get why anyone takes the Super Bowl so seriously either.

@Hawaii_Jake Good for you? That’s taking the clothes seriously, though, not the show.

@JeSuisRickSpringfield The point is more that we all have things we’re in to. I don’t think they’re more important than climate change issues but I do think they’re fun. I agree the coverage of the gaff was a bit of overkill but a little bit of bread and circus does no harm..

Rick, I don’t watch the show. I look for pictures of the gowns afterward. I enjoy the beauty and artistry. There’s so much difficulty in the world. I think we should all take a minute to smell the roses, so to speak.

Yeah, neither of you understood what I was saying. I wasn’t questioning why people watch the Oscars. I was questioning why people get bent out of shape about them.