With a record-breaking 23 nominations and 11 wins for The Bear and 25 nominations and 18 wins for Shōgun, the two FX series were among the biggest winners at the 76th annual Emmy Awards last Sunday. Among the actors making headlines at the award show were Anna Sawai who won Best Actress, Drama and Liza Colón-Zayas who won Best Supporting Actress, Comedy. Both actresses made history, as Sawai became the first actor of Asian descent to win the accolade and Zayas became the first Latina to win in her category.
This year, actors Lily Gladstone and Kali Reis were the first Indigenous women ever nominated for acting in Emmys history for Under the Bridge and True Detective: Night Country. D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai made history by becoming the first Indigenous North American actor to snag a lead comedy actor nomination for Reservation Dogs. Taika Waititi also received two nominations as executive producer for the fifth and final season of What We Do in the Shadows, making him the first Indigenous double nominee for any top series category.
Like we tend to bring up seemingly every award season, the first-time wins and nominations raise questions. How was this the first time? What took so long? Major award shows like the Oscars, the Emmys and the Grammys have an exhaustive history of snubbing many talented people of color in their categories. So what gives?
Voting Body Racial and Gender Disparities
Historically, white men have made up a vast majority of award voters. In 2016, the Los Angeles Times conducted a survey that revealed that 76% of Oscar voters were men and 91% were white. Due to pushback by the viewers, voters may give people of color recognition every once in a while but their picks remain overwhelmingly white. The Recording Academy has a similar problem as it makes efforts to diversify its nominees, but is still believed by many to be mostly white and male, halting real change.
Despite holding the record for most Grammy award wins ever, Beyoncé is snubbed consistently for the top awards like Album of the Year. Black artists are also often limited to R&B or rap categories, ultimately decreasing their chances of being nominated in more fitting categories. Just this month, Beyoncé was shut out of the Country Music Award nominations for her album Cowboy Carter. Black artists have expressed their exclusion from the country music genre over the years, with this recent development adding to their history of erasure.
A Slow Climb
In 2016, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences set the goal of doubling the number of women and underrepresented ethnic/racial communities as part of its A2020 initiative. In 2023, the Academy introduced new DEI rules for films to qualify for the Best Picture category: One of the lead actors or significant supporting actors must be from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group, and at least 30% of the general ensemble cast, not submitted for Oscar consideration, should consist of women, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with cognitive disabilities, or individuals from underrepresented racial or ethnic groups. This was widely seen as a superficial gesture seeing as the qualifications were very easily met by the 2024 Best Picture winner, Oppenheimer, despite being a largely white, largely male film.
Even with the efforts taken by these award shows to diversify their institutions, there’s been little to show for it over the years. From the “#oscarssowhite” fiasco of 2016 to the BAFTAs all-white winners in 2023, diversity in award shows is not where it needs to be.
Halle Berry, who remains the first and only Black actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actress, shared her disappointment with the lack of progress in an interview with Marie Claire.
I’m still eternally miffed that no Black woman has come behind me for that best actress Oscar.”
Halle Berry
It was only during last year’s Oscars that the second actor of color and first Asian woman won the Best Actress award. Michelle Yeoh won for her performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once, which received 11 nominations and won 7 awards. Her co-star Ke Huy Quan, who won the award for Best Supporting Actor that same year, was only the second Asian man to do so.
Consistent Progress is Needed
The attempts at diversifying these award shows are something we’re seeing happen in real-time. But too often, we are receiving empty promises and DEI efforts are being only somewhat implemented.
Despite that, the progress that is being made is nothing to scoff at. It’s great that we’re finally seeing actors get the recognition they’ve always deserved. It’s important that we don’t hear about these award “firsts” and allow award voters to pat themselves on the back and move on. We don’t want bursts of diverse wins and then a return to all-white nominees and winners by the next year; people of color being recognized for their talent should be commonplace. The reality is that a lack of diversity is deeply embedded into these institutions and a lot more needs to happen for that to be undone.
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