The Academy played in Angela Bassett’s face once again. Almost thirty years after her horrifying snub for 1993’s What’s Love Got To Do With It, she was again nominated for an Academy Award that she did not win.
Bassett was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The character’s swan song featured the superhuman strength and dignity of a fictional monarch.
In real life, Bassett sat and watched Curtis’ name called in place of her own and showed the disappointment on her face because she is not the mascot for Black women’s grace; she’s human. Not even a few seconds passed before she was punished for that humanity. Bassett received backlash for not standing and clapping for Curtis, the winner in her category. Some even went as far as to label her reaction to the dumbfounding loss as “kinda shady.”
Expecting Bassett to stand out of her seat, upturn her mauve lips, and politely clap while being denied what she rightfully earned is unreasonable.
Think about how you would feel when you receive a quiet promotion instead of the title change and salary bump you deserve. It’s an honor to be nominated, but it feels hollow when you deserve to win.
Bassett has had an enviable career where she has earned that golden statuette several times. The fact that she doesn’t have one is ludicrous.
“Everything Everywhere All At Once” is an impressive film that mainstream critics have salivated for all year. Jamie Lee Curtis is a national treasure (and the best part of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills season 12), but this isn’t about her or the movie.
It’s about history.
The most shocking part of Basset’s snub is not that she lost. It’s that this was only her second nomination after playing Betty Shabazz in Malcolm X, giving us grown woman goals in How Stella Got Her Groove Back and executing an unforgettable monologue…
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