Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
Angela Bassett was nominated for an Oscar for the second time in her 38-year career in Hollywood, and for the second time, she was passed over for someone else.
For someone who has worked as hard as she has to build the body of work that she has, making it to the big dance only to not get that golden statuette at the end of the night had to sting.
The disappointment showed on her face. It showed on her husband’s face, too. It likely showed on the faces of everyone who was rooting for her to win, because we know how this game works, and even though we all wanted it for her just as badly as she wanted it for herself, deep down, we all had the sinking fear that Hollywood was going to do what Hollywood does: uphold whiteness.
Because let’s be clear: As unproblematic as Jamie Lee Curtis is, and as likable as she may be, there is no way she should have won an Oscar for what essentially amounted to a cameo in the night’s biggest film. This was akin to Judi Dench winning the Oscar in 1998 for “Shakespeare in Love,” a role for which Dench did maybe eight minutes of work.
This is not meant to tear down either Dench or Curtis, both of whom are beloved in Hollywood.
This is simply to illustrate a point; as much as we want Hollywood to get it right, Hollywood refuses to get it right time and time again.
Because even if you weren’t going to give the award to Bassett, Stephanie Hsu was right there, but let me get off this tangent. A Hollywood nepo baby (because Jamie Lee Curtis is in fact a Hollywood nepo baby) won the night, and Angela was snubbed.
The headlines and online discussions we have seen since that moment…
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