Oscars’ Diversity Efforts: Progress or Empty Gesture?

During Sunday night’s 96th Academy Awards, when Oppenheimer—a movie with an all-white cast—took home the most accolades, some of us may have wondered: What happened to the Oscars’ diversity requirements?

In 2023, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences introduced new rules for the Best Picture category at the Oscars. To be eligible, nominees must fulfill two out of four diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) eligibility criteria. As a result of this effort, 2024 saw a notable rise: 19 percent more female and female-led nominees and a 20-percent increase for non-white nominees across all Oscar categories compared to 2023. Despite this progress, critics argue the DEI criteria is too easily met, branding the Oscars’ efforts as no more than an empty gesture.

Oppenheimer, despite its all-white cast, met the diversity requirements, thanks in large part to Universal Studios’ backing. Universal recently implemented their own series of internal DEI initiatives ensuring that Oppenheimer, and almost every picture from the studio, meets all necessary requirements set by the Academy. The ongoing critique of the criteria raises a crucial question: What does it really mean to create space for a more diverse film industry?

New research reveals the barriers faced by Black creatives in the film industry—spotlighting the challenges in bringing a broader spectrum of stories to the big screen and fostering a truly diverse industry. These hurdles exist even when the talent is behind the camera. A recent study by McKinsey & Company found that “films of any kind with two or more Black professionals in off-screen creative roles (producer, writer, or director, for example) receive significantly lower production budgets—more than 40 percent less than other films,” even while generating 10 percent more in returns at the box office.

Securing funding is just one limitation. For diverse feature films to be considered, excellence is not always enough—they may have to set a new bar entirely. Past films like Jordan Peele’s Get Out grossed over $255,000,000 at the box office and received nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay while only receiving $4.5 million in funding. At this year’s Oscar ceremony, American Fiction writer and producer Cord Jefferson used his acceptance speech for Best Adapted Screenplay to call on studios to take more risks on smaller, diverse projects—and on the “many people out there who want the opportunity that [he] was given.” It’s not enough to create diversity quotas for nominations if the industry fails to award diverse talent or even fund their projects from the beginning. Jeffery Wright called out the lack of initial funding for the Oscar-winning American Fiction at the 2024 Spirit Awards, noting “the reason [American Fiction] was independent from the start was because nobody wanted to finance it.”

It’s been nearly 10 years since #OscarsSoWhite and, although the industry has made real advances, Hollywood’s diversity problem is far from being resolved—as the Academy still sits at 81 percent white. The answer might be broadening our focus, and in remembering what audiences crave: more authentic, diverse stories. In an event last year, actor Taika Waititi called for a full “decolonization of the screen,” to go beyond the current check-the-box approach to inclusion. This would effectively shift the focus from simply “diversifying” the screen (usually through the inclusion of one token character) to instead championing films and television programs that are created, written, and show-run by underrepresented talent.

“It’s not enough to create diversity quotas for nominations if the industry fails to award diverse talent or even fund their projects from the beginning.”

In the latest Hollywood Diversity Report conducted by UCLA, researchers found that women and people of color were essential viewers for an industry that’s struggled to reach pre-pandemic levels, with people of color leading opening weekend sales for 14 of the top 20 films in 2023 and women as top ticket buyers for three of the top 10 films that year. In fact, casts that included at least 31 percent of people of color, had the highest median global box-office earnings among the top 200 films of the year, likely given their resonance with these audiences.

As the United States becomes increasingly more multicultural, calls for diversity in front of and behind the camera will no longer be a nice-to-have for Hollywood but a must. Films like Everything Everywhere All at Once, the most-awarded movie of all time, and 2023 blockbuster Barbie both feature authentic storytelling pushed forward by diverse casts and production teams. These clear examples of nuanced storytelling highlight how the experiences of historically marginalized groups can result in not only enthusiastic and loyal audiences but critical success.

To critique the diversity efforts of Hollywood isn’t to say that there haven’t been notable milestones at this year’s Academy Awards. For instance, Lily Gladstone made history as the first Native American Best Actress nominee for her role in Killers of the Flower Moon. Colman Domingo also became the first Afro-Latino nominee in the Best Actor category for his role in Rustin. The Best Picture category included nods to films such as American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, and Past Lives, with the latter three films directed by women. In an industry that relies heavily on executives to support and greenlight a project financially, the Academy Awards serves as the most prominent stage for spotlighting what stories matter and should be elevated to the highest honor. But if history provides us a roadmap, it shows that for underrepresented groups, a “first” is not enough to usher in transformative change.

When Halle Berry became the first Black actress to take home the Best Actress award for her role in Monster's Ball in 2002, it was widely celebrated as a potential turning point in the industry. And last year Michelle Yeoh made history as the first Asian Best Actress winner, and only second woman of color to win the award, at the Oscars. Lily Gladstone and Colman Domingo didn’t bring home an Oscar and Past Lives actress Greta Lee didn’t receive any nominations at this year’s Academy Awards, despite recognition at other shows on the circuit. This raises the question: Are wins like Berry and Yeoh’s relegated to a one-and-done opportunity? Hollywood shouldn’t just celebrate these “firsts” as a job well done and move on, it must commit to the ongoing work needed for genuine diversity both in front of and behind the camera—to ensure progress becomes a mainstay and not simply a trend.

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