(TriceEdneyWire.com)—I usually don’t pay much attention to the Academy Awards unless African American actors are nominated and win or unless African American themed films have an opportunity. This year, I am paying much attention, what with “Fences,” “Hidden Figures,” and “Moonlight” among the nominees for Best Picture, and with Denzel Washington (Fences), Ruth Negga (Loving), Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Viola Davis (Fences), Naomie Harris (Moonlight) and Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures) up for best actor/actress or supporting actor/actress roles. To be sure, I think that there should have been more nominations for “Hidden Figures”, and that Denzel should have been nominated for a directing award. But we all know the Academy “ain’t fair.” Let’s see what the outcomes are.
One of the more difficult choices may be the choice for Best Documentary. Two films that rocked my world have both been nominated. Raoul Peck’s “I Am Not Your Negro” was riveting and had me sitting at the edge of my seat. James Baldwin had always been a searing critic of race matters in these United States. To see his wit and wisdom come to life reminded me of how passionately he cared, and how wittily he responded, to some of the questions too often raised about Black life. To hear Samuel Jackson’s voice-over of Baldwin’s words, and to combine that with some of the Peck-inspired visuals, is absorbing. The multi-media experience raises questions about stereotypes that reign in film, even in cartoons, and how these stereotypes shape the way African Americans are perceived and treated in our nation. I have never experienced such silence in the theatre, a few uh-hums, but none of the whispered conversation typical of a movie experience. I’ve seen the documentary once, and plan to see it again, both because I was a big Baldwin fan, and also because the movie is sharing immutable facts that many would like to forget.
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