Who Picks the Oscars? White Men. [View all]
http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/02/who_picks_the_oscars_94_of_academy_voters_are_white_77_male.html
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the group that votes for the Oscars, is nearly 94 percent white and 77 percent male, according to a Los Angeles Times study published Sunday. Blacks are about 2 percent of the academy, and Latinos are less than 2 percent.
In some sub-branches the racial disparities are even higher. The executives and writers groups, for example, are 98 percent white. And all of this years five nominated directors are white men, and none of the 21 producers of the nine best picture nominees is a person of color.
The Times spent several months investigating who was part of the closely guarded and secret roster list of academy voters. Times reporters confirmed the identities of more than 5,100 Oscar voters more than 89 percent of all active voting members and found that they are mostly white, male and have a median age of 62.
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I dont see any reason why the academy should represent the entire American population. Thats what the Peoples Choice Awards are for, Frank Pierson, a former academy president who won an Oscar for original screenplay for Dog Day Afternoon in 1976, and who still serves on the board of governors, told the Times.
We represent the professional filmmakers, and if that doesnt reflect the general population, so be it, Pierson said.
Pierson gets the Oscar for Most Clueless Comment.