Oscar nominations thrill — and disappoint

The nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards were released in Beverly Hills on Jan. 13. Just like every year, there are many disagreements on whether or not the chosen nominations were the most deserving. 

“Joaquin Phoenix obviously was fantastic as the Joker,” Christian Collins (10) said. “I really appreciate the way that that movie actually dove into looking into someone’s mental illnesses and their issues and not being afraid to not censor it. It also addressed it in a way that can draw bigger audiences and using characters that are well-known.”

“Joker” received more nominations than any other movie including actor in a leading role, directing, best picture and cinematography. 

I honestly don’t think that the Joker” deserved the 11 nominations it got,”McKenna Slaughter (9) said. “I think the movie was decently well done but I don’t think that it was that good. I definitely don’t believe that it was good enough to warrant the number of nominations it got.”

There were a few movies that many expected to be nominated that were not. “Avengers:End Game” for example set box-office records and received excellent reviews yet was nominated only for its visual effects. 

“‘End Game’ wasn’t a really unique movie,” Collins said. “It was cool that they brought the whole Cinematic Universe together at the end, especially that last fight scene, but that’s something that are compliments to “Infinity War,” so it wasn’t as much of a shock to the audience.”

Slaugher complained about the most is the lack of diversity among the nominees. No women were nominated for best directors despite the several movies directed by women that received excellent reviews.

 “I think it’s really important to recognize them when they do good work for example people like Greta Gerwig with ‘Little Women,’ which was an incredible movie,”she said.

Along with the under representation of women in the Oscars, out of the 20 actors and actresses, Cynthia Erivo was the only person of color to be nominated. 

“Cynthia Erivo in ‘Harriet’ did an incredible job, but I think there are definitely more people of color who deserve to be recognized for their work,” Slaughter said. 

Because society has become more inclusive, Slaughter said she expected the 2020 Academy Awards nominations to be more diverse.

“I think it’s an ongoing problem with the Oscars not appreciating enough people from diverse backgrounds,” she said. “But I think especially this year it was a huge disappointment on that front.”  

By Violet Chace