Ever vigilant not to offend woke purists, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is reportedly considering eliminating the categories of Best Actor and Actress and replacing them with a non-gendered category.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is “consulting on the topic — with a view to ditching the ‘gendered’ categories,” The Daily Mail reported.
The editorial board of the local media power in Los Angeles, The Los Angeles Times, pontificated about the idea of using non-gendered categories for actors in December, ripping the male and female categories for the Oscars.
“It makes sense for every awards organization that still uses it to scotch this outdated categorization,” The Times carped, adding, “… the categorizations don’t fit every performer. Prominent nonbinary performers including Emma Corrin … have argued for non-gendered categories to include those who don’t solely identify as male or female.”
The 96th Academy Awards in 2024 were already targeted by woke purists years ago; in September 2020, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced future eligibility reforms to the best picture category, forcing nominees to qualify by meeting “representation” standards among the crew of the film, at the film’s studio, or chances for training and advancement related to the development and release of the said film. A film could not be nominated unless it met two of the four standards.
The onscreen representation standard required a film to cast at least one lead character or important supporting character from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group, which the academy decided meant women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people or disabled people, The Guardian noted.
“The aperture must widen to reflect our diverse global population in both the creation of motion pictures and in the audiences who connect with them,” Academy President David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson declared. “We believe these inclusion standards will be a catalyst for long-lasting, essential change in our industry.”
The Oscars for Best Actor and Actress have been given since the Oscars first appeared in 1929. Both Best Actor Emil Jannings and Best Actress Janet Gaynor won for more than one role; Jannings won for his roles in “The Last Command” and “The way of All Flesh’ while Gaynor won for “7th Heaven,” “Street Angel,” and “Sunrise.” That was the first and only year actors were given Oscars for more than one performance.
The Grammys, the MTV Movie & TV Awards, and the Independent Spirit Awards have already replaced their gendered awards categories with Best Performer-type awards.