Diversity and the Oscar Awards
All professions benefit from diversity. Moviemaking, for example, has been in the news because a Frenchman (Jean Dujardin) won the best actor Oscar award. Read more here. He beat out American caucasian sweethearts George Clooney and Brad Pitt. One interesting feature of Dujardin’s role is that he did not speak. Dujardin says that he would probably not make a talking movie in the U.S. because he is French.
Please feel free to leave a comment about Hollywood, the Oscars, or movies (highlighting connections with diversity issues). Consider, if you like, the following questions. 1. Would Dujardin have won if he had spoken? Does his victory (in silence) tell us anything about the role of language, accent, and conformity in film and life? 2. Some have called for an end to separate categories for male and female actors. Is it time to have men and women compete together? Do gender categories for awards perpetuate inequality? How does film compare to sports in this regard? 3. Comment on any comment-worthy movies you have seen recently and whether or not they perpetuated or eased stereotypes.
CJS-360 Diversity Issues 
I think that there is a need for separate catagories in movie and music awards. If you lump them all together there would be far too many good choices to be able to pick just one, as I am sure it already is having them separate. Women play different roles as men, just as men and women have different qualities to their voices that make them a good vocalist. I think Dujardin could have still spoken with a French accent in a movie and been a good actor, but the role he won for was a silent one which was probably the basis for the film- he was playing his part. There are also many foreigners in American movies all the time- Gerard butler, selma hayek, etc. Take a look at Hugh Laurie from the TV show house, I would have never known that he usually speaks with a British accent!