Kto jest członkiem "the Academy"

The organization that gives out the awards is known as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, although it is more commonly referred to simply as “the Academy” here in Los Angeles. The Academy has over 5,700 members, and each member belongs to one of 15 branches or groups, depending on what part of the movie business you are in (actor, director, writer, etc.). In order to become a member of the academy, you have to be selected and approved by other members. You can’t just apply or say, “Hey, I want to be a member!” You have to be asked first. (Some people who are asked decide not to join; George Lucas and Woody Allen have been invited but both declined . Membership is for life; you remain a member until you die, which is somewhat longer than the average Hollywood marriage.

You can find a list of the members of the Academy…nowhere! The list is secret; the Academy won’t officially tell you who is a member and who votes each year for the Oscar winners. But recently the Los Angeles Times investigated and found out the names of almost all of the members (around 89% of them). Here’s what they found about the people who vote for the Oscar winners:

96% of all Academy voters are white, 2% African American, and slightly less than 2% Latino/Hispanic
77% are men
All but one of the 15 branches is over 90% white (the actor’s branch is 88% white)
50% of the members have been active in making movies in the past 2 years
The median age of an Academy member is 62; only 14% of the members are under the age of 50

We can compare these statistics to the American population, where 64% are white, 16% Latino, 13% African American, and a little over 4% Asian American. As you can guess, a little more than half of the population is female, and less than 20% over the age of 65.

Now, I’m not saying that organizations have to or should reflect the general U.S. population, and there are many reasons why they may not. I’m also not saying that the Academy’s choices are “wrong” or that its members are not qualified to choose good winners. But there is an irony here. A majority of the members of what we call the “entertainment industry” claim that they are open to diversity, to having different groups represented, and often think of themselves as being more “liberal” politically than the rest of the country (this is especially true here in Los Angeles, where a large percentage of the Academy members live). But the reality , as seen in the Academy membership list, seems otherwise .