Was Whoopi Goldberg's Oscar Win Snubbed in the New York Times?

The View has a bimonthly tradition (approximately) of making headlines, and the latest "controversy" is a wee one: Whoopi Goldberg claims The New York Times didn't mention her in an article called "Hollywood Whiteout" about this year's rather Caucasian field of Oscar nominees. It touches on Oscar history too, and Whoopi said that the failure to mention her Oscar win for Ghost hurt her "terribly." Is Goldberg's outrage warranted?

Looks like Whoopi missed the point.

The article singles out 2001 -- the year of Denzel Washington's Best Actor win and Halle Berry's Best Actress trophy -- as a would-be turning point in Academy history: "After Mr. Washington and Ms. Berry, there would be Jamie Foxx and Forest Whitaker (both best actors); Morgan Freeman (best supporting actor); Jennifer Hudson and Mo'Nique (best supporting actresses)." That's as close as authors Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott come to making a comprehensive list of Oscar winners. It doesn't say that black actors didn't win Oscars before 2001. In that case, Louis Gossett, Jr. and Cuba Gooding Jr. should also be outraged. They won supporting actor Oscars for 1982's An Officer and a Gentlemen and 1996's Jerry Maguire (respectively), and they're nowhere to be found in the story. And I even liked those movies. Sorry, Ghost.

While Whoopi's calling out NYT for journalistic gaffes, let's also correct her historical memory: It was 51 years between her win and Hattie McDaniel's -- not 70. So there. I wanted to get behind Whoopi's crusade here because black women don't often win Oscars (particularly for comic roles), but I just can't. I will say that Goldberg was very right to be insulted when she wasn't included in the 2008 Oscar telecast's retrospective of the ceremony's history, since she hosted the damn show four times. That was valid. I look forward to more of that justified rage in the future.

· Whoopi Goldberg reacts to 'NYT' Oscar Snub on 'The View' [TV Squad]



Comments

  • zooeyglass1999 says:

    Good article and you make many valid points but you lost me when you said you "liked" Jerry Maguire and not Ghost.

  • John the Craptist says:

    Also, part of her righteous outrage involved the claim that only 7 black actors had won Oscars in Oscar history, when the real figure is 15. But the article doesn't even state that. It states that PRIOR TO 2002, there were only 7 black winners. Basically--in a shocking turn of events--the staffers at The View didn't read the article carefully enough, misconstrued it, and then handed it to the panel to screech about for 15 minutes.

  • Matthew DH says:

    Well I just read the article and I have absolutely no idea why she's so outraged that she isn't mentioned. What she's complaining about is completely irrelevant to the article.

  • Martini Shark says:

    I say this is good kharma. She hurt me terribly with her performance in "Burgler".

  • Tommy Marx says:

    I think Whoopi misunderstood the intent of the article.
    However, I also want to cry foul. In the last ten years (including 2010), there have been seven black actors who have won Academy Awards. That means that more than 17% of Oscar winners have been black. However, the Census Bureau states that only 12.4% of the United States population is black/African American.
    The Academy is actually more inclusive than given credit for. And it's ridiculous to fault the Academy for not nominating black actors in 2010 when there were no notable performances worthy of a nomination. That's just pure bullshit. Actors should be rewarded for their performances, not their skin color.
    And for the record, I loved "Ghost" and I thought Whoopi deserved the Academy Award for her role.

  • Old No.7 says:

    Whoopi, not everyone can be as sensitive to the black race as Ted Danson.

  • k harris says:

    She is the biggest racist on the talk show circuit. She also complains and, is the most obtuse person, arguably on TV.

  • KevyB says:

    I find it ridiculous that we are still having arguments about black actors being nominated for Oscars. Where are all the Asians? Where are all the Latinos, who actually outnumber blacks, yet in the nine years mentioned in the NY Times article have been nominated for FEWER Oscars?
    Normally I'm just as outraged when minorities get ignored, but this year happened to be pretty crappy for movies, and most of the ones that happened to be good are nominated for Best Picture. 127 Hours, The King's Speech, The Social Network, The Fighter, True Grit and Winter's Bone HAD to be about white people due to history or location or real life. The Kids are All Right could have had a minority play one of the adults, but that would've required finding kids that looked mixed-race, which isn't always easy. At least a pivotal character was black. And Inception had many Asians, with two as important characters. Why Toy Story 3 and White Swan are so white is another question.

  • AC says:

    Just a side note... Whoopi Goldberg voiced a character in Toy Story 3!

  • The Winchester says:

    "...HAD to be about white people due to history or location or real life."
    You know, except for the white British guy who played the Brazilian, and the other white guy that played the Indian guy in Social Network.

  • Matthew DH says:

    The Fighter could have just as easily been written with an all ethnic cast. I don't think White people have a monopoly on lower class boxing drama stories.

  • Maybe not, though they probably do have a monopoly on biopics about real-life lower-class white boxers and their families.

  • William says:

    Whoopi is using this as an opportunity to remind us yet again, as she
    did when Patrick Swayze died and as she did when Halley Berry didn't
    mention Whoopi in her acceptance speech, that she won an Oscar for
    the 1990 movie "Ghost."

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