Here's why the 2020 BAFTA nominations are stirring up such considerable controversy online. Awards season is firmly underway, and as Hollywood dusts itself down from the brutal (but hilarious) takedown Ricky Gervais handed it at the Golden Globes, the 2020 BAFTA nominations have been revealed. Joker received a whopping 11 nods, while there was also plenty of recognition for 1917, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and Marriage Story.
Over recent years, there has been a concerted effort to address the lack of diversity at major award ceremonies, sparked by the #OscarsSoWhite campaign that followed in the wake of 2016's nominations, which featured a distinct lack of non-white entries for the second year running. Since then, voters' selections been have placed under increased scrutiny in terms of representation, and some degree of progress has been made as a result. The 2019 Oscars in particular marked a significant step forward in terms of racial and gender diversity. Unfortunately, the problem has not been solved entirely.
BAFTA have announced their latest list of nominations, and the response online has been justifiably angry. The nominations themselves can't be described as particularly diverse. Despite the achievements of directors such as Greta Gerwig (Little Women), the Best Director category is an all male affair. Furthermore, across the 4 main acting categories (Leading Actor/Actress, Supporting Actor/Actress) there isn't a single person of color. While this lack of diversity is worrying enough in itself, the issue is compounded by the fact Margot Robbie is nominated twice in the Best Supporting Actress category (for Bombshell and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood), while Scarlett Johansson is up for both leading and supporting gongs (Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit, respectively).
The default defense of the awards ceremony when coming under this type of fire is to pass the buck; to claim the problem isn't the lack of diversity in the nominations, it's the lack of diversity in the industry. After all, if people of color aren't given many high profile roles or if women aren't given the opportunity to direct, they have less chance of nomination. BAFTA have already responded to the controversy online, and this appears to be the very line they're taking, with BAFTA chair Marc Samuelson claiming (via Variety), "It’s just a frustration that the industry is not moving as fast as certainly the whole BAFTA team would like it to be."
While representation in Hollywood is certainly a problem, and a contributing factor to the BAFTA furor, Robbie and Johansson's double duty debunks any notion that this is a valid defense. The fact that two white actresses can be nominated twice while there are no persons of color among the 4 acting categories sends the very concerning message that BAFTA would sooner select the same person multiple times than step outside of their narrow comfort zone. Moreover, there are plenty of obvious potential selections that would've improved the representation among this year's nominees. In terms of female directors, there are Gerwig, Olivia Wilde (Booksmart) and Lorene Scafaria (Hustlers), to name but a few. In the acting categories, Lupita Nyong'o (Us), Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers), Cynthia Erivo (Harriet) and Eddie Murphy (Dolemite Is My Name), again just scratching the surface of potential choices. Diversity in film may be a problem, but there's enough to avoid nominating Margot Robbie for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.
With that said, it's vital to stress that the controversy is no slight on the nominated actors and directors themselves. A vast majority of the 2020 nominations are deserved and, obviously, they had no say in their selection. But such a consistent lack of representation across multiple categories is difficult to ignore and, given previous awards controversies, surprisingly short-sighted, especially when voters apparently deemed Robbie and Johnasson worthy of taking up two slots each.