I really liked Danielle Deadwyler’s performance in “Till,” which was a mostly subdued, maybe too much so, well-shot, but semi-bland depiction of the Emmett Till tragedy.
However, she, like many of her snubbed noir cohorts, such as Gina Prince-Bythewood, Chinonye Chukwu and Viola Davis, have been slamming the Academy non-stop these past few weeks for what they see as a systemic case of misogyny and racism towards black people.
So, why not just come up with a term for both! Deadwyler has decided to slam the Academy as “Misogynoir.” She spoke about “Till” getting shut out on “Kermode & Mayo’s Take” podcast yesterday.
In the interview, Deadwyler describes the black Oscar snubs as the “residual effects” of systemic racism within the Academy:
“We’re talking about people who perhaps chose not to see the film. We’re talking about misogynoir. It comes in all kinds of ways. Whether it’s direct or indirect, it impacts who we are.”
No, she did not invent that term. Scholar and activist Moya Bailey coined it back in 2008 as a way to describe racism as experienced exclusively by Black women.
“The question is more intent on people who are living in whiteness, white people’s assessment of what the spaces they are privileged by are doing,” Deadwyler continued.
What Deadwyler, Chukwu, Davis and Prince-Bythewood have managed to do these past few weeks is completely ignore the works of the five nominated actresses in the category, and that includes Malaysian-born Michelle Yeoh and Cuban-born Ana de Armas. It’s plain disrespect, there’s no other way to put it.
They are basically offended that their by-the-books, even generic, films were not rewarded by the Academy. They wanted to be recognized, goddammit! It’s just awful behavior on their parts.