A year ago, the Oscars came under sustained criticism for ignoring films revolving around people of color such as Straight Outta Compton and Creed.
The resulting #OscarsSoWhite movement advocating for more diversity led the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to promise to double its number of female and minority members by 2020.
This year there is a more diverse slate of movies in the running for Academy Awards, including Fences, starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, and Barry Jenkins’ African-American coming of age drama Moonlight.
But a growing movement on social media is expressing fury at the ethnic composition of other films in the running for awards. Namely, they’re too white.
La La Land, Damien Chazelle’s musical romance about love in LA starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, is a prime offender in social justice warrior eyes and is being unfavorably compared to Moonlight.
“La La Land” looks like white nonsense and if it steals an Academy Award win from Moonlight, so help me God….
— ᴇʀɴ (@heyernold) December 15, 2016
Heard #LALALAND was all style, no substance. As a friend put it, a real “WHITE PEOPLE” movie
— Jack Sullivan (@JackSully1393) December 15, 2016
La Land is a worthless piece of garbage glorifying white illusions of L.A.Emma Stone and @RyanGosling should be ashamed go see #Moonlight!
— Eric Mann (@EricMannSpeaks) December 15, 2016
MOONLIGHT has a higher rating than LA LA LAND straight white people are over
— american honey (@Iaurenceanyways) September 22, 2016
Gonna wear my Black Lives Matter t-shirt tonight while I watch Moonlight in Oakland. If this is a bubble, let me never have to leave it.
— Javachik (@javachik) November 20, 2016
Many are also saying on Twitter that they’ll despair if Moonlight is beaten by Kenneth Lonergan’s Boston-set drama Manchester-by-the-Sea starring Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams:
If Manchester by the Sea wins Best Picture when we have Moonlight I’m going to end it all – enough with Oscar bait white dramas.
— Alliewood (@allison_lackey) November 30, 2016
“Manchester By the Sea is Moonlight for old white guys from Boston” – @JasFly 😂😂😂
— Travon Free (@Travon) November 30, 2016
Today my film teacher referred to Manchester by the Sea as “that shockingly white Casey Affleck movie” and I really couldn’t agree more
— Emma Greenleaf (@EmmaGreenleaf) December 8, 2016
I don’t care how good Manchester by the sea is honestly like I’m tired of white men’s art being more important than their horrific actions
— 🌶🌶🌶 (@KenziKardashian) December 14, 2016
On top of Casey Affleck being a monster we should also not watch Manchester By The Sea because there are too many sad white people movies
— Hi it’s Matt Collins (@mitchberghini) December 2, 2016
Another Oscar contender Silence, Martin Scorsese’s 17th-century Christian epic starring Liam Neeson and Andrew Garfield, isn’t out until the end of the month but it’s already getting flak for what else…being so white:
Screening of “Silence” w/Martin Scorsese. Do we need another film glorifying white saviors in Asia, even if directed by a master filmmaker? pic.twitter.com/PvOd7Klo87
— Arthur Dong (@arthurdongfilm) December 5, 2016