I will do my Oscar predictions in the weeks to come, but in case you haven’t heard, not a single actor or actress of color was recognized by the Academy this year, despite a number of acclaimed films featuring non-white casts and directors. The last time there was no non-white in any of the four acting categories, and directing category, was in 1998, making this year the “whitest” Academy Awards in over 15 years.  Many prominent industry figures, including George Lucas and Spike Lee, blasted the Academy for ignoring Selma director Ava DuVernay and actor David Oyelowo, who portrayed Martin Luther King, Jr. in the widely praised film.

I saw Selma.  It was a very well-done film.  Unlike many movies that cover historical events, it does not overwhelm the viewer with maudlin orchestrations to hype the situation.  It just lets the events play out, and the characters speak for themselves.

But I don’t know what to make of the controversy.  Are we to believe that the Academy which last year awarded 12 Years A Slave as Best Picture and Lupita Nyong’o as Best Supporting Actress is suddenly racist?

The president of the Academy dismissed the idea that Selma was snubbed, saying, “It’s nominated for the Oscar for best picture. It’s an award that showcases the talent of everyone involved in the production of the movie ‘Selma.’”

The president of the Academy, by the way, is Cheryl Boone Isaacs, a black woman.

And she’s right.  Selma was a great movie of ensemble acting.  That’s why it was among the pictures nominated this year.  As for Oyelowo, he was very good, but I can’t say he was hands down better than the actors who did get nominated for Best Actor.  (I’ve only seen nominee Bradley Cooper in American Sniper, and I thought his performance was more demanding and better).

So I’m not prepared to say this is a real controversy invoking a real problem.  If there is a race problem within the movie industry at all, it is that most prominent films featuring African-Americans are almost universally about the downtrodden black man throughout history — movies like Selma, 12 Years A Slave, Glory, Ray, etc.  Other than Denzel Washington in Training Day and Flight, and Halle Berry in Monster’s Ball, I struggle to think (without researching it) of the last time someone black was nominated for a role that had nothing to do with slavery, the civil rights movement, prejudice, etc.  And that’s a problem that might need looking at.

But as for the “white male” controversy, I’m inclined to think of this year as an outlier, and not representative of an actual problem.