BLACK FILM HISTORY SPOTLIGHT

African-Americans and Oscars did not exactly go hand in hand. Before the turn of the century, out of sixteen overall nominations, only one African-American had ever been awarded the Academy’s highest acting award. Sidney Poiter took it home in 1963 for Lillies Of The Field. However, when the 74th Academy Awards rolled around in 2001, blacks remained hopeful. For the first time ever, between Best Actor and Best Actress, three blacks were nominated and everyone was sure either Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, or Will Smith would be leaving with a statuette. Not only did we get one, but we got two. Denzel Washington won Best Actor for his role in Training Day and Halle Berry became the first black Best Actress winner for her role in Monster’s Ball. The wins grouped with the Sidney Poiter’s Lifetime Achievement Award had people dubbing the show The Bloscars. In an odd turn of events, after Halle’s win, Lee Daneils also became the first black to solely produce an Academy Award winning film. Also, Washington became the first black actor to win two Oscars, having won Best Supporting previously for his role in Glory.

Watch Medley of Bloscar Wins

CONTROVERSY:
With so many firsts, many felt Hollywood was sending a clear signal about racial equality in America, however the night was not without controversy.

Halle’s and Denzel’s wins were dubbed bittersweet for African-Americans. It was great they broke the glass ceiling, but their respective roles did little to break old racial stereotypes. Washington, known for playing acceptable, heroic roles, was also nominated for playing Malcolm X in Spike Lee’s epic, and Rubin Carter in The Hurricane. However, he finally won  for playing a dangerous, crooked cop.



Berry’s win was an even worse firestorm. Berry's role was the wife of a criminal, used sex to solace herself after her husband’s execution, and was a mother of questionable competence (her mordibly obese son ends up dying too). Berry also had an intense, graphic, and nude sex scene with a white racist in Billy Bob Thorton. With Berry being mulatto, the scene brought up past racial stereotypes as mulattos being oversexualized. Black women had been snubbed for decades, and the big win finally came for portraying a black woman with animalistic qualities.

Even Angela Bassett had harsh words about the role (in which she was previously offered): 

"I wasn't going to be a prostitute on film. I couldn't do that because it's such a stereotype about black women and sexuality. Film is forever. It's about putting something out there you can be proud of 10 years later. I mean, Meryl Streep won Oscars without all that."

Halle Berry Sex Scene - For more funny videos, click here

Many remembered Hattie McDaniel winning Best Supporting Actress for playing the stereotype of Mammy and felt the Academy still had a long way to go in honoring Black Actresses. Since 2001, Jamie Foxx and Forrest Whitaker have gone on to win the prestigious Best Actor award. To this day, Berry still remains the only black female to win Best Actress, and the last to be nominated. Dorothy Dandridge, Diana Ross, Cicely Tyson, Diahann Carroll, Whoopi Goldberg, Angela Bassett have also competed for the Best Actress Award.