Insulting Idris

I am not one of those persons that think that simply because a black person is present that they should get an award or even be nominated for one. Heck I don't even think that just because a black person makes a movie that it should be lauded. I think the bar for any movie being nominated for any award should be is it well done. Same goes for the actors work. Did they "do their thing" or not. In keeping with that, the fact that Idris or anybody else in Beasts of No Nation was nominated for best anything is a huge problem to me.

I've said before that I didn't think that Idris should have been in Thor. Matter of fact I think any non-white characters tossed into a Norse mythos is an insult that wouldn't fly if it were done in the reverse. There is nothing wrong with white ethnic mythos' not having black (or any other race) characters just as there is nothing wrong with Chinese mythos' not having non-Chinese characters. And yes, I'm kinda bothered that Mike Tyson is in the latest Ip Man movie. No offense to Tyson but reaaallllly?

I'm not even joining the "Straight Outta Compton" crowd. I saw it. I wasn't much interested in NWA when they first hit the scene and I'm STILL not particularly interested in NWA. But if Cadillac Records couldn't land a nomination, then "Straight" wasn't either. "Beasts" was no "Straight". It was better than straight and tackled a serious problem. Heck, I think it would make for a good lesson on the pitfalls of charismatic leadership and poor governance. Idris played the rebel leader to the hilt. Agu performed excellently as well. In fact when I realized "Beasts" had no nomination, I seriously wondered if it was even watched by anyone on the committee. I haven't seen The Revenant. But from the previews I've seen it is a winter Beasts, in a different country, with a different (read: white) cast. You have people in the wilderness, fighting others and the elements. Yet "Revenant" has nominations and "Beasts" does not.

But this is nothing strange to many of us. We do the work, others get the raises, promotions and recognition.