The 38-year-old actor recently gave his opinion on why the Academy Awards chose not to nominate him for his portrayal of Martin Luther King in 'Selma.'
Many critics couldn't believe that the Academy Awards didn't nominate David Oyelowo for his portrayal of Martin Luther King in the critically acclaimed movie 'Selma,' and now the British actor isn't holding back when talking about being snubbed.
Oyelowo was very critical about Hollywood's history with black actors
The historical flick, which depicts Martin Luther King's campaign for equal voting rights with a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, received two Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Song, but Oyelowo wasn't given a nod for Best Actor and he thinks this decision reflects how Hollywood treats black actors.
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While speaking to a crowd at the Virtuoso Awards at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Sunday (Feb 1st), the 38-year-old actor was asked what it was like being "the subject of Oscar snub outrage."
"I felt this before the situation we're talking about and I feel it now. Generally speaking, we, as black people, have been celebrated more for when we are subservient, when we are not being leaders or kings or being at the center of our own narrative," he replied.
Oyelowo also used examples such as Denzel Washington not winning for 'Malcolm X' back in 1992 to point out that the movie industry has had a history of ignoring black actors in starring roles.
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"So this bears out what I'm saying, which is we've just got to come to the point whereby there isn't a self-fulfilling prophecy - a notion of who black people are - that feeds into what we are celebrated as, not just in the Academy, but in life generally," he stated. "We have been slaves; we have been domestic servants; we have been criminals; we have been all of those things. But we have been leaders; we have been kings; we have been those who changed the world."
Oyelowo also revealed that 'Selma' made due to the financial success of '12 Years a Slave' and 'The Butler.' He said, "I know for a fact that Selma got greenlit after both of those films made almost $200 million each."
"Up until 12 Years a Slave and The Butler performed well both critically and at the box office, films like this were told through the eyes of white protagonists, because there is a fear of white guilt," he explained. "So you have a very nice white person who holds black people's hands through their own narrative. And then you have black people to be [like], 'We don't want to see that pain again,' so you don't really go into what that pain was in an authentic way. Both of those things are patronizing to the audience."
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