The 2020 Oscar nominees were revealed earlier this week, this is ahead of its 92nd awards gala which will be held on the 17th of February in Los Angeles.
However, this year’s Oscar nominations came as a disappointment to many despite the many cheers for the 2019 film ‘Joker’ starring Joaquin Phoneix which received a total of 11 nominations.
Here are the biggest snubs of the 2020 Oscar nominations.
1. Lupita Nyong’o
Kenyan Hollywood star Lupita Nyong’o didn’t give just one performance in Jordan Peele’s horror film ‘Us’, she gave two, as sharply contrasting characters Adelaide and her evil doppelganger, Red. But Academy members denied the actress a second nomination, after Nyong’o won best supporting actress for 2013’s ’12 Years a Slave.’
2. Beyonce
Another big and a rather obvious snub by this year’s Oscar nominations is the fact that Grammy award-winning singer Beyonce was nowhere to be seen. 2019 was a big year for Queen B, she starred in ‘The Lion King’ film remake as Nala and also worked on the soundtrack album titled ‘The Gift’.
She was thought likely to be in the running for best song for her original song ‘Spirit’ from ‘The Lion King’, but it was not to be.
3. Jennifer Lopez
Multi-talented Latina star Jennifer Lopez was widely predicted to receive a best-supporting actress nod for her role in ‘Hustlers’, especially after bringing home Screen Actors Guild, Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe nominations. Her exclusion from the Oscar nominees list brought an immediate outcry on social media.
Lopez’s snub also made waves with director Tyler Perry who said he was disappointed Lopez did not get a nomination.
4. Awkwafina
The ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ star Awkwafina whose real name is Nora Lum, showed emotional depth as a grieving granddaughter dealing with the terminal illness of her beloved grandmother in ‘The Farewell’. Awkwafina made Golden Globes history as the first Asian actress to take the best actress in a musical or comedy. But she missed out on an Oscar nomination.
5. Frozen II
The animated sequel to ‘Frozen,’ which has seen mixed reviews, but made $1.37 billion at the global box office, was denied a best-animated movie nomination. The movie’s song ‘Into the Unknown’ did earn a best song nomination.
Six years ago, Frozen won two Oscars best-animated feature and best song for ‘Let It Go.’
Also, no women have been nominated for best director. That means that over the past 10 years, 49 out of the 50 best director nominees have been men. After announcing the shortlist, actress Issa Rae pointedly remarked: “Congratulations to all those men.”
Nineteen of the 20 acting nominees this year are white the highest number since the #OscarsSoWhite outcries of 2015 and 2016 when there was a total whitewash.
According to The BBC, in the best supporting actor category, the average age of the nominees is 71. Brad Pitt is the baby at 56 and will go up against Hanks (63), Joe Pesci (76), Al Pacino (79) and Sir Anthony (82).
Even across both male acting categories, the average age is 60, whereas the average age of nominated actresses is 40. Which ties in with previous research that Hollywood prefers its female characters to be younger than its men.