Why is Parasite nominated for best picture, when it's a foreign film?

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Read the post under yours. If you use a cheap excuse like what you just said, anyone on Earth can be a xenophobe. It makes no sense. All it is is Americans thinking about the country they've been surrounded by their whole lives.
Yes, I agree. They are only thinking very narrowly.

By your own logic, you'd be guilty of this too. Isn't it narrow to assume a simple human habit is completely related to heartless offense? How many people have you offended by making assumptions about them?


You can't "blame" anybody for being influenced by their surroundings. I am positive most foreign awards ceremonies value their own country's films more as well. That's not xenophobia. In fact, that's closer to patriotism. And suddenly it's evil when it's American?



By your own logic, you'd be guilty of this too. Isn't it narrow to assume a simple human habit is completely related to heartless offense? How many people have you offended by making assumptions about them?
Erm, I don't know I guess you'd have to ask them.


You can't "blame" anybody for being influenced by their surroundings. I am positive most foreign awards ceremonies value their own country's films more as well. That's not xenophobia. In fact, that's closer to patriotism. And suddenly it's evil when it's American?
Well I've said what I believe the reasoning is. I don't think it's patriotism. If it were, Parasite wouldn't be in the best picture slot. You just cannot ignore the fact that no foreign language film has ever won the best picture award. You just can't.

What was the reasoning behind the lack of diversity before the #OscarsSoWhite movement?



Well, perhaps (I don't think all racism works like this, but we'll put that aside for now). The main thing is that the causality does not flow evenly in both directions. We can say that a racist or a xenophobe always fears or hates other cultures/races, and we can say (for the sake of argument) they do this because they are different, but that does not imply that anyone who finds another culture strange or difference is therefore hateful or fearful of it.

In other words, finding other cultures odd is a necessary but not sufficient component of racism and xenophobia.
I don't think the underlined bit is true. Much of the bias in culture is subconscious.



You just cannot ignore the fact that no foreign language film has ever won the best picture award. You just can't.
I'm not sure anyone is disputing this. Nobody says it's totally irrelevant or tells us nothing. What's at issue is whether or not it demonstrates racism and xenophobia, rather than something a lot less insidious, like a normal amount of cultural bias or preference for the familiar, possibly amplified by the size and scope (and tendency to assimilate artists from all over) of the English-speaking film industry.

What was the reasoning behind the lack of diversity before the #OscarsSoWhite movement?
Well, it was a mostly thoughtless hashtag, so I'm not sure it qualifies as a data point or something that needs to be reconciled. That said, I noted at the time (I can dig up some of the discussions on here if you're interested) that historically the Oscars are about in line with a rote population percentage comparison as far as African-Americans are concerned. Which is admittedly a simplistic measurement, but by definition no more simplistic than the complaint.



I don't think the underlined bit is true. Much of the bias in culture is subconscious.
I agree, but I noted as much earlier in the same post ("I don't think all racism works like this"). I was assuming it for the sake of argument, since what I was trying to say applied either way.

Anyway, the long and short of all this is that calling the Academy narrow-minded or culturally biased is probably reasonable (though I think there are a lot of innocuous factors about the nature of being a dominant market force that have to be considered), but calling them racist or xenophobic is much more serious claim that is, while not really disprovable, certainly not demonstrated by the frequency or foreign-language winners or nominees alone.



You just cannot ignore the fact that no foreign language film has ever won the best picture award. You just can't.
I'm not sure anyone is disputing this. Nobody says it's totally irrelevant or tells us nothing. What's at issue is whether or not it demonstrates racism and xenophobia, rather than something a lot less insidious, like a normal amount of cultural bias or preference for the familiar, possibly amplified by the size and scope (and tendency to assimilate artists from all over) of the English-speaking film industry.

What was the reasoning behind the lack of diversity before the #OscarsSoWhite movement?
Well, it was a mostly thoughtless hashtag, so I'm not sure it qualifies as a data point or something that needs to be reconciled. That said, I noted at the time (I can dig up some of the discussions on here if you're interested) that historically the Oscars are about in line with a rote population percentage comparison as far as African-Americans are concerned. Which is admittedly a simplistic measurement, but by definition no more simplistic than the complaint.
This entirely. That was a meaningless hashtag that should hardly be taken seriously. Scarlet, I'm certain you wouldn't take this complaint to other countries



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Aren't the Blue Dragon awards specifically for South Korean films?
Yes that's my point. The American Oscars are way ahead of diversity if they allow a South Korean film in, when the South Korean film awards do not allow any films that are foreign to them, to be eligible it seems.



That's a good point. By definition the only places that even open themselves up to charges of insufficient diversity are the ones at least ostensibly considering more diverse films to begin with. Is it less diverse to purport to represent film in general and still have that innate bias against foreign films, or is it less diverse to not even try?



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Oh I am not sure. I just thought it was ironic for people to criticize the American Oscars for not having diversity, when other countries, have even less in their film awards, it seems.



It's an American award, I don't have problems with it stuffing Hollywood movies at all. But my thing is when the field is weak why not put some foreign movies which are good. And award one please. Many years, the winner of the best foreign film has been miles better than the one from Hollywood. This decade sticks out.
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That's true, I have only seen three of the best picture nominees this year so far, but from those three, Parasite is the best movie of the year after letting it soak in more.



Yes that's my point. The American Oscars are way ahead of diversity if they allow a South Korean film in, when the South Korean film awards do not allow any films that are foreign to them, to be eligible it seems.
I don't buy this at all.

The Blue Dragon awards aren't pretending to be anything other than what they are. The same cannot be said for example the best picture award. A token nod every so often doesn't tick the diversity box. If anything it is condescending.

This is like when people claimed the MOBO awards were racist towards white poeple. Very dangerous route to take.



They're not pretending to be anything broader than what they are, but they're not attempting to be, either. Combined with the belief that ignorance does not mitigate or dilute xenophobia, I'm not sure how this can be seen as perfectly fine. It doesn't bother me, personally, but then I don't find an affinity or bias for your own culture to be an especially heinous thing. It certainly isn't an uncommon one.

And if the application of a behavioral principle to all people is dangerous, that suggests the principle itself is dangerous. Which is, of course, usually the point of taking one of these behavioral standards and applying it universally: to demonstrate its flaws or limitations, or to expose the degree to which it contains other assumptions or rules.



They're not pretending to be anything broader than what they are, but they're not attempting to be, either
Well I disagree. I guess it's all objective as to what we think they are supposed to be.

Combined with the belief that ignorance does not mitigate or dilute xenophobia, I'm not sure how this can be seen as perfectly fine. It doesn't bother me, personally, but then I don't find an affinity or bias for your own culture to be an especially heinous thing. It certainly isn't an uncommon one.
I think when combined with the gravitas that the oscars hold, it then becomes important.

And if the application of a behavioral principle to all people is dangerous, that suggests the principle itself is dangerous. Which is, of course, usually the point of taking one of these behavioral standards and applying it universally: to demonstrate its flaws or limitations, or to expose the degree to which it contains other assumptions or rules.
I don't really understand this. I don't think I have used a principle universally.



The Oscars favour predictable conservatism (hence the term Oscar-bait, which everyone understands what that refers to). You can never prove the charge of racism because the selection of actors is so tiny compared to all the performances out there. What people find distasteful is black actors/actresses being nominated for roles relating to slavery (a topic deemed ‘worthy’) rather than recognising their good performances in other work.

#OscarsSoWhite isn’t simply a headcount of how many people of colour there are- it’s arguing against a narrow conservative idea of what makes a good film or good performance. And of course there’s the obsession the Oscar committee have about showbiz films- even better, films about Hollywood. Impersonating a worthy celebrity is another shoo-in, and if you’re playing the supportive wife of a male genius. Able bodied straight actors are lavished with praise for playing gay characters yet gay actors rarely get acclaim for playing a straight character. Patriotism is another- war films and monarchs.
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Precisely. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a shoe-in for Best Picture based on popularity, subject matter, casting choices and nostalgia. No movie foreign or American had a chance at the awards, and I was certain of that as soon as I saw the trailer.