Horror and fantasy author Stephen King said the Academy Awards are “still rigged” in favor of white people.
In a Monday op-ed for the Washington Post, King addressed his remarks two weeks ago when he said he “would never consider diversity in matters of art.”
“Lines of belief are drawn with indelible ink, and if you step over them, wittingly or otherwise, you find yourself in the social media version of the stocks and subject to a barrage of electronic turnips and cabbages. I stepped over one of those lines recently,” King, 72, told readers.
He continued, “For answers to why some talented artists are nominated and some … are not, you might need to look no further than the demographic makeup of those who vote for the Academy Awards.”
The author admitted that “it’s better than it was, certainly” but added that the slow progress over the years is “not good enough. Not even within shouting distance of good enough.”
King, an outspoken liberal, admonished the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the lack of diversity within its nominee list. He said that the films selected, including Ford v Ferrari and Joker, are “man fiction,” filled with “fights, guns, and many white faces.”
He also recalled his reaction to when actor Idris Elba, star of Cats, Thor, and Pacific Rim, was cast in the 2017 adaption of King’s The Dark Tower.
“I didn’t care what the character’s skin color was, as long as he could draw fast and shoot straight,” the author said, adding that his attitude could only be possible in a “perfect world” where “the game isn’t rigged in favor of the white folks.”
“We don’t live in that perfect world, and this year’s less-than-diverse Academy Awards nominations once more prove it,” he said. “Maybe someday, we will. I can dream, can’t I? After all, I make stuff up for a living.”
