The Huffington Post headlined an article celebrating “Moonlight’s” unexpected victory over “La La Land”: “The ‘Moonlight’ Win Is For Every Black Person Overlooked For White Mediocrity.”
Regarding the expectation that “La La Land” would take the top honor Sunday night, the Huffington Post article said, “Though infuriating, that outcome wouldn’t have been surprising for many black folk.”
“We know that the mediocrity of our white peers is rewarded far differently than our own,” the author wrote.
The article is relatively kind to “La La Land,” which has a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes and earned widespread critical acclaim, but ultimately uses the film to make a larger point about black Americans working harder to earn recognition.
The author’s decision to praise “La La Land” as “really good” and then smear it as “white mediocrity” feels intellectually dishonest. It’s also needlessly divisive and completely dismissive of the film’s crew members of color.
Here’s a question: If “La La Land” is a “really good movie,” as the author explicitly acknowledged, was it only downgraded to mediocre because its cast is white?
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
