Snubbed by Oscars, “The Woman King” Starring RI’s Viola Davis is Number 1 Movie on Netflix
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
The Oscars snub certainly did not go unnoticed.
Rhode Island’s Viola Davis, whose role in “The Woman King” landed her a Golden Globe nomination this year, recently took home a Grammy for “Best Audiobook Narration and Storytelling” for her memoir, “Finding Me.”
She joined a small circle of artists who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT) — and it is an exclusive club. Only 18 people have achieved the status, and Davis is the fourth Black artist to take home all the honors.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBut when it came time for this year's Oscars nominations — she was off the list.
Davis’s 2022 film "The Woman King" is about the historic all-female warrior unit the Agojie, and how they worked to protect the African Kingdom of Dahomey.
It is now the number-one movie on Netflix.
Overlooked by Oscars
The film is led by and stars a cast of Black women, including director Gina Prince-Bythewood -- who was also overlooked for a nomination.
Davis topped industry publication Variety’s list of biggest Oscars snubs of the year.
“Davis seemed certain to land her fourth acting nomination (and perhaps her first as a producer) for her stunning work in ‘The Woman King,’ a movie that not only garnered critical accolades but box office success as well. But her omission on the best actress list was one of the day’s biggest shockers,” wrote Variety.
“The Oscars snubs of 'The Woman King' and 'Till' show why #OscarsSoWhite is still trending in Hollywood,” wrote Marguerite Ward for Business Insider.
“The film led box-office charts when it debuted in September, and had some in Hollywood expecting the movie to nab spots for best picture, best director, or best actress,” wrote Ward. “Twitter was buzzing after the nominations were announced, with film buffs expressing their shock and anger and some resurrecting the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, according to The Los Angeles Times. "
Ward in her article picked up on this Tweet.
"This should have been Viola Davis' like fifth nomination," Meecham Meriweather, a writer in New York, tweeted. "She getting robbed more than the Home Alone house."
One publication pointed out how Davis called out Hollywood back in January.
"Viola Davis explaining how Black women are failed by Hollywood goes viral after Oscars snub," Marcus Wratten reported in the "Pink News."
"Speaking as part of a recent roundtable hosted by The Hollywood Reporter, Davis explained the struggle of trying to convince executives that a film can be successful if the intended audience isn’t primarily white," he wrote, going on to share what Davis said.
“Everything is a fight, and I’ll tell you the ultimate fight,” she said in the clip.
“You have a film, The Woman King, based on the Agojie tribe, and it’s got to be test screened and it’s got to mean something to white males, white females, and Black males.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s reaching 98 percent of Black females.”
“So how do you reach the white male audience?” she asked. “And how do you make people feel like, if I can’t reach the white male audience, it doesn’t mean that the movie can’t have some commercial value?”
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