The BAFTAs shows how to actually improve a voting system
Plus updates on Taylor Swift, the Oscars, abolishing the filibuster, and more
Recently, the nominees for the British Academy Film Awards (i.e. BAFTAs), which is basically the British version of The Oscars, were announced. The nominees were shockingly diverse, a result of the BAFTAs’s efforts to diversify its voting body and improve the voting and nominating system due to its lack of diversity in last year’s ceremony. Industries are always talking about ways they’re trying to be more diverse, but they never felt really inclusive. But, shockingly, especially considering it’s the Brits, it really does feel like what the BAFTAs is doing is working. Last year I wrote a blog post about how awarding bodies need not only to be more diverse, but to revamp their voting systems. I never expected any of these bodies to actually take my advice, at least not so soon! Some of the processes mentioned in my blog post, like the including a committee (i.e. jury), have been adopted by the BAFTAs. I’m really impressed by the BAFTAs’s new process, which includes things like longlists and juries, as well as requiring voters to actually watch the films on these lists! I hope more awarding bodies take note.
This is Taylor Swift’s world. We’re just living in it.
After her previous two albums Reputation and Lover were largely snubbed from The Grammys, Taylor Swift came back last weekend with her third Album of the Year win, thanks to her phenomenal folklore album. She’s previously won the award for Fearless and 1989. Let’s hope she wins her fourth AOTY award at next year’s Grammys for evermore. :)
Taylor Swift’s Mistake
Taylor recently tweeted about a supposedly sexist joke about her that was featured in Netflix’s new television series Ginny & Georgia. Not only did she not understand the context of that joke, but she’s caused her rabid fanbase to bully the innocent young actress who plays the character that made that joke. This reminds me of when Taylor overreacted after Nicki Minaj criticized the MTV VMAs. Yikes.
And of course, during this whole Taylor Swift controversy, Todrick Hall (sighs) had to chime in and… slut shame others while defending Taylor from being slut shamed.
When Paul Bettany’s joke went too far…
Leading up to WandaVision’s series finale, Paul Bettany, who plays Vision, said in an interview that the the finale would feature a “an actor that [he’s] longed to work with.” Fans started theorizing who this would be, listing names of actors Bettany hasn’t worked with before, some even believing it’d be Sir Patrick Stewart returning as Professor Xavier from Fox’s X-Men franchise. As it turns out, there was no big cameo in the finale. The actor Bettany wanted to work with was… himself. Lol. And indeed, he did work with himself, as the finale featured Vision and White Vision. Here’s what Bettany had to say after the finale aired: “Yeah, you know when you think something is gonna’ be funny and then you panic? Which is what I actually did because fans started guessing who it might be. They were guessing people like BC or PS and I was thinking, ‘God, that’s a good idea,’ and they’re going to be so disappointed when they find out it’s me.”
I hated the WandaVision finale.
Speaking of WandaVision, I hated that finale! These two articles written by Alex Abad-Santos and Emily VanDerWerff do a good job at explaining why the finale was such a disappointment.
That song from Raya and the Last Dragon…
I’ve been obsessed with that song used in the teaser trailer for Raya and the Last Dragon (read my review!). Having finally watched the film this month I was sorely disappointed that the score didn’t include that song at all! After looking it up, I found out the song wasn’t an original track made solely for the film, it’s actually been around since 2019! The song, called “Start A Riot,” is from the band BEGINNERS. I actually discovered the band years ago because I really liked their song “Who Knows.”
Lakeith Stanfield was nominated at the Oscars for Best Supporting Actor. He’s just as confused as we are.
One of the best films of the year is Judas and the Black Messiah, starring Lakeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya. Stanfield plays the titular Judas (Bill O’Neal), while Kaluuya plays the Black Messiah (Fred Hampton). So it’s safe to assume one of them has to be the lead. Instead, the Oscars nominated both Stanfield and Kaluuya in the Supporting Actor category. Here’s a good explainer on how that might have happened.
Abolish the filibuster or else U.S. democracy is dead!
The filibuster is a made up rule in the Senate (it’s not in the Constitution nor is it a law) that makes it so the chamber requires 60 votes to pass any legislation rather than a simple majority (51 out of 100 votes). The filibuster is especially important right now because, for the first time in two decades, the Senate is split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, which allows Vice President Kamala Harris (wow, it feels great no longer having to say P*nce’s name) to cast any tie-breaking votes.
Supporters of the filibuster believe it’s important because it helps protect minority rights (meaning, minority political parties) and promotes compromise (despite the fact that it doesn’t). The filibuster has been used in the past to kneecap civil rights legislation. And in today’s polarized climate, it effectively makes congress ineffective in passing any major laws. Basically, parties out of power will not want to vote for anything the party in power supports, which makes the party in power look ineffective, thus allowing the party out of power to have something to campaign on.
There was hope after moderates and institutionalist Democrats started to support the idea of abolishing the filibuster, including former president Barack Obama. But the idea seems to be dead now that moderate Dems like Joe Manchin (W.V.) and Krysten Sinema (A.Z.) have publicly stated the would not support abolishing the filibuster—a disastrous move that will damage Democrats’ bargaining power. It’s frustrating because Republicans have shown they will not play fair and will destroy any norm in their quest for power, yet Democrats can’t even get past a made-up rule.
Manchin and Sinema need to realize that with the filibuster in place, it is very likely that Republicans will take back power and rule for the next decade, just as they did in the 2010s. This might be our last chance to save democracy, and I’m not being hyperbolic. The Senate is disproportionately representative of white people and Republicans, the House is also unfairly advantageous to Republicans thanks to gerrymandering, and the electoral college favors Republicans. If Democrats don’t abolish the filibuster and pass major laws and reforms, including a new voting rights act; making D.C. (and Puerto Rico, if they want to) a state; and expanding the Supreme Court, we will be doomed for a generation or longer.
If you are on the side of protecting the filibuster, I recommend reading this article from Ezra Klein, which makes a convincing and definitive case for abolishing the filibuster. TLDR: abolishing the filibuster will allow Congress to function again and actually govern, even if there's a chance the people in power are ones we don’t like (Republicans) passing their agendas.
Yes, There’s More Armie News…
If you thought the downfall of Armie Hammer was taking a pause, think again. This week there’s been new allegations that the actor raped and abused a woman. You can read more about it here.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League Review
I wrote a review for #TheSnyderCut. Check it out!
The Best Films of 2020
I’ve also finally compiled my list of the best films of the year. Read about it here!
Anti-Asian Violence Resources
Here’s a link to some anti-Asian violence resources.