Obama to host 'Selma' screening. Is he trying to make a point?
| Washington
President Obama, his family, and guests will watch the movie 鈥淪elma鈥� tonight at the White House. Officials announced the screening shortly after the acclaimed Martin Luther King Jr. biopic was largely shut out of Academy Award nominations, though it did gain a spot on the 鈥淏est Picture鈥� short list.
Did Mr. Obama order up the film fare as a means to quietly comment on 鈥淪elma鈥� missing out on Best Director and Best Actor nominations? After all, this year鈥檚 overall list of nominees has been criticized as lacking in racial diversity. This trend launched the Twitter hashtag #OscarsSoWhite on Thursday, which trended in the United States for much of the day.
It鈥檚 unlikely that played into the White House entertainment decision. Officials say the screening has been planned for some time. That makes sense 鈥� the 鈥淪elma鈥� cast and crew are invited, and presumably they had advance notice to arrange transportation. It鈥檚 the beginning of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, so what better time to screen a movie that shows one of his triumphant efforts? And Obama has made a point of showing big pictures that touch on big racial themes. In the past the White House has hosted showings of 鈥淢andela: Long Walk to Freedom,鈥� 鈥淟incoln,鈥� and 鈥�42,鈥� a biopic about pioneering African-American baseball player Jackie Robinson.
Obama did not see last year鈥檚 Best Picture winner 鈥�12 Years a Slave鈥� prior to its triumph. The film鈥檚 about this, saying (anonymously) that 鈥淢andela鈥� got the White House nod instead because it was produced by Obama donor Harvey Weinstein.
Officials denied this charge. The moral there is that pretty much every movie choice presidents make gets somebody mad, so they might as well see what they want.
So why didn鈥檛 鈥淪elma鈥� get more nominations? Race could be part of the story 鈥� Academy members are overwhelmingly white. But timing might be an issue as well. The film was released late in the year, perhaps too late to gain enough favorable notice.
鈥淒espite having all the dressings of an awards-friendly film, the momentum never got going,鈥� Associated Press film writer Lindsey Bahr.
鈥淪elma鈥� has also been criticized for its portrayal of former President Lyndon Johnson. He鈥檚 shown as reluctant to press for civil rights legislation. That was far from the case in real life, argued LBJ鈥檚 proponents. Former Johnson aide Joseph Califano wrote a scathing to this effect in The Washington Post.
One of LBJ鈥檚 most loyal assistants, Jack Valenti, headed the Motion Picture Association of America for 38 years following his time in the White House. He was Hollywood鈥檚 lobbyist in Washington for a generation and was instrumental in the establishment of the current age-based film rating system.
Coincidence? Yes, probably. But it鈥檚 still interesting.聽
