The nominations have arrived, and there are three main points to make. One: Creed, a film by the talented black American director Ryan Coogler (his first film, Fruitvale Station, only made one, though not fatal, mistake—the marijuana scene), and starring the black American actor Michael B. Jordan, received one nomination, and it went to the veteran white actor Sylvester Stallone for best supporting actor. Why does it always have to be like that?

As for Idris Elba, who in the horrible Beast of No Nation played the most savage of all black African savages to ever appear on the big screen (he even likes to fuck boys), the Oscar people refused to do for him what they did for Forest Whitaker, who in 2006 not only received a nomination for his role as the black African savage Idi Amin but was granted the award. Maybe Elba should try playing a slave next time. They are still handing out awards for those kinds of roles.

An excellent line from Eddie Murphy's last great film, Bowfinger:

White boys always get the Oscar. It's a known fact. Did I ever get a nomination? No! You know why? Cause I hadn't played any of them slave roles, and get my ass whipped. That's how you get the nomination. A black dude who plays a slave that gets his ass whipped gets the nomination, a white guy who plays an idiot gets the Oscar. That's what I need, I need to play a retarded slave, then I'll get the Oscar.

Finally, The Big Short, a film about investment managers who recognized the size and extent of the housing bubble in 2006 and decided to bet against it and the whole American economy, received five nominations. Though the film takes the perspective of men who are as greedy as any banker on Wall Street, it is as critical of finance capitalism as the Inside Job, which won an award in 2011, and more recently, 99 Homes, which received a little recognition at the Golden Globes but absolutely none from the Academy. 99 Homes is a much darker, much angrier film than The Big Short, which is, after all, a comedy.