Hattie McDaniel, The First African-American Woman To Receive An Oscar

Hattie McDaniel, the First African-American Woman to Receive an Oscar (doc. Jooiin.com)

JAKARTA - A film entitled 'Gone with the Wind' won eight Oscar awards at the Academy Award, on February 29, 1940. This film took home awards for the categories Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Cinematography, Art Direction, Film Editing, and Actress. .

Among the Oscar awards, the actress Hattie McDaniel also captured the public's attention. Because this is the first time an African-American woman has won an Oscar.

Hattie McDaniel won an Oscar through her role as 'Mammy', a housemaid and former slave girl. McDaniel, who won the Best Supporting Actress Award.

As a singer and actress growing up in Denver, Colorado. Hattie McDaniel is willing to leave school to become a member of a traveling vocal group. In 1924, Hattie became one of the first African-American women to sing on United States (US) radio.

He took a role in the 'Great Depression'. She plays a woman who works as a waitress and plays in Milwaukee, a club that only employs white players. But the club finally made an exception and let Hattie sing, and performed for a year before finally deciding to take more serious action in Hollywood.

Summarized from the History page, while in Los Angeles, Hattie managed to get a small role on a local radio show called The Optimistic Do-Nuts and soon became the program's main attraction. In 1932, Hattie made her film debut and served as a housekeeper.

In American films of the time, African-American actors and actresses were generally limited to roles as domestic helpers and McDaniel apparently had that stereotype. She played a waitress role in nearly 40 films in the 1930s.

In response to criticism by groups such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) that she perpetuates the stereotype of black people, McDaniel replied that she would rather play the role of a waitress than be a servant in real life. But on the other hand, Hattie also managed to subvert stereotypes by playing as a servant with character, namely a strong and independent servant.

Her most famous role was as Mammy in the 1939 film 'Gone with the Wind'. Directed by Victor Fleming and based on Margaret Mitchell's bestselling novel of the same name, it remains the highest grossing film of all time when inflation is taken into account.

Although Hattie won the prestigious Oscar, the liberal African-American criticized McDaniel for accepting the role of his character, a former slave with a Southern dialect who was very thick to blacks.

McDaniel's career declined in the late 1940s and in 1947 he returned to radio as the star of the national broadcast of 'The Beulah Show'. In that program, she once again played an effervescent but in a very non-stereotypical, award-winning, NAACP waitress.

Unfortunately in 1951, while filming the first episode of the television version of the popular show, Hattie had a heart attack. Even though he had recovered, the disease had eaten away at his body, until he died in 1952, he died of breast cancer at the age of 57.

Issue of racism against blacks at the Academy Award

However, until now the Academy Award is still not free from the issue of racism. As at the 2015 Oscars, it was judged that the list of nominees for the award recipients was dominated by whites and the hashtag #OscarSoWhite was busy on social media networks. The only winner who was black was John Legend who managed to bag the 'Best Original Song'.

Even in 2016, the Academy Award title was boycotted by black actors and actresses such as Will Smith, Spike Lee, and Roger Ross Williams. The boycott continued until the 2017 Academy Award.

"So many people from different places have added their ideas to this beautiful America. Hollywood represents and creates an image for that beauty. But for me, I think I have to protect and fight for the ideals that make our country and make our Hollywood community great. , "said Will Smith when interviewed regarding his boycott of the Academy Award, quoted from The Guardian.

At that time Will Smith was being predicted by many to be nominated for the best actor category for his role as a doctor in the NFL film Concussion. But at that time, the actors who were nominated were all white. Will Smith argues that it is "fantastic", but in the wrong direction. Smith's comments echo the views of George Clooney, who also said that the Hollywood film industry is "moving in the wrong direction" when it comes to diversity.