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Sac State professor discusses upcoming Oscars and whether Hollywood has made progress on promise to diversify
February 25, 2025
In 2015, after all 20 Academy Award acting nominations went to white actors, social media responded with the #OscarsSoWhite campaign to press for greater representation in film.
Now, ten years later, has Hollywood made good on its promise to diversify? What do this year’s nominations say about the state of filmmaking? And where is the industry headed overall?
Michele Foss-Snowden is a professor of rhetoric and media at Sacramento State, whose research, in part, looks at representation in film, TV and other media. Foss-Snowden was named one of the region's top 20 leaders on The Sacramento Bee's Black Change Makers list.
Ahead of this year’s Oscars, she joined “Beyond J” to talk with host Phillip Altstatt about this year’s nominated films, the importance of not just the quantity of representation but also the quality, and overall trends in Hollywood.
“M. Foss” also shares how she incorporates this critical lens into her teaching at Sac State, and discusses “The TV Doctor,” her podcast where she “prescribes” TV episodes to watch to “alleviate … emotional ailments.”