Welcome back to Your Week with Paste BN
How will history remember the 93rd Academy Awards?
After the pandemic turned Hollywood upside down, the future may not view this year's winners with the same level of esteem. But Paste BN's Brian Truitt found that despite a non-theatrical release, this year's nominees aren't any less deserving.
I'm Alex, and in this edition of Your Week with Paste BN, a newsletter for subscribers like you, I'm (virtually) rollin' out the red carpet on our excellent Oscars coverage.
Namely, which film deserves best picture? Paste BN's movie experts passionately defend all eight Oscar contenders, from "Judas and the Black Messiah" to "Nomadland." And what's an Oscar really worth? For Black actors, experts say the career boost is "not the same."
This year marks just the second time ever that the Oscar best actress category has included more than one Black nominee, and the first time that best supporting actor has featured three Black contenders.
Do this year’s nominees meet the Oscars' future inclusion standards?
The Academy for Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced last September it would implement new diversity and inclusion standards for the best picture race in 2024. In the future, would that disqualify a film like this year's Oscar juggernaut "Mank," chock-full of white actors? What about a film like "Promising Young Woman," which mostly features white women? Will writers have to start changing stories to only feature marginalized groups?
Paste BN's David Oliver found the answers to all those questions: No. Using this year's nominees as a sample, he concluded it's not that difficult to pull off adhering to the Academy's upcoming standards, even if a film doesn't have a diverse cast. In fact: All eight films met the standards.
A brief interlude for fun Oscars facts from Paste BN entertainment reporters:
All aboard the Oscars train! This year's show is taking place at Los Angeles' Union Station, which has also been the set for many movies including "500 Days of Summer," "The Way We Were" and "Speed." — Hannah Yasharoff
Who's Oscar?! No one knows who the Oscar nickname was named after, or over whom the nickname came about, but the statue might have resembled an Academy executive. — Bryan Alexander
A trophy for every week of the year: John Williams, the GOAT of movie composers, is the second-most nominated individual in history (to Walt Disney) with 52 Academy Award nominations. — Brian Truitt
The best subscriber-only stories of the week
INVESTIGATIONS | The Peace Corps is failing to manage the threat of sexual assault. And the burden for these failures is borne by volunteers who once trusted them with their lives. “The trauma that Peace Corps left me with is just something that I’m going to have to continue to work through,” a former volunteer said. By Donovan Slack and Tricia L. Nadolny.
POLITICS | A county's "uniquely Anglo-Saxon traditions." Infrastructure with the "progeny of European architecture." This is the language of Republicans' would-be America First Caucus — alarming phrasing that civil rights advocates say illustrates a white nationalist message and the growing pulse of extremism in the right wing of the GOP. By Savannah Behrmann and Phillip M. Bailey.
INVESTIGATIONS | Tasers are designed as non-lethal weapons, a tool for law-enforcement officers to safely subdue noncompliant suspects. Yet hundreds die after their use by police. “Mistakes happen,” said Maria Haberfeld, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, “but if mistakes happen over and over, they are not necessarily mistakes.” By Jo Ciavaglia, Josh Salman and Katie Wedell.
TECH | From Minecraft to Zoom calls, we’ve all spent much of the pandemic on our screens. But are we ready for the metaverse? Paste BN's Mike Snider explores a virtual world on the internet where the mundane and the surreal coexist. "My virtual doppelgänger is ready to embark on digital adventures, be inserted into a video game, a movie, or virtual reality."
More of the week’s must-reads
- Derek Chauvin is guilty of George Floyd’s murder. This artwork captures the emotion of Minneapolis' reaction.
- Asian leaders urge U.S. to stop AAPI violence as citizens reexamine pro-American views.
- What if there isn't a video? For families of people killed by police, it's "not a fair fight."
- In Opinion: After Columbine shooting, I combed through the internet's dark corners. Will we ever learn?
- Joe Biden made climate change a priority of his presidency, but progressives want him to go bigger.
- A sad season: How athletes and coaches are coping with collegiate programs being cut.
What’s coming
Next week, we'll take an in-depth look at President Joe Biden's first 100 days in office ranging from why the milestone matters to how first lady Jill Biden is transforming her role as well as what to expect out of Biden's first major speech to Congress.
And every Friday, you can test your news chops with Paste BN's weekly news quiz on Twitter. Follow us here.
Feel free to respond to this email, or you can reach me directly at alex@usatoday.com.