History at the 2017 Emmy’s

Photo+Courtesy+of+the+Emmys+Website+%28emmys.com%29

Photo Courtesy of the Emmy’s Website (emmys.com)

Last Sunday night 11.4 million people sat down to watch the annual Emmy Awards. One of the only TV awards shows in Hollywood, the Emmy’s is a night full of glitz and glamour filled with fancy dresses and amusing jokes. But when those 11.4 million people turned on the TV that night, most of them weren’t expecting to witness history in the making.

Ever since the 2016 #OscarsSoWhite controversy, actors, viewers, and award judges alike have kept this issue in the back of their minds. Though diversity in Hollywood has always been an issue, the attention that #OscarsSoWhite has brought to the world has definitely made a difference. We are slowly beginning to see more people of color in important TV and film roles. They are also being better represented in the world of awards, with Viola Davis having won both a Golden Globe and an Oscar for her work in Fences and the movie Moonlight, a movie with a predominantly black cast, winning Best Picture this year.

The Emmy’s, which took place last Sunday, September 17th, kept this streak going. One of the big wins of the night was that of Donald Glover, a black actor from California. On the night of the Emmy’s he received an award for direction for a comedy series (for his work in Atlanta), becoming the first black man to ever win this award. He also took home the award for Best Actor in a Comedy (also for Atlanta), a category in which a person of color has not won for the last 32 years when Robert Guillaume won for his role in Benson.  But the night didn’t stop there. Lena Waithe won a comedy writing award for her work in Master of None, being the first black woman to ever win this category. Riz Ahmed also won an Emmy for his work in The Night Of, making him the first South Asian (and only second Asian) man to ever win an Emmy.

While these were only a few winners of the night, they are a big step towards change in the TV/Movie industry.  Hopefully this trend started by the movement in 2016 will continue on, and a historic night like this will be the norm instead of the exception.

 

Sources:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-emmy-telecast-track-low-1040575

http://fortune.com/2017/09/18/emmy-awards-2017-winners-history/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_black_Golden_Globe_Award_winners_and_nominees

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/17/arts/television/emmy-winners-list.html?mcubz=3