16 March 2018 Comments Off on Jordan Peele Wins Oscar for Best Original Screenplay!

Jordan Peele Wins Oscar for Best Original Screenplay!

Jordan Peele’s film “Get Out” has placed him in the uniqually into Oscar history books in the category of Best Original Screenplay. Peele was crowned the winner at Sunday’s Academy Awards making him the first African-American screenwriter to receive the honor. In his speech, Peele thanked the people “who raised my voice and let me make this movie.”  Before Sunday’s airing of the Oscars, Jordan Peele and his film were nominated for a total of four awards including Best Picture.

 Image result for jordan peeleOnly four black film writers have been nominated in the best original screenplay category in  Oscars’ 90-year histor. The are Suzanne de Passe (“Lady Sings the Blues,” 1972), Spike Lee (“Do the Right Thing,” 1989) John Singleton (“Boyz n the Hood,” 1991) and Peele (“Get Out” 2016). In the adapted screenplay category, three films with black writers have won in the past are “Precious,” “Twelve Years a Slave” and “Moonlight” last year.  Also, this year Peele made history in becoming the first black director to receive nominations in the writing, directing and best picture categories for his directorial debut of the fillm. Only two other people have accomplished that feat according to the Academy were Warren Beatty “Heaven Can Wait” in 1978 and James L. Brooks “Terms of Endearment” in 1983.  Beatty walked away empty handed in his nominated categories and Brooks won all of his.
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“Get Out,” a social thriller that received praise for its thought-provoking take on race in America, grossed $176 million domestically. In the film, Daniel Kaluuya, who earned a best actor nomination, plays an African-American man whose weekend getaway to meet his white girlfriend’s parents takes a disturbing turn. “I think the biggest thing ‘Get Out’ taught me about the power of story is that one of the few ways we can promote empathy is by seeing the world through somebody else’s eyes, and that’s what that’s what great story does – That’s what a strong protagonist does.”  said Peele in an recent interview.

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