Taika Waititi the Advocate We Deserve

While advocacy was a hot topic at the 2020 Academy Awards, Oscar winner for Best Adapted Screenplay, Taika Waititi not only talks the talk but he also backs it up with actual actions.

Activism at awards shows, especially the Oscars, can often feel like empty promises of the wealthy elite filmmakers in Hollywood. For instance, there’s the constant mention of the importance of diversity in filmmaking. Which as Latinx’s, we believe representation is incredibly important. However, do it. Don’t just pepper in words while presenting awards. Case in point, another year another Oscar night with no nominated female directors and only one acting nominee of color.

So Does it mean anything? Well, if you’re Taika Waititi, it sure as hell does.
After Sunday night’s Oscars, a tweet made the rounds with an article from Slate that went viral but more importantly displays Waititi’s actual advocacy.

On the first day of filming for Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok, Waititi greeted the production in a land acknowledgment ceremony. Along with a Māori celebrant who delivered a blessing in te reo Māori, the language of New Zealand’s indigenous culture. “It was Māori culture meeting with the local aboriginal people, the true custodians of that land, coming together with all of us. It was amazing,” Chris Hemsworth recalled for a 2017 New York Times profile with Taika Waititi.
Undoubtedly, it’s incredible when a filmmaker takes representation into consideration during this politically tumultuous time (Ava DuVernay and Lulu Wang I’m looking at you, my goddesses).

Also, we can’t forget to mention the trailblazers before Waititi. Jocelyne LaGarde’s the first indigenous person to be nominated in any category while Buffy Sainte-Marie’s the first indigenous person to win an Academy Award.
Nevertheless, Waititi is still a pioneer. He’s the first person of Māori (the Indigenous people of New Zealand) descent to win an Academy Award; actually, he’s the first person of Indigenous ancestry to win an Oscar in the Best Adapted Screenplay category.

Jojo Rabbit's Taika Waititi accepts the award for Best Adapted Screenplay at the #Oscars. pic.twitter.com/9kBOsF33uK

— ABC (@ABCNetwork) February 10, 2020

In closing, we part with the words of the brilliant Angela Davis, “Diversity without changing the structure, without calling for structural formation, simply brings those who were previously excluded into a process that continues to be as racist, as misogynist as it was before.”
So thank you to Taika Waititi for actually implementing your words into action.