An Oscar Win For the Culture: Jordan Peele Is The First Black Screenwriter to Win Oscar for Best Screenplay
By: Kayla Pasacreta
Jordan Peele accepting his Oscar, photo via NBC
Jordan Peele made history with his Oscar win for "Get Out" last night. At Sunday's Academy Awards, Peele became the first black screenwriter to snag an oscar for the Best Original Screenplay category. Peele is also only one of four Black screenwriters to be nominated for that category in 90 years. The other screenwriters to be nominated before Peele were Spike Lee for "Do The Right Thing", Suzanne de Pass for "Lady Sings the Blues", and John Singleton for "Boyz in the Hood".
Peele insisted this award is much bigger than him, "This is about paying it forward to the young people who might not believe they can achieve the highest honour in whatever craft they want to push for." He added, " "I feel proud to be at the beginning of a movement where I feel like the best films in every genre are being brought to me by my fellow black directors."
"Get Out" made $176 million domestically, serving as a historical thriller movie packed with cultural references, symbolisms, and messages after a black man's weekend with his white girlfriend's family went all the way left.
