Nominations for the Academy Awards come highly anticipated. While a select group of people agree with the nominations, every year unexpected upsets arise. This year controversy has arisen due to the lack of diversity.

“Selma” is one of the eight nominees for Best Picture. The movie details Martin Luther King’s fight for civil rights in Selma, Ala. Despite the passionate acting by David Oyelowo and Carmen Ejogo and great directing by Ava DuVernay, the movie was not recognized in any other major category, with only one more nomination for Music (Original Song). The actors in the film, as well as DuVernay are black. The Academy’s blatant ignorance of not recognizing the achievements of this film has been regarded as racist.

Oscar nominations this year have also underrepresented women. No female directors made it into the Best Director category, including DuVernay and Angelina Jolie for her movie “Unbroken.” Movies with female protagonists were also left out of Best Picture: “Still Alice,” “Big Eyes” and “Wild;” all the movies in the running for the most prestigious award of the night have male protagonist. While this may be purely coincidental it cannot be overlooked.

It can be argued that women are fairly represented in the nominees for Best Picture but they are clearly seen as secondary characters in most. “American Sniper” essentially dismisses the role of women to housewives who constantly think and worry about their husbands. “The Imitation Game” unashamedly shows the difficulty of woman working in a male dominated field, yet it does not give its singular woman character, Joan Clarke, enough importance and attribution in the process. The film “Boyhood” portrays women as making poor life choices, as actress Patricia Arquette has to constantly rely on men. Women in the film “Birdman” are mainly shown complaining about. In one scene, two of the women characters accurately talk about how difficult it is for women to make it in the “showbiz” world but then the moment passes when the women begin to suddenly and randomly kiss. By far the film with the worst representation of women was “Whiplash.” Although a compelling, inspiring tale, this film showed the sole female character a total of three times. Her largest role in the film came when she was told by main character Andrew Neimann that he could no longer date her because she would most definitely get in the way of his career. All she would become for him was a source of resentment.

Few of the films give women more deserved importance. “The Grand Budapest Hotel” shows female character Agatha essentially saving the men. In the “Theory of Everything,” Jane Hawking, wife of Stephen Hawking, is represented as an independent woman. Her love for her husband is evident, yet she makes her own choices in order to be happy. Likewise, in “Selma,” Coretta King is supportive yet not afraid to stand up to her husband and is an active participant in the Civil Rights Movement on her own.

The widespread complaints directed at the Academy’s inappropriate disregard for non-white, non-male actors will hopefully bring about a greater emphasis on diversity in the future.