Mitch PerryOn his HBO Show Realtime, Bill Maher joked on Friday night that while the rest of America was celebrating a three-day holiday weekend commemorating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in Hollywood they simply call today “Monday.” That was a reference, of course, to the complaints that last week’s Oscar nominations were a “whiteout,” with the no people of color among the 20 contenders for lead and supporting actor and actress for the first time since 1998.
The outrage is pronounced when it comes to actor David Oyelowo, who gives arguably the performance of the year playing MLK in “Selma,” yet didn’t make the cut in the Best Actor category. Ava DuVernay would have made history as the first black woman nominated for an Oscar if she had received the nod for directing “Selma.”
But let’s be real — most of America doesn’t have today off.
According to a recent national study, only 37 percent of American businesses are giving their employees the day off, even though it’s a federal holiday. (Yeah, that’s why you’re not getting any magazines in the mail today.) While that number speaks for itself, it’s still a considerably higher percentage of people than when the country first observed this third Monday in January as a national holiday, when just 14 percent of companies observed it in 1986.
But while everyone gets off Christmas, New Year’s, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, Labor and Memorial days off, among the other federal holidays, MLK Day is the highest observed by employers in the more lower-tiered, if you will, family of federal holidays that follow. That same survey says that 35 percent employers give their employees Presidents Day off in February. And Veterans and Columbus Day are far down the list.
Getting back to “Selma,” David Carr in today’s New York Times argues that it does matter that this masterful film was for the most part ignored by Hollywood, writing that “Recognition is important in part because in this instance the film celebrates someone who was not in service to others — a maid, a slave, a driver or a butler — but one of the most important American leaders to have ever lived, a man who changed history.”
But most Americans weren’t flocking to see “Selma” this weekend, but Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper,” instead. That flick is expected to have sold about $105.2 million in tickets in North America over the four-day holiday weekend. And “Selma”? About one-tenth of that, or $10.3 million.
