Whether by design or not, the White House is inserting itself into the Oscar dispute surrounding the civil rights film
Selma.
President Obama is hosting a screening of
Selma on Friday, one day after critics said the Academy Awards snubbed the film about Martin Luther King Jr. and the Alabama civil rights march of 1965.
The film is nominated for best picture and best song, but that's it. The academy passed over director Ava DuVernay and lead actor David Oyelowo for nominations, surprising many observers and angering others.
DuVernay and Oyelowo are expected to attend the White House screening, as is producer Oprah Winfrey. So are singers Common and John Legend, who are Oscar nominated for the film's theme song, "Glory."
Also on the guest list: Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., who marched in Selma 50 years ago and was beaten up by local police.
The Oscar omissions marked a series of complaints about this year's nominations.
As USA TODAY put it: "Diversity in Hollywood took another blow with Thursday morning's Oscar nominations, which saw no people of color nominated for acting and major snubs of the MLK biopic
Selma."
NEWS: Oscar diversity: Twitter, Academy on 'Selma' snubs
The White House has been planning the
Selma screening for a while, and the event is designed to kick off the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
Even before the Oscar nominations, Selma has been the subject of controversy. Historians have criticized the film for its treatment of one of Obama's predecessors, President Lyndon B. Johnson.
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