Some Questions Just AREN'T That Complicated, Such As: Is Antonio Banderas a Person of Color? (No.)
02/08/2020
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From the Los Angeles Times:

Is Oscar nominee Antonio Banderas a ‘person of color’? It’s complicated

No, it’s not. The answer, by the way, is “No.” The actor is a white man born and raised in Europe.

By DANIEL HERNANDEZ STAFF WRITER
FEB. 7, 2020 9:53 AM

If Antonio Banderas wins the Academy Award on Sunday for his leading performance in the Pedro Almodóvar film “Pain and Glory,” would it count as a win for people of color?

The question might have sounded puzzling even a year ago, but with ever-explosive debates on identity and authorship in popular culture (see the publishing industry scandal over “American Dirt”), the question of Banderas’ proper demographic designation became relevant with the arrival of the 2020 Academy Awards.

When the nominations were announced on Jan. 13, some news outlets initially declared that Banderas was a “person of color” along with lead actress and original song nominee Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet”), perhaps in search of a silver lining to the dismally monochrome slate of acting nominations. Banderas’ demo was called into question almost immediately by those who pointed out that the actor was born and raised in Spain.

[Comment at Unz.com]

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