The Primetime Emmy Awards and MTV’s Video Music Awards are both drastically different award programs, but both have high ratings. Millions watch as their favorite celebrities are rewarded for their efforts. Millions are also watching certain individuals being passed up for their efforts.
Celebrating 65 years of recognition for achievement in television arts, the Emmys are known for the prestige. The Emmys are also well known for misrepresentation. Kerry Washington, star of the Shonda Rhimes hit show “Scandal,” is the first African American to be nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 18 years.
Washington is also the first African American woman to star in an American network drama series since 1974. She is making history, but should she have to?
Early this summer, Variety magazine invited a few leading ladies to discuss their characters in the Variety Emmy Studio. The actresses included Washington, Emmy Rossum of “Shameless,” Elizabeth Moss of “Mad Men” and Tatiana Maslany of “Orphan Black.”
Maslany has multiple roles each of which is a clone of the main character. Her show aired its first season of BBC America this past spring. Her performance has created much buzz—Emmy buzz.
This creates a question, “Why wasn’t she nominated?” Was it the eccentricities of the show? Or maybe it is because she plays more than one character? Either way, critics have raved her portrayals of each and every character, but somehow she was orphaned by the Emmys.
The VMA’s, on the other hand, have nominees from all backgrounds and creeds. The “Oscars of the youth” strive to recognize new talent. Many teenagers are constantly craving new movies to watch, new video games to play and new music to listen to. The young people want young entertainment. Once it’s old, it’s out.
This is not to say that the Emmys should be more like the VMA’s, but the television industry should be more like the music industry. Music is diverse. Whether it is racial background of the artist or genre, it is always fresh. Television can be also, but those who stand out from the crowd are not always rewarded.
The VMA’s will air at 7PM/CST Sunday, and the Primetime Emmy Awards will air at 7PM/CST on Sept. 22.