The thing is that #OscarsSoWhite isn’t because the Oscars only look at white movies, it’s because there just aren’t that many movies being made about minorities (or any that get any attention). To the same point, it’s not that the Oscars don’t ever reward black films, it’s just that there’s rarely ever a chance to (and on the other hand, it’s not like every time they get a chance to they jump at the opportunity). Many people might point to the diverse set of nominees this year and say “hey, the Oscars are trying to improve,” but it’s just that this year happened to have more diverse films in general. Next year we could very easily slip back into 20 white acting nominees. The Academy doesn’t really have much of say in how this breaks down, honestly, it’s a systemic issue in the film industry, not a problem with racist Academy members.
The question of whether Moonlight would get more praise if it was a white teenager is, really I don’t even know what to say about that. That’s one of those hypotheticals where you’re changing the fabric of the film to much to ask it. I don’t know if anyone could say either way with any certainty if it’d get more praise.
I say I didn’t want to go there because there’s so much more to films than the simple surface level “what color is the cast,” and I think the decisions that go into what gets the Best Picture Oscar are a lot more complicated than that as well.
Moonlight is atypical for Best Picture because of all its other qualities. First of all, I think the argument that 12 Years a Slave won only for racial politics is absurd, because the film is a masterpiece regardless (and the Ellen joke is just that: a JOKE; I shouldn’t have to explain it). But Moonlight is about race in a completely different way than that film. I don’t think Moonlight was remotely like 12 Years a Slave at all. That film was about black history and the atrocities they’ve faced. Moonlight is a far smaller and more personal film about racial identity today, the issues of racial oppression are of course there but not in any direct or explicit way. So maybe it’s not “monumental” for a film dealing with race in the most general of terms to win but it definitely is monumental in every other way. I can’t really think of any other winner that deals so intimately with the personal identity of a single character in this way.
I don’t know if you’ve seen Moonlight, but I’ll just say, as someone who has seen all 90 Best Picture winners, it is nothing like the rest of them.