A week is a long time in Hollwood.Last week, the film community and the media were all geared up over the Oscar nominations. This week the focus is on the all white acting nominations, which as prompted some serious soul searching. A mirror has been held up to Tinsel Town and the reflection is not pretty.

What is sad is that the "debate" seems to have descended into the lack of Black nominees. What about other races? How hard is it to break through if you are a young Latino actress? What has Hollywood done to promote a talented actress who is as good as Cate Blanchett or Amy Adams? You can see what happens when a star is on the rise. The parts you get offered get better( as well as the money) and the media attention increases. Hollywood may not like it to hear it, but white privilege rules that town with a rock solid fist.

I remember the media buzz around Sandra Bullock after Speed in 1994. You could see that she was seen as a rising star with box office potential. A similar thing happened with Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon and Cameron Diaz. It means appearances on chat shows, photo shoots and interviews in magazines like Vanity Fair.Would a Hollywood studio ever make that sort of effort for a Black or Hispanic actress?That also means being allowed to fail. Julia Roberts starred in a series of bombs in the 1990s after Pretty Woman ( eg Mary Reilly) before her smash hit Notting Hill. Its sad that an actress like Angela Basset who was good in What's love got to do with it, has never gone on to higher things.

It is not just a question about acting roles and opportunities, but what about studio bosses? You will only get diversity of roles, if you have a diverse section of people greenlighting movies. If studios are only run by the same group of (white) men, then diversity is not going to be a major priority.

Not everyone wants to watch superhero movies or remakes of TV shows from the 1960s. Where is the willingness to make films that reflect the real world, with all its problems? I hope that this week marks a turning point in the film business. Time will tell if its a rallying cry for change or just lip service.