With the opening of a new movie museum, Hollywood will be able to display some of its most well-known masterpieces.
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles has opened its doors to the public, allowing visitors to see everything from the “Citizen Kane” sled to homage to some of the industry’s greatest directors, including Stanley Kubrick and Spike Lee.
The museum is the largest in the United States dedicated to the ins and outs of filmmaking. Jacqueline Stewart, the museum’s chief creative and programming officer, is one of the driving factors behind the huge endeavour.
The museum’s mission statement includes a crucial pillar: “Be radically inclusive.” According to Stewart, the team made sure that diversity and inclusiveness were promoted throughout the museum’s displays.
She believes that displaying the whole scope of what Hollywood entails is vital at any time, but especially now. The team understood from the start that sticking to traditional film history displays would be a disservice to the business and to all museum visitors.
“We realised straight away it was not the way to authentically portray that history, nor would it be the way to truly make all audiences feel as though we were speaking to them,” she adds.
“The Academy realises that this is a moment to participate in these truly serious dialogues,” she adds, citing some very public instances of protest as well as the voices of many of its own members.
“I believe that when we understand the history of racial hair and makeup applications, or point to sexism in animation across time,” she adds, “those who are creating those sorts of films now will learn something about the suffering and harm of past practises, and that they will be agents for change now.”
