“Over the course of her expansive and renowned career, Julia has embodied iconic characters and memorable roles,” said Jacqueline Stewart, the newly instated Director and President of the Academy Museum, in a statement.
Academy Museum to honor Julia Roberts at 2nd annual gala
→
Stewart expresses appreciation of the career of Poitier, a black actor who succeeded in becoming mainstream in a predominately white film industry, but there's a problem, she says: "there are aspects of his films that are clearly oriented primarily to white audiences. That opens up all kinds of complications for black viewers who felt that he wasn't a representative of the race as a whole."
History museum's narrative reopens old wounds of racial division
→