CARLTON FLETCHER: Academy rules primary culprit in Oscar ‘black-out’

So keep your auditions for somebody who hasn’t got so much to lose. You can tell by the lines I’m reciting, I’ve seen that movie, too.

— Elton John

If I were, say, Kevin Hart, a guy who is one of the funniest comedians around but as an actor, mehh, I would demand that my agent get me in a movie sometime between now and November.

Wouldn’t matter what kind of movie; heck, I’d even do “Ride Along 3,” even though that concept’s pretty much played right now.

Because, come January of next year, you’re going to see just about every African-American who appears in a movie this year nominated for an Academy Award.

That’s the way the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — the folks who vote on the Oscars — reacts to disfavor over its annual nominees. (The key word here being “reacts.”)

The Academy, which is 94 percent white, 77 percent male and has a median age of 62, seems to put blinders on every couple of years when it comes time to name the best acting and best movie nominees, choosing often movies — and actors — that virtually no one has seen or heard of to honor. Meanwhile, understanding that art is in the eye of the beholder, generally universally lauded artists and films are ignored.

That’s been a part of the Oscar process since forever, and watching the reactionary anger over who is overlooked when nominees are announced is often as much fun as finding out who made the cut.

But then you have two years in a row in which African-American actors, directors and technicians are completely overlooked, and you get the blowback — such as this year’s Oscar boycott — that detracts from the ceremony. (Loved Michael Che’s take of the “boycott” on “Saturday Night Live’s” “Weekend Update” segment: “Isn’t boycott a pretty strong word for not showing up at an event where you weren’t wanted in the first place?”)

All of which, unless I’m very wrong (imagine that), will lead to an “overcorrection” next year in which Academy voters will go out of their way to nominate eligible African-Americans who might otherwise never have been given a second thought. (Anyone else see a Best Supporting Actor nod for Lebron James if he has another bit cameo in the inevitable “Trainwreck II?”)

I understand the anger over Oscar’s “black-out” when I consider the superb acting of such gifted stars as Idris Elba (in “Beasts of No Nation”) and Michael B. Jordan (in “Creed,” for which Sylvester Stone got a nomination), and I too thought “Straight Outta Compton” and “Creed” would be included in the Best Picture category.

I do find it a bit comical, though, that Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, as well as director Spike Lee, are the ones leading the call for a boycott of this year’s Oscars by black artists. Maybe I’m cynical, but with Smith’s “Concussion” still languishing in ticket returns (so far unable to recoup its $35 million budget), and Lee’s “Chi-Raq” — for which he launched a personal “for your consideration” nomination campaign — having made only $2.6 million before fading out of theaters, I’m thinking there might be ulterior motives here.

Once an actor or director wins an Oscar, he or she becomes an Academy member for life. So you’ve got a lot of older, mostly white, members casting ballots, frequently for movies that are geared toward younger or culturally diverse audiences. And since times have changed so drastically since they were in their prime, they often don’t quite “get” movies that reflect the changing culture in a way that may be at odds with “the good old days” that they recall.

So we’ll have what is supposed to be a big night for nominees like Leonardo DiCaprio, Alicia Vikander, Stallone, George Miller and Alejandro Inarritu remembered primarily for comedian Chris Rock, who’s been under intense pressure in recent days to join the boycott of the Feb. 28 ceremony, joking about the lack of diversity at the event he’s hosting. (He’s already dubbed the Oscars “the White BET Awards.”)

Everyone’s offering an opinion now on how to “fix” the Oscars. I don’t know if “fix” is the appropriate word. I think when it comes to the way winners are selected, there needs to be a complete overhaul. A good start would be voting membership that more realistically reflects the artists creating the films worthy of nomination.