I don’t attend HFPA press conferences as I am not a member, but I remember bitter complaints from the “Queen & Slim” team. Reading The Wrap and EW, I wanted to put things in context.

I am not a big fan of Shonda Rhimes. I watched a few episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy” and even “How to Get Away with Murder” but they both became too soap opera-ish and ridiculous. For that reason, despite the diversity casting, I have not watched “Bridgerton” yet either. To  be  fair,  I’m a  fan  of  PBS.

But I also remember that “Queen & Slim” had a press screening that was hard to find and ended up costing me money for parking. I also received a screener, however, I was much more interested in two other films that came out the same year and were Black-led projects: “Dolemite Is My Name” and “Harriet.” Both of those movies received two Golden Globe nominations including Best Actor (Musical/Comedy) for Eddie Murphy and Best Actress for Cynthia Erivo and Best Original Song for Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo’s song, “Stand Up.”

“Queen & Slim” received no Academy Awards nominations. The Directors Guild of America nominated the director for “First-Time Feature Film.”

The 2017 “Girls Trip” also received no nominations from the Academy Awards. For the Golden Globes, the 2017 film “Get Out” was nominated for Best Motion Picture (Musical/Comedy), the same category that “Girls Trip” would have been in. That year, Denzel Washington was nominated for Best Actor (“Roman J. Israel, Esq”), Daniel Kaluuya was nominated for Best Actor (Musical/Comedy) for “Get Out” and Mary J. Blige was nominated for Best Supporting Actress (“Mudbound”) along with Octavia Spencer (“The Shape of Water”).

Now, one should never, ever ignore Ava DuVernay whose “When They See Us” received 11  Primetime Emmy  Award  nominations, winning one for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for Jharrel Jerome. The series also received five Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards nominations and won for Outstanding Casting for a Limited Series, Movie or Special.