I wasn't very surprised at the Academy Award nominations. Did I think Kevin Hart was going to get a nod for his role in "Get Hard?" No. I didn't.

Who in the world is going to argue that Cate Blanchett and Leonardo DiCaprio don't deserve awards for their performances? Crazy people ONLY cuz yeah...they brought it as they always do. Matt Damon in "The Martian?" Dude did that. I loved that movie and loved his performance. Very seldom do I enjoy a movie as much as I enjoyed the book and I did here.

No surprise.

I haven't seen "Room" yet but from what I understand, Brie Larson showed out. She prepped for 8 months for that role and I'm kinda scared at what that means based on what I know the movie to be about. I'm sure she was paid enough to not miss a mortgage payment in those 8 months of prep work too. You'd expect that right? Hell...I hope so.

I'll be honest when I say I didn't really think Jennifer Lawrence was going to get a nod for her performance in "Joy." Not that I don't like Jennifer Lawrence because I've truly loved all of her previous performances but I just didn't care for the "slowed down" version of her that was in this movie. I mean I know an actress has to show range in all of their projects...it just didn't do it for me and hell...what do I know and yeah...she's the current golden girl so I wasn't surprised.

I'm also not stupid.

I know there weren't a lot of movies with Black people in them again so I wasn't expecting more representation during the nominations. There was "Creed," and "Straight Outta Compton." Those were pretty much the only two widely released films with significant roles for Black people in them directed by Black people. Both good movies...to me. Did I expect "Straight Outta Compton" to get more nods? Honestly...no. But "Creed?" Yeah...I did.

I'm constantly trolling The New York Times' Opinion Facebook page and read comments I expected to read about the "blacklash" regarding the nominations. And a lot of people didn't seem to get it. I'm talking White AND Black people.

It's not about the nominations. I honestly hope they really try and be inclusive. It's about the filmmakers and casting directors and the people with the clout to greenlight films. It's about OPPORTUNITY.

One commenter got a lot of likes for saying something like...it's about talent. If you're not talented, you don't get nominated, simple. People were like...YEAH! SAY THAT! NO AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN MOVIES!

And I rolled my eyes because...DUH...it is about talent and, more importantly...the opportunity to showcase that talent. You can be as talented as Denzel, Cate and Leonardo but if you're not getting the opportunity to show you're talented...THEN WHO IN THE HELL KNOWS YOU'RE TALENTED EXCEPT FOR YOUR MAMA???????????

So yeah...I was/am salty. All of that talk that went on last year based on the success of the first season of "Empire" which blew the viewing numbers out of the water was just that...TALK. While folks were talking and celebrating yet another magazine cover with a Black actor on it, movies were in full post-production about to be rolled out for awards season. The same names had the same opportunities to show how great they are. The same names DIDN'T have opportunities.

Same old, same old.

I was only surprised that so many people were surprised.

Still doesn't mean I wasn't salty though.

What say you? Were you surprised? Were you salty? Do you care?