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Nothing against seniors, especially since I'm one of them, but the academy's voting members appear to be about two generations older than the most frequent group of moviegoers. That could help explain why watching the Oscar ceremonies has become less enjoyable for many viewers than complaining about who didn't win.

Seizing this opportunity, the academy's president, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, herself an African-American, announced changes approved by the academy's board of governors with the aim of doubling the numbers of women and racial-ethnic minorities in the academy's membership by 2020.

The current Oscar "whiteout," as some are calling it, is particularly disappointing because it follows more than a decade of encouraging racial breakthroughs at the annual ceremonies.

In 2005, for example, black actors including Morgan Freeman ("Million Dollar Baby"), Don Cheadle ("Hotel Rwanda") and Sophie Okonedo (also "Hotel Rwanda") earned a record five of the 20 nominations.

In that year Jamie Foxx also became the first black performer to receive two nominations in the same year -- for "Ray" and "Collateral."

Three years before that, Halle Berry became the first black woman to win the best-actress award -- for "Monster's Ball" -- and Denzel Washington for "Training Day" became the first black winner of the best actor honor since Sidney Poitier in 1963 for "Lilies of the Field."

But just as electing an African-American president did not by any means end racial divisions in America, Hollywood can't rest on its past Oscar breakthrough laurels either. Surveys have found, for example, that black and female actors on average receive fewer job offers after winning an Oscar than white males do.

And a recent analysis by The Economist points out that as much as blacks may be underrepresented in Oscar nominations, Hispanic, Asian and other nonwhites fare even worse, even though Hispanics are the most frequent moviegoers.

"We're not lowering any standards," states the academy in the frequently-asked-questions page on its website. "We're widening our net." That's the spirit. It's not only the right thing to do in our rapidly diversifying society. It's also a smart business move.

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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@tribune.com.)

(c) 2016 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.