Women Writers React to the Oscar Nominations

Building on our earlier conversation about Golden Globes, I reached out to many different female film writers and bloggers about the Oscar nominations.

I laid out a couple of things to consider:

• A woman directed movie, The Hurt Locker matched a male directed movie, Avatar – nomination for nomination. Pretty groundbreaking.
• 3 of the 10 best picture nominations — Precious, An Education, The Blind Side — were for movies about women.
• 2 of the 10 best picture nominations were directed by women — An Education, The Hurt Locker.
• Only one of the five nominees for best adapted screenplay has a woman: District 9 – Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
• NO woman was nominated for original screenplay.
• Bright Star got only one nomination for costume design.
• Meryl Streep got her 16th nomination, the most ever and Sandra Bullock as well as Gabby Sidibe and Carey Mulligan got their firsts.
• Lastly, what does Bigelow’s nomination here and win at the DGA mean for women directors (if anything.)

The participants include (in alphabetical order):

Manohla Dargis, NY Times: Jan Lisa Huttner, The Hot Pink Pen; MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher; Jenni Miller, Cinematical; Mary Pols, Time; Katey Rich, Cinemablend; Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer; Shannon Ridler, The Movie Moxie; Sasha Stone, Awards Daily; Ella Taylor, LA Weekly

Some answered the questions, some gave other quotes and thoughts.

Manohla Dargis:

I’m just glad that Bigelow has received this initial recognition. There’s really not much more that can be said on this subject until she actually wins.

Jan Lisa Huttner:

Although the number of noms is the same the quality of these noms is very different.  With the exception of Best Picture & Best Director, AVATAR’s noms are all technical, whereas noms for THE HURT LOCKER include the major categories of BEST ACTOR & BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY.  (Major/Minor being determined by what gets announced on Nominations Morning versus what just goes out in the press release for Oscar junkies like us.)  In this respect, ROTTEN TOMATOES is an accurate guide.  As of today, AVATAR stands @ 82% Fresh whereas THE HURT LOCKER stands @ 97% Fresh, way ahead of all other candidates qualitatively speaking.

I’m especially pleased that Jeremy Renner was nominated because his face in close-up is the core image in THE HURT LOCKER & I think Kathryn Bigelow directed him brilliantly.  I have some hope that the 9 noms will make more people see his extraordinary performance now that THE HURT LOCKER is a top contender beyond the best director barrier-buster.  Momentum for THE HURT LOCKER will surely build as more people see it, & if a significant number of voters decide to “vote the ticket,” he just might squeak thru.  One lives in hope!

This is a break-through year for women characters, & in particular, this should be appreciated as “the year of the woman as teacher.”  Look at the all the contenders again & you’ll see this thread running through almost all of this year’s “female-oriented” noms.  Who saves Precious?  Ms. Rain!  Who saves Jenny?  Miss Stubbs!  (See more on this below.)  Who are Leigh Anne Tuohy’s key allies: Miss Sue (Kathy Bates) & Mrs. Boswell (Kim Dickens).

If I ruled the world, contenders would have included BRIGHT STAR, JULIE & JULIA, and THE LOVELY BONES.  Me, I nominated UP IN THE AIR for the Women Film Critics Circle’s “Hall of Shame Award,” & to call it “an adaptation” of Walter Kirns’ book is ludicrous.

I have BRIGHT STAR as a Top Contender in my own BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY category.  Whether you agree with me on this or not, I sincerely believe that BRIGHT STAR stands in much closer relation to Andrew Motion’s KEATS Bio than the “adaptation” of Walter Kirns’ novel in the UP IN THE AIR screenplay.  But bottom line, in this particular category I am simply thrilled that Nick Hornby was nominated for AN EDUCATION!!!  His screenplay opens with Miss Stubbs, closes with Miss Stubbs, & has Miss Stubbs mention the name “Mr. Rochester” THREE TIMES in between, so shame on anyone who’s surprised to learn that David “has secrets” in Act Three!!!

But here’s a fact that’s more important: Meryl Streep has not won an Oscar in 26 years!!!  Yet again, critics have used her brilliance primarily to damn her collaborators (in this case Amy Adams & Nora Ephron)–what’s up with that?!?  If they’re going to reward Jeff Bridges for CRAZY HEART then for sure, they should NOT “yawn” about Streep this year & pass her over yet again. (And I say this also having loved all the other contenders).

The Bigelow nomination means EVERYTHING!!!  Another huge crack in the celluloid ceiling!!!  Do not buy into the BS: Bigelow’s films have often included strong supporting women’s roles not to mention two wonderful female leads (Jamie Leigh Curtis in BLUE STEEL & Sara Polley in THE WEIGHT OF WATER).  Most offensive: Embedding in the gossipy “Exes Issue” is the not so subtle implication that she’s riding on Cameron’s coat tails.  Those of us who know better must fight back!!!  Yes, she’s a babe.  Yes, she’s got great legs.  Yes, she was once married to James Cameron.  But, guess what: THE HURT LOCKER is a riveting film that’s 97% Fresh, Bigelow has Lifetime Achievement, & oh yes, women hold up half the sky!

MaryAnn Johanson:

I’m not sure we should be excited that The Blind Side is multi-nominated… and for Best Picture! It’s simply not a very good film. I don’t think its nomination has much to do with its being woman-centered, however — I think it’s more a matter of sentimentality. (Though perhaps that *could* be attributed to its being woman-centered, in a cheesy, cliched way: it’s basicially a made-for-Lifetime movie with a big name star.)

As for Bigelow, she’s sure to have a few more opportunities than she had before (though probably not as many as a male director in her position would get). I’m not sure that it will extend to female directors in general. As is usually the case in situations like this, Bigelow will be seen as some sort of extraordinary exception to the “common knowledge” that woman can’t make good movies, or aren’t interested in making movies other than rom-coms.

I hope I’m wrong about that. I won’t be surprised if I’m not.

Jenni Miller

The fact that Bright Star got absolutely no acknowledgment from the Academy except for costume design is so frustrating and disappointing. Not even cinematography? Ridiculous. The movie is exceptional.

I also think Melanie Laurent should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actress. She was tremendous in Inglourious Basterds.

I’m not sure that Bigelow’s nominations and DGA win mean anything in the long haul. She’s very, very talented, obviously, and the writing, directing, cast, and crew of The Hurt Locker came together into a perfect storm of sorts. I don’t think one can argue it’s because she made a “masculine” movie, because An Education was definitely not. I was very excited to see An Education get several nominations, both as a movie-lover and as a woman. I don’t want to support any movie made by a woman; I only want to support good movies, and if they are for or by women, that excites me even more. I didn’t want An Education to end!

Obviously, I am very excited for Bigelow and hope this gives studios something to chew on, and not just in terms of female directors but in terms of taking risks on projects. Both The Hurt Locker and The Messenger (so happy for those nominations as well!) succeeded in ways that other movies about the Iraq War haven’t. I can imagine they would seem like very unlikely success stories to a studio.

Another exciting thing that happened this year is that Lee Daniels is the second African-American director ever nominated, and the first openly gay man as well. I am also very happy to see Colin Firth in A Single Man nominated, as it was one of my favorite movies of the season.

And I also love Coraline — definitely the type of role model for young girls I like, although it would have been better if they had stuck to the original, darker ending, rather than… well… I won’t spoil it.

Mary Pols

I’m pleased for Kathryn Bigelow on multiple levels. First, as a critic, I thought “The Hurt Locker” was easily the best picture of 2009. Usually you struggle a bit at the end of the year choosing which movie you feel comfortable attaching that “the best movie of the year” label to, but “Hurt Locker” was a clear and simple winner for me. And that’s without having watched it more than once. It’s a movie that stays with you.

As a woman, who just happens to make her living as a critic, I’m particularly delighted with Bigelow’s Oscar nomination because it feels like a special breakthrough for my sex; someone who has a real chance to win. Not to take anything away from our previous female best director nominees, Sofia Coppola, Jane Campion or Lina Wertmueller, but their nominated movies, though hardly chick flicks, were fairly woman-centric. Each of those three nominations was special and historic, and someday a woman director will win for a “woman’s story” (right now I’m dreaming it will be the fantastically talented Andrea Arnold someday). But in a sense, they only got the collective female foot in the director’s door, helping to pry it open a little further, but still getting stuck on the vital part of getting through it. For male Academy members to vote for a woman in this category, I think she has to have made a movie in a traditionally male genre. She has to wow them by doing something they thought they owned all rights to. Bigelow is their woman.

And please, please let her beat the pants off James Cameron, not for the sake of her sex and mine, but for the sake of art, good taste and truly talented screenwriters everywhere.

Katey Rich

Kathryn Bigelow seems to be the obvious story for anyone interested in women in Hollywood, but I really think she’s more of a unique case than an example of a trend. She’s had a career in Hollywood for over 20 years and got all this recognition for The Hurt Locker almost as a fluke– I couldn’t possibly explain the awards strategy behind this movie, but it went pretty quickly from underseen indie to giant Oscar behemoth. Bigelow’s status as a potential first-ever best director winner certainly helped, but I don’t think her journey makes the road any easier for female directors going forward. But I’d like to be proven wrong.

As for the best picture nominees that are stories about women, it’s nice to see, particularly after several years of the biggest winners being extremely male dominated, but “women’s pictures” typically do pretty well with the Academy. What’s really interesting is that the best picture frontrunner directed by a woman is very, very male dominated. Aside from the fact that The Hurt Locker is a better film than An Education, I think Bigelow would have had just as hard a time as Lone Scherfig getting the best director nomination if the movie had been female-driven.

Personally, I’m just glad that Bright Star got the costume nomination at all. A cinematography nod would have been ideal, but I was worried it might be shut out entirely.

And with the screenplay categories, you win some, you lose some. Maybe we can console ourselves with the knowledge that the actors of In the Loop contributed significantly to the direction of that script– I was surprised they even found credited writers to nominate– so the work of Mimi Kennedy, Anna Chlumsky et. al. is being rewarded, albeit indirectly.

Carrie Rickey

Thrilled for Bigelow and Scherfig, with deserved nominations. Shocked that Ephron didn’t get nominated for adapted screenplay. Generally feel: May the best woman win.

Shannon Ridler

It felt like this year was going to be a sure fire that Kathryn Bigelow would receive an Oscar nomination for directing The Hurt Locker, but it is thrilling to see that the film received a total of 9 nominations, tying with Avatar for the most nominations this year.  It looks like the two films will go head to head but a closer look at the categories where they aren’t competing against each other, ups the prestige for The Hurt Locker as it secured an acting (lead – Jeremy Renner) and original screenplay nod over the more tech-centre categories Avatar landed in of art direction and visual effects.  It really feels like it will be Kathryn’s year, especially after her recent DGA win, and if so it will be a fantastic touchstone for women directors in the industry.  The really exciting thing here that not only are people are completely supportive of Kathryn Bigelow’s well deserved nomination for The Hurt Locker, they also want her to win.  The public is rooting for her, and that is a huge shift in the tides not only for women directors in the future but also in the viewing public.

Seeing 3 films with female protagonists in the list of best pictures nominations is a welcome sight (An Education, Precious Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire & The Blind Side) and makes me more supportive of The Academy’s decision to open that category up to 10 films.  Another welcome site this year is a familiar titles in the leading actress category, a category that can often have a sole nomination for just the performance in films that most people haven’t seen but this year they we have a turn in the tide as the majority of the films are considered across-the-board good films and have multiple nominations.  There is a lot of brou-ha-ha going around for Sandra Bullock’s nomination for The Blind Side, but when I’ve pressed people on their opinion in the matter oftentimes they haven’t seen the film.  This could be Sandra’s year, comedic actress in a drama performance worked for Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich and it could happen here again.

I would have loved to see more love for Bright Star, I think both a directing nod for Jane Campion (over Lee Daniels for Precious) and Lead Actress nomination for Abbie Cornish were well deserved, however it came away with just 1 nomination for costume design.  It also would have been nice to see Emily Blunt a nomination for her performance in The Young Victoria which did pick up three nominations (costume design, art direction, make up).

Sasha Stone

My thoughts are that was a long time coming.  Sixty two years for the DGA and 82 years for the Academy is too long.   Bigelow, though, is the first woman who directed a movie most people like more than any of the other frontrunners.   That was is most remarkable to me.  “Womens movies” are often movies only aimed at women, whereas men are sort of allowed to dwell in any territory, women’s stories, men’s stories, films about race, action, romantic comedies – women are kind of expected to only tell stories about women for women.

Kathryn Bigelow has never directed a film like that, but she also never achieved the level of perfection that she has with The Hurt Locker.

Perhaps now, audiences will be willing to accept the fact that women can tell universal stories that resonate with men and women.

Ella Taylor

Much as I’d love to see Meryl Streep get her Oscar at last, I’m not persuaded this is the right year for it. She giggled delightfully in Julie & Julia (and annoyingly in It’s Complicated), but there was more giggling than acting in both films. Personally I’d move Vera Farmiga up into best actress, and have her win. And while we’re with actresses, why is Carey Mulligan getting all the limelight for An Education, when Rosamund Pike, terrifically funny and sad as the ditsy blond, was the only truly big deal in the much overrated TV-drama,  An Education?

Tagged as: Academy Awards, Bright Star, Kathryn Bigelow, Meryl Streep, The Hurt Locker