Aside from the historic Bigelow win there were several other moments during the Oscar show (which I still strongly feel was really bad, but I was tweeting the whole time) and the wrap up that are worthy of note.
Mo’Nique
The woman rocks. She did everything this whole season on her own terms and every time people tried to bring her down and shame her for it, she said I am not playing by your bullshit rules. The fact that she won proves that art triumphs over bullshit. She took all the shit that was shoved at her and rose above it, big time. I really hope Hollywood learns a lesson from how Mo’Nique was treated. There were racist quips, sexist shit (you know the crap about her shaving her legs) and in general a whole lot of you need to kiss some Hollywood ass if you think you are going to win this award.
Yesterday, on Oprah she talked about dedicating her win to Hattie McDaniel, the first African American woman to win an Oscar which she did for the 1939 film Gone With the Wind. McDaniel, as Kate Harding at Salon reminds us, was not able to attend the opening of Gone with the Wind because the theatre was segregated.
Here’s what Mo’Nique said about the moment before they announced her name:
They are going through the nominees and I know this woman Hattie McDaniel had to endure so much in this industry. And because of her is why you sit (talking to Oprah) where you sit and I sit where I sit because she did so much for all of us.
Sandra Bullock
So she beat Meryl and poor Meryl has not won in some 25 years which is unbelievable to me. Part of it is that everything she does is Oscar worthy so that people think they don’t need to vote for her because she will be back again and again. News flash people. She’s taking some time off. She made two movies this past year, both directed by women directors. Both made $100 million.
But the thing about this year and the Sandra Bullock factor is that we all know that not everything that Sandra Bullock does is Oscar worthy. She’s the first to admit it. The Blind Side hit a chord in the country. As did Sandra Bullock. Remember, things suck out there (out here). No matter how much they tell us the recession is over. Things are still really hard and The Blind Side gave people a moment to feel better about things and themselves. That’s why it has made a fortune.
And Bullock rode those waves all the way to the Oscar win. She was so funny talking about her kiss with Meryl that people can’t let go. She talked about how during the awards season the group of nominees became a sorority and that they all liked and respected each other. And she tore down some more bullshit about how women hate each other. Here’s what she said to Oprah:
They pit women against each other all the time. They don’t do it to the men. I am so sick of it.
Here’s her wonderful acceptance speech. I loved how she gave tribute to her mom It is worth watching again:
Barbra Streisand
How poignant must it have been for Barbra to have the honor to announce the first female directing winner when she has been so visibly snubbed by the Academy in the past. There are of course women who directed great films before Barbra. One, Lina Wertmuller, was nominated before Barbra made Yentl and The Prince of Tides which was nominated for best picture and best actor for Nick Nolte but she was not nominated for best director. Barbra chose to direct when she was a gigantic huge acting and recording star. She chose to direct and got shit for it. She is a trailblazer and let’s not forget it. Here’s what she said after she gave the award to Bigelow:
I hope there will come a time when it will not be about a woman director or a man director but will just be about who the best director is. When there is no regard for gender. That it’s just about the talent.
Other Thoughts:
I did love Geoffrey Fletcher winning for Precious. Now I know people are upset because he forgot to thank Sapphire. In his defense he was beyond shocked. You could see it on his face and hear it in his voice. The fact that Precious got that award over the film everyone (including me) expected Up in the Air really shows how much that film resonated within the Hollywood community.
I loved Gabourey Sidibe‘s awesomeness on the red carpet. She showed no signs of nervousness and has come through this Oscar season as the most unexpected and success. Every single time I see her I smile.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Great summary, Melissa. I also admire Mo’Nique greatly and was quite annoyed by the criticism of her for not doing junkets. LOVE that she’s developing a Hattie McDaniel story.
These were clearly some of the finest moments of the evening. My favorite I think was Sandy Powell winning Costume Design for The Young Victoria. She acknowledged it was her third Oscar and sort of took a jab at the Academy for always seeming to award period pieces for Costume Design versus the more cutting edge work and reached out to those other designers.
You have to remember being different always invites criticism ie; Mo’Nique. It was actually nice to see Precious pick up momentum over the past month and yeah I know a lot of it was pre oscar publicity funded by the studio, but it was nice seeing both Mo’Nique, Sabide, and Fletcher and yeah Daniels get some respect and recognition. I don’t know what kind of a future Sabide will have in Hollywood, women’s roles are hard to come by and her race and size makes her road difficult. She seems smart, savvy, and surprisingly in tune with her potential limitations, but that could be the very reason she becomes successful. And I look forward to following her career no matter what path she takes.
As for Streisand, it was ironic having her deliver the award and Hollywood loves irony. I wasn’t thrilled with her comment when she announced the winner but following that, her reaction to the win was clearly told onher face. She was beaming with pride for Bigelow and perhaps for all of us. I think her expression and joy as she presented the award and listened to Bigelow speak was much more poingnant than anything. And I’m glad to hear her comments after the fact about the award being about talent versus gender or color.
When you put Mo’nique’s performance against the others, it is clear this is not tokenism, just as when you put Hurt Locker against Avatar, it’s clear it’s humanity in art.
But I think that her comment on “not doing what is popular” also had to do with her choice of part. She picked an ugly, unlikable character, and I believe that she has spoken about people trying to talk her out of doing it. There is that “starlet” path where image is carefully created and that includes picking heroic or sexy parts.
I love any indication that she gave the press any crap for not fitting a mold, and I think her stance on leg hair is revolutionary to women, especially younger ones. Remember those Madonna photos from her early twenties showing her natural hair? So many so-called hip bloggers clutched their pearls and “tut-tutted” women not being totally waxed.
Powerful is not being in such an image corset or a “step and fetch it.” You know, in too many ways, women can become a “step and fetch it” to all those people who have a strict list of appropriateness and who want to edit down women and whittle them down, take off all their edges so they can be “appropriate.”
Sandra Bullock, ugh.
All other wins were oustanding.
Oh I love Bullock. And The Blind Side was a good(not great) film and she was terrific. Was her performance at the level of some of the others, maybe not, but it’s hard not to cheer for her. She’s sweet, humble, and seems like a genuine person and I think she was actually pretty humbled to be in the company of such fine actresses such as Meryl and Mirren and a performance like Sibide’s.
And I know I get caught up in what constitutes a great film and performance. We all seem to want to root for the underdog. I hesitate to admit here, I didn’t like The Hurt Locker. It just wasn’t a film I enjoyed. I actually watched it twice and while I came to appreciate it and Bigelows work, it’s never a film I’ll embrace. And it’s not because I don’t like war films it just didn’t resonate with me. I do admire and respect Bigelow and cheer for her win regardless of my feelings towards the movie.
And Bullock for all her shortcomings in her acting and her work has gained acceptance and respect in Hollywood for the only thing they really care about, money. Look at Twilight and those films, Transformers and those films, etc which I hate by the way. It’s all about the almight dollar.
Fletcher thanked Sapphire on the Spirit awards, he likely just forgot 2 at Oscars.
I get that people think Sandra is nice. I think the factor is that she drove the whole movie whereas Meryl was half of Julia and Julia effectively. I’d hate to think that it was due to voting for a younger actress. Like I wrote before, on Charlie Rose, on a panel of four film critics – three of which were women, the youngest on the panel, a woman, called Meryl an “old dog” and wanted a younger actress to “get a chance” whereas she cheered for the older actor for Crazy Heart. We still have work to do when women film critics take a pot shot at accomplished women for just being older, cheering their age group of women against the olds, while having no problem with older men winning.
Whereas, I cheered personally for Jeremy in the Hurt Locker – well because I’m a fan of the film. I must admit, the age differences between the leads on Crazy Heart (half his age) was too distracting to me, his performance aside. I did not see the performance of two of the other male noms in the category.
Sally I think younger actress they meant someone like Mulligan or Sibide or at least I hope so. Mirren was also nominated. It’s not like Streep has won a ton of Oscars either. Personally I was a bigger fan of Streeps Prada role than Julia Child although she was marvelous in the role. I hope it’s not reverse age discrimination.
As far as the actors, I like Bridges, was not a huge fan of the film. I was actually rooting for Colin Firth. I saw all the performances and thought his was the most challenging and more of a stretch for him than the others were. JMO. The film didn’t have a happy ending but he was terrific in it.