The road to the 2015 Oscars was rocky indeed. While we were disappointed by the fact that white males accounted for the overwhelming majority of nominees — so much so that we commissioned a video urging the Academy and all people in the film business to do better — we were especially gutted by Ava DuVernay’s Best Director snub in particular. We weren’t terribly engaged by the ceremony itself, which is to be expected given the show’s lack of gender and racial diversity (same old, same old). That being said, we reacted to Best Supporting Actress winner Patricia Arquette’s call for equity with enthusiasm and were inspired by Reese Witherspoon’s support of #AskHerMore on the red carpet.
Please see below for all of our coverage leading up to the 87th Academy Awards, as well as our post-show reactions, including features by our Oscars columnist Susan Wloszczyna. If the 76,000 views our Oscars commentary video has received in the week since it’s been posted on YouTube and Vimeo is any indication, audiences are ready for the tide to change.
— Patricia Arquette Elaborates on Her Call for Equal Pay
— The Big O: The Cry for Equal Pay, the Need for Equal Screen Time, & the Death of the Mani-Cam
— A Season of Oscar Discontent
— Watch: To the Academy and All People in the Film Business: We Need to Do Better
— The Big O: When Actresses Are Given Their Just Rewards — And It Feels So Good
— Watch: ‘Hey Academy, I’m a Woman’ Mocks Male-Dominated Oscars
— Oscar 2015 Spotlight: 6 Nominees You Should Know About
— Quote of the Day: A.O. Scott on the Diminishment of Films About Women
— The Big O: Oscar-Nominated ‘Dragon 2’ Producer Arnold Aims to Make DreamWorks Soar Again
— Guest Post: Should There Be a Best Female Director Category at the Oscars?
— The Big O: Look to the Past for Solutions to Hollywood’s Current Female Troubles
— ‘The Babadook’ Director Jennifer Kent Wins Best Film, Best Director at Australian Oscars
— The Big O: How Nora Grossman of ‘The Imitation Game’ Broke the Code of Becoming a Woman Producer
— The Big O: Ava DuVernay’s Sisterhood of Un-Nominated Women Directors — and How They’ve Fared Since
— Chart: The Higher You Go in Hollywood, the Harder Women Directors Are to Find
— Guest Post: #OscarSoWhite Includes the Documentary Category, Too
— Watch: Jessica Chastain Calls for More Diversity in Hollywood
— Thoughts on the Oscar Noms from Female Film Writers and Experts
— The Big O: In Directing, a Sin of Omission — But At Least ‘Selma’ Makes the Final 8
