Oiling the Oscar Machine
The Oscars are a business. From the backend tonight I knew that my first trip to the Oscars would be illuminating in many good ways and a few not so good ways. That it would end with Meryl Streep winning an Oscar playing a role that was designed for her to win an Oscar, campaigned hard by the Weinstein Co to ensure that inevitability took place, and then to watch it all play out as planned said it all. Good for Streep, though, right? Because her brilliant career is now marked with two lead Oscars, plus one supporting. Not so good for Viola Davis, whose was set to make history tonight by becoming only the second black actress ever to win lead in 84 years. Something told me that wasn’t going to happen tonight and it wasn’t just Streep’s carefully orchestrated campaign, not unlike Kate Winslet’s orchestrated campaign — Oscar wins are planned and executed. They don’t just happen (well, unless they are directed by Hazanavicius).
I had to check myself when I was happy for the editing win for Dragon Tattoo and the tech wins for Hugo — how can you admire the Academy for exciting wins if you can’t respect them for the terrible decisions they’ve made in the past? Can you have one without the other? Can you care? Should you care? I suppose it comes down to this, you either believe in them or you don’t.
The Artist was the night’s truly honest win; they picked what they liked and they didn’t do it for any other reason. They don’t know who those French people are. They voted for the movie they thought was best. We then have their tastes to contend with, but their tastes are a manageable condition, their favoritism and cronyism are not.
My day started off hopeful. I’d stuffed myself into a pretty dress and high heels, gotten my badge and credentials — when you’re covering the Oscars as an event you have to remember that there are going to be awards given out and you have to remind yourself that you aren’t supposed to care about those awards.
Part of me wanted to go the ceremony so that I could stop caring how the awards turned out. Maybe if I saw how the machine worked from the backend I would recognize it as the sham that it is; our gods on display, sparkly, beating back age and irrelevance, the dream machine illuminating the fantasy of what it might mean to be on top of the world, even if for only a day.
At around 1pm I found my parking at the Hollywood Palladium. The shuttle was there to take the press to the Academy where we would then walk a few blocks to where the stars gathered. They had closed off Hollywood Blvd. I have to admit that the Academy itself, the people who make the show run, are top-to-bottom pros. The way they treat the press? No matter if you’re a rookie or veteran, they make you feel like you’re somebody.
There are clearly marked signs everywhere telling you where to go, they have security people waiting at every corner and they are somehow always smiling and nice, even to the most annoying reporter. The only thing that would ever make me want to come back to the Oscars was how well they treated us for the duration. The Oscars themselves? Not so much. Remember, the trick is not minding, and the only way they can’t bother you is if you don’t invest too much in them. But oh, that’s harder than you think.
I had to walk in high heels up the street that leads to the Chinese, and I heard one reporter say, “this is why I wear flats.” Once inside, I found my spot on the bleacher I’d been assigned to. It was all the way to the back of the long red carpet that starts at Highland and Hollywood and leads all the way up to the entrance of the Kodak. All along one side are reporters with cameras hoping to talk to contenders. Some get to connect for a long time, others get no time at all. By the time they got down to us they’d already been photographed for the television audiences and interviewed by Dave Karger. They were tired and sore by then, but tried to smile anyway.
I sat with a French reporter on one side and a BBC reporter on the other, both of them were counting on me to tell them the names of many of the stars. I happily obliged, putting all of that nonsense I carry around in my head to good use. There were moments of celebrities that were breathtaking, like the flawless curve of Jennifer Lopez’ back, the aqua blue of Mila Jovovich’s eyes, the smoothness of Meryl Streep’s skin, the impossibly narrow line of Michelle Williams’ hips, the palpable heat off of Jean Dujardin, the moment George Clooney broke free from the line and attended to the bleacher fans who were put way in back. Clooney was the only one who ran over to them and signed their autographs and shook their hands. The only one.
But there was something else there, too. There was another side to the proceedings that was hard to deny. The first thing was the regular Academy members walking by — art directors and musicians and aging starlets. They are attending the Oscars because it is their right, as members. They actually seem to want to get dressed up and have a night out. Maybe they like mingling. Maybe they like the glamor of feeling special for one night out of the year. Maybe they like the privilege. Maybe they like seeing all of the stars. Maybe they really like being a part of Hollywood history. But it’s hard to know what drives anyone to want to go to the Oscars, particularly, especially if they don’t have to.
The hard part for me was watching those who didn’t “matter” anymore walk by the crowds and the photographers and not get any notice. Bo Derek, Lea Thompson, Jane Seymour, Melanie Griffith. And those were the youngish ones. The Academy members are all much older than that and most of them are male.
But there was a sadness there, a pinned back, stitched up, hemmed in sadness that reminded me a bit of a puppet show, or backstage at a theater. There was worry and anxiety on the brows of those who walked the red carpet. This is a show for people “out there” to get their dream funk on.
By the time Brad and Angelina showed up the long red carpet show was almost over. I was too cold to wait for them — so I had to try to climb down off the bleachers and make my way back to the interview room. The interview room is in the lobby of the Renaissance hotel. They line up tables vertically with reporters seated up and down on each side, cafeteria style. You can rent a DSL line for $600 and get a good internet connection for the whole night. That’s a big price to pay for an independent outlet like this one so that would be something to consider for next time, whether it’s worth that kind of coin.
I was seated next to Anne Thompson and Bill Desowitz but there were plenty of recognizable faces there from the media. Again, I had to wonder why they come to the Oscars just to sit in the interview room, watch the show on the monitor and hear what the winners have to say. The big winners don’t come into the room until after the show because they need to be seated in case they’re on camera.
We sat there, on the long rows of tables, with earpieces in that let us hear the show while winners were being interviewed. Outside of the main room they had laid plates and plates of food, water, soda and coffee. Shrimp cocktail, hummus and pita, pretzels and melted cheese, cookies, cakes, pasta – more food than you could ever imagine, not a night to be on a diet.
It was a little less stressful waiting for the winners to be announced, since I was doing it as part of several hundred other media waiting. The only person who was particularly excited was the French reporter who kept shouting every time The Artist won something.
The show seemed to hum along at a quick pace. Billy Crystal was funny and there didn’t seem to be too much fat, if any, to trim. The Dragon Tattoo editing win was exciting — they clearly wanted to show that film some love, after it had been shut out of Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Many of the Best Picture contenders went home empty-handed – Moneyball, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, War Horse, and Tree of Life. The Help won a single award, as did The Descendants, Midnight in Paris, while Hugo and The Artist took the majority of wins, each ending the night with five. The Artist won one more than The King’s Speech did last year. Hugo joins The Aviator and Saving Private Ryan to win five Oscars with eleven nominations but then not winning Best Picture.
When Best Actress finally came and Meryl Streep won I felt badly that I couldn’t fully rejoice in Streep finally winning an Oscar and I felt bad that her win felt so manufactured, gift-wrapped and delivered by Harvey Weinstein. And I felt bad that the Academy didn’t take the opportunity to change the course of the Best Actress race by doing the impossible. I knew that the fallout would be the fans of Meryl Streep rejoicing, chanting “I told you so!” and that those who were rooting for Davis would feel angry and crestfallen. I knew that the subject of race would come up again, and people would want to talk less about race and more about who deserved to win. As if there is such a thing as “deserves.”
The Best Actress race is not a fair fight to begin with. There aren’t producers and Oscar dream makers lining up to make Oscar-winning roles for black women in their 40s. And though people like David Poland and Jeff Wells say things like “Viola Davis will have plenty of chances,” those of us at this long enough know that just ain’t true. Davis was the ONLY actress in a Best Picture contender. It was the highest grossing of the Best Picture contenders. Much of its success was due to Davis and Spencer. But people say, oh the part wasn’t big enough. And Marlon Brando’s in The Godfather WAS? And Nicole Kidman in The Hours was?
Nobody wants to call anyone racist, certainly not the Academy, who have tried to change the errors of their waves in the past couple of decades, once people really started talking about it. But the racism that afflicts the Best Actress race isn’t the Academy’s fault, particularly.
The key to this discussion is how impossible and improbable it would be for an actress like Davis ever to get a part like Streep got in The Iron Lady. When Meryl Streep told Hollywood to find Davis a movie, it seemed like the nicest thing to say at the time and it was well intentioned. Streep couldn’t have been more gracious to Davis throughout and probably would have been happy if Davis had won. But this was a year Streep wanted to win and everyone knew she was overdue, moreover, Streep was said to be heading into the “lifetime achievement” era of her career and some were saying her chances of winning another Oscar were going to get more and more rare. I doubt that. She will never run out of roles until she is unable to speak.
The Help was a rarity. Those kinds of roles in any mainstream Hollywood film hardly ever come along. They’re practically impossible for white actresses above 40, so you can only imagine what they are for black actresses. Viola Davis’ entire career has been making the tiny discards of the roles she’s been offered better.
Oh, it’s fine to give out plenty of supporting nods to black actresses but lead? Lead is a whole different thing, isn’t it. It’s a prom queen thing. It’s a Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Kate Winslet thing. It’s actresses who get their chances at bat throughout their careers, with plenty of lead roles offered to them and varying degrees of portraits. But Viola Davis? It just doesn’t happen.
Still, it had to have been hard for Streep to walk up there and accept that award when so many people wanted Davis to win.
You see, the Oscars aren’t really anything important. They aren’t curing cancer or helping the poor. They are a night for back-patting and really nothing more. They can’t mean anything because the people voting on them don’t consider them carefully enough for them to mean something. They vote for whom and what they “like.” They are film awards as a Facebook status update.
For those who really really wanted Meryl Streep to win a third Oscar they will be happy tonight because the institution that they respect awarded the actress that they respect. But it’s a funny thing, to respect an established institution. That kind of establishment has a long history — and that history is far reaching. The reason that only stories about white people, made by white people, and starring white people, are what Hollywood makes is because that’s what the public buys. And the public buys that because those are the only narratives they have been conditioned to respond to. You see, it’s a vicious circle.
Change will come but it will take more upstarts like Davis. But never listen to anyone try to tell you it isn’t about race. It was about race the minute each actress in those films signed their contracts. It was about race because one has had an entire career to stretch and grow and play an array of leading ladies, and one has always had to play whatever tiny character parts the American public could accept a black woman in.
Viola Davis was still a winner tonight. She doesn’t have an Oscar but she has the right stuff inside that matters.
When Davis lost, and The Artist won Best Picture, I unplugged everything and got the hell out of there as quickly as I could. I got off the shuttle and into my car and hit the Hollywood Freeway as fast and smooth a ride as my car would take me, away from the traffic cops and the high heels, the pretend-nice of it all, and back into the real world where I know how far it is to the ground, and what the ground feels like under my feet, my real feet, with no hills lifting them up higher they ought to be.
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I think if there wasn’t so much debate about Viola’s performance; whether it be a supporting, lead, or co lead with Emma Stone, she may have had a better chance at grabbing the statue tonight. Hopefully Harvey can see the Love for Viola and manufacture and gift-wrap a win for her in the near future.
The Dude. It’s been all of 5 hours since the Oscars. Do you think we can just shrug and not think about Viola Davis any more until her next movie?
If you’re going to cry out loud about “whining” every time the name Viola Davis is mentioned, you’ll be crying quite a lot. That’s not a pretty habit for The Dude to get into.
I don’t know how many times you’ll see the name Viola Davis pop up over the next couple of weeks. But the more important question is how many times do you think you can scold about it before your scolding gets more tiresome than what you call whining?
So please spread those scolds thin, will you? There’s probably a limit to how many times I’ll feel like asking you nicely.
Sasha, how on Earth did you manage to write such a fine piece? Surely it’s mega-late and you must be mega-tired. It’s 9.40am in London and I only got 5 hours and am feeling shattered!
I must admit I had tears when Meryl won and am so glad she finally won in my Oscar lifetime. I do think it was a performance for the ages and while Davis was great, Meryl was the true winner (though I still wish she’d won for Julie and Julia!)
Am just glad the season’s over and I can get back on with my life!
Thanks for all your hard work, dear! It’s always a pleasure coming to your site!
Great piece. (no need to elaborate)
Sasha,
Thank you for your written words. The primary reason why I come back to Awards Daily is because of your Oscar analysis. I may not comment on every thread, but I do read what you write.
Rob
Sasha, big thank you for this year! You and Ryan both deserve shiny awards of your own for all your dedication and work.
Seeing Meryl win an Oscar was the most surreal thing I’ve seen in six years of Oscar watching. I’m young enough to consider Meryl winning Oscars as something that belongs in a different era. That happened before I was born, and (I used to think) might never happen again. I surprised myself with how strong my reaction was to hearing her name. Sadness for Viola, shock, awe. I’ll probably whine about Viola losing this one for years to come, but I really am glad I got to watch Meryl win an Oscar for Best Actress, and experience all the things that come with that.
And really, would anyone be surprised if a fourth Oscar is in Meryl’s future?
Hi,
Firstly I think the article is in a very poor taste.
Why lament Streep’s win? Wasn’t her performance ranked the No. 1 of 2011 by TIME?
Just to put it in perspective – awards are meant to honour the best of the year. It’s not about boosting someone’s career or awarding a long career. Awards should simply honour the best!
In this case, both Meryl and Viola were equally the best. I personally would have loved to see either of them win. Though I am a big Meryl fan, a Viola win would also have been great considering her performance was also a deserving one and not a “Sandra Bullock” one.
But if you consider both the roles, Meryl could have played Viola’s role (not that of a black woman but she could have brought the same depth to the role). But how many could have played Thatcher with the same brilliance, the same voice, the same gait??? I doubt Viola (irrespective of her being a superb and par-brilliance actress) could have done that… (I am talking about just the performance and not the colour of the skin here.) This is a personal observation and again I maintain both performances were the best.
Secondly, its people like you because of whom Viola is oscar-less today.
People like you who bring race, career-boost etc etc into the awards.
Come to think of it if people had considered just the performance at 2010 Oscars, then Meryl would have definitely won over Bullock and then this year Davis would have won. But then people thought that Streep would again be back here “so lets award this to Bullock!”
This is the reason I maintain please keep other politics at bay while discussing awards. Just mention who is the best. I don’t mind you saying “Davis should win” because she was the best. But “Davis should win” because she will not get another chance IS SIMPLY WRONG!!!
And btw why does everyone think Davis might not get another role to win oscar??? The ones who were rooting for her don’t have the same confidence in her talent. I for one think that after THE HELP, Davis will be offered more parts, and considering the kind of actress she is, she will just knock them out irrespective of whether she is in the lead, supporting or for 8 mins! She will land her own oscar in just a few years down the line…
Whatever Oscar decides to do or not do, you can still rely on Clooney to be a class act. Top man.
Biggest disappointment – Emmanuel Lubezki cruelly robbed again for The Tree of Life. He deserved to convert his nominations for The New World and Children of Men, so he stands out as arguably the unluckiest contender in recent memory.
I find it impossible to get too worked up over the Best Actress award as it was probably the one set of nominations that failed most spectacularly across the board, failing to acknowledge Kirsten Dunst, Mary Elizabeth Olsen and Charlize Theron, each of whom gave more interesting and compelling performances than any of the nominated women. Race issues aside, the biggest flaw in current Academy thinking is the inability to get past mimicry, with biopics so often dominating. Throw in the usual pre-occupations with performances encased in severe make-up, physical transformation, or those twinned to social issues and the business of simply portraying original characters seems further and further away. The reason I particularly bring it up is that for once this was a year in which there were actually several genuinely strong lead roles for women but the nominations would have you believe that there was once again little outside of the conventional ‘prestige’ Oscar-bait leftovers to pick from.
Good to see Billy Crystal back though – hope to see him again next year. There was nothing ground-breaking but he just suits the occasion so well. (Though I will say Chris Rock was funnier in his presentation of Best Animation than he was in his entire stint as host a few years ago.)
Zoobi,
“Secondly, its people like you because of whom Viola is oscar-less today.”
Boy, I didn’t know that Sasha had THAT much pull in Hollywood.
I will be cheering for Viola should she get the opportunity in another role. I welcome those roles and films.
But sadly, lead roles for Black Actresses in a non-Tyler Perry film are scarce. This is Hollywood today.
@The Dude: Stop whining about Viola Davis, for crying out loud.
If you do not like Sasha to tell the truth (or whine as you call it, there’s always another site)
Bravo Sasha for a very well written and fabulous piece…that drive back home must have been really wonderful for your writing juices!
I guess we have to wait a couple of years now for another black actress to contend for lead actress? Oh well!
May I just say, thanks to you too Ryan for helping run this site…I have sometimes been very frustrated by the stance you both take and Sasha’s perceived irreverence on the podcasts with Jeff Wells but the Academy does not do itself any favors when it makes mind boggling decisions such as that for lead actress last night!
Am sure we all need a well earned break…I know I do
Thanks once again for the good reads…including the ones I disagreed with…the debates are always very stimulating
@Rob Y:
I meant people who share the same sentimentality as Sasha… I know how the academy votes and what influence Sasha holds….
It was a collective term used…
I’m neutral about the whole thing. Davis and Streep both gave a powerful performance. I don’t think it’s a race thing. It’s just a numbers game.
For the real bad girls of the Oscars, check this out.
http://cautwomen.blogspot.com/2012/02/ultimate-list-of-oscar-winning-villains.html
Sasha, I certainly feel the bittersweetness of the win too. I’m a huge Streep fan (not all of us are quite so rabid) and was absolutely delighted she won, but I also really felt the disappointment for Davis. She too would have been a most deserving winner. I wonder if this win will be lamented in the years to come, such as Jodie Foster over Glenn Close in 1989 or Helen Hunt over, well, everyone in 1998 – I hope not.
The contrived nature of it all has dampened my appreciation of many of the acting wins over the last few years. I spent years wishing for Winslet to win and was happy when she finally did, but felt a little pained that it was the result of Weinstein’s campaigning and that it was for a lesser role and not the one(s) she deserved it for. But oh well, this is the unfortunate nature of the game and it’s not going to change any time soon.
Hey Sacha, Just think you are barking at the wrong tree. The system that makes it hard for Viola to have good parts, good leads, thats the problem. And in that front, Viola couldnt be more of a winner, after all, she proved a movie with a 90% female black cast could be profitable. Actually, the most profitable of all. I think that is what is really going to change anything. About Meryl win, do you think that whoever actually though Meryl was better, should have voted on Viola, just because she was black and history was there to be done? Wouldnt that be more prejudice than not giving it? I loved Viola, but I preferred Meryl. Meryl was surreal! And good parts for female over 40 is hard, but not impossible. If she tries to pull a Meryl, and do Biopic, I can think of hundreds powerful black women who could be portrayed. She proved that the audiences are willing to watch. And she had not one, but 2 really good parts this year. I dont see her career as strugling for a good part. I think she will receive her Oscar eventually. And I hope it does when she is the best, not when people think a black woman should win.
“90% female black cast”
What movie is that? A lesbian film from Tyler Perry?
Fairly measured comments, Sasha. Ryan Adams, chill bro.
Viola Davis should have won because she would be the second ever african american actress to win? Because we need history to be made?
Hey how about who actually was best? Streep was so much better – and in an actual Lead role, unlike Davis’ supporting one – that justice was done last night.
Same thing about this obsession this year on this site for the little movies that didnt have box office success versus those that did (well, versus dragon tattoo, basically). Its like hurt locker vs. avatar – but in reverse. Suddenly, box office matters? Rewind two years please and say that again.
T.
Great reflective piece. Spot on about everything.
Overall, I’m fairly happy with this year, but as soon as Harvey Weinstein loses his influence (it happened before), the better for the awards season.
With you all the way on Viola Davis, Sasha. Thank you for this measured, bittersweet article.
What is more important? The Color of a Skin or the Performance? Streep deserved to win!
I believe Jimmy Stewart once said that you almost never win an Oscar for a role for which you really, really deserve it; you win it for something else because they feel bad about not giving it to you for that role, but giving it to someone else (who no doubt didn’t get it for the one s/he deserved…), and he was right, over and over again. I understand the realities of Hollywood re: actresses of a certain age in general and black actresses in particular, but I’m going to keep my fingers tightly crossed and hope that just being nominated cracks open a few doors, and Viola does indeed get hers down the road. It may not have happened before for a black actress, but there’s always a first time, eh? (I still don’t think Meryl truly thought she’d win, Harvey or no Harvey; I saw just enough shock and surprise in her face to convince me of that. I do hate seeing fine actresses–or fine artists in any category–pitted against each other, esp. when they’re friends, but such is Oscar, or any competition…)
Oh, and after the apocalypse happens, the only things left will be cockroaches, Keith Richards…and Harvey Weinstein. Harvey might want to get used to being a tad lonely, though–Keith does have standards, after all, and will probably be hanging w/the roaches…
Congrats to Ryan for successfully nailing the biggest upset of the evening (if you go by The Big Bad Predictions Chart). One of only 3 “experts” to call Dragon Tattoo for editing. Well done.
Sasha, it sounds as though you really aren’t a fan of the Oscars anymore, if you ever were a fan at all, but the “snubbing” of David Fincher over the past two years has really cemented your distaste for the Academy and the ceremony. Why continue running a website about something you don’t like? That would be like me running a website about “Glee” or Emma Stone. Yes, sometimes the Academy makes odd choices. Oh well. The tagline for this website is “The trick is not minding,” but you seem to mind quite a bit.
Yes, the Oscars are a business. Yes, in a perfect world the Oscars would not be a business. Newsflash: We don’t live in a perfect world. Yes, there are shadows on the wall. Guess what: You’re not the only one that sees them. Personally I like the shadows on the wall. Upsets like Streep over Davis is part of what makes the show exciting. You seem to fall into the same trap that a lot of other people do: If what you predict happens, you call it predictable. If what you predict doesn’t happen you can say “they should have done this or that.” Personally I find that constantly looking for something to complain about is a bad way to live life.
“Change will come but it will take more upstarts like Davis. But never listen to anyone try to tell you it isn’t about race. It was about race the minute each actress in those films signed their contracts. It was about race because one has had an entire career to stretch and grow and play an array of leading ladies, and one has always had to play whatever tiny character parts the American public could accept a black woman in.”
Thank you, Sasha.
This article should be filed under the title “I knew it all the time”. On the one hand you spend most of it pointing out racism in the academy and the other you want to talk about the historic significance of having an African-American actress when in both supporting and lead. I guess you can have it both ways.
I was neutral in the Streep/Davis battle. (I would have given it to Mara or non-nominee Olsen), but I understand the disappointment of those who wanted Davis to win. Streep was long overdue, but in my opinion she won for a film that wasn’t really that good – other than her performance. I kind of had the same feeling about The Iron Lady as I did La Vie En Rose, it just left me cold.
I think we learned last night that when in doubt play a real person. Hollywood loves to reward dress up.
I really hope this is the last article we’ll have to suffer through on this matter because goddamn am I sick of hearing how Davis is somehow getting screwed by “the system” when NOONE has been benefiting more from politics than her all season long. Noone has shoved the race angle down people’s throats more than people vehemently SUPPORTING her. How about a SINGLE article about how the actual best performances of the year: Shannon, Fassbender, Swinton etc… were all completely overlooked for even a nomination? Instead it’s just a littany on how poor BFCA, SAG winning, Oscar nominated Viola Davis was the systematic target of racism (the same night her black costar won).
There’s definately a problem for black actors getting sizeable lead roles in Hollywood, no question. There’s a similar problem for women of all types, older actors, how about Asians? This is the hypocrisy that riles me up. Why is noone bemoaning that we’ve had barely a single Asian NOMINEE in the past ten years instead of bemoaning that we haven’t had an EIGHT black acting winner in the same time period? But we can’t stick to the actual issues can we?
Davis was neck and neck with Streep, both had many positive factors working in their favor, both were heavily campaigned, both had loads of sentiment on their side. The coin fell one way at SAG and another at Oscar. That’s ALL.
“The reason that only stories about white people, made by white people, and starring white people, are what Hollywood makes is because that’s what the public buys. And the public buys that because those are the only narratives they have been conditioned to respond to. You see, it’s a vicious circle.”
Wonderfully said, Sasha.
Now let’s hope the system starts to change.
Ok, I usually don’t comment here, though I come back to this site exactly because of this dedication and passion of Sasha, it’s a truly unique place. I think you guys do a lot of important work, it’s truly the fullest awards coverage. But now I have to point out the obvious LOGICAL FALLACIES in this article. So hear me out:
1. If we only award actresses based on whether “they would be only the second black actress to win leading actress”, then this is an obvious form of awards affirmative action. Surely some people will point out that this is what most African Americans want to avoid. Just ask Morgan Freeman, I think he had done an interview somewhere on the subject.
2. So, in that sense, obviously you could think it is a point of racism, but the fact is Streep is plenty of deserving. She’s been the Hollywood living legacy for the last 40 years, it is in no way shameful that her colleagues would want to award her for this.
3. She’s had 13 unsuccesful nominations, are we saying she was really the one that “could have wait more”?! Viola’s been awards-prone for only about 5 years. Surely you could make the case that Streep didn’t win all this years because of mediocrity, but we all know this is not the case when we talk about her!
4. By saying that Viola should have won, aren’t you also defending this idea partially because that’s what the whole awards prediction websites said?! So what if there’s a surprise, isn’t this a good thing for the awards, or are we too afraid that the predictions would lose their “programmability”?
5. If you start the whole argument that Viola has the best technical acting, then you clearly forgot that these awards shows (and specifically the Oscars) are clearly not all that objective, and rely more on hype. A lot of people even think that out of these five, Michelle Williams was the most natural and strongest performance and should have won. And out of all actresses this year, Tilda Swinton is the best. And so on, and so on – we are clearly not giving an Oscar her for truly “best”, it’s more of an honorary thing. (and I think you know this very well)
5. Frankly, Viola’s role wasn’t that monumental not because of the running time, it just wasn’t that great. Octavia and Jessica were the real souls of this movie, and might I add, Howard-Dallas too! And as for Streep – yes, her win seemed flat, artificial and programmed (we all know by whom) but it doesn’t mean it’s not REAL or deserving. For all these reasons.
My 2 cents. Hopefully you consider them, and good luck for next year’s. Remember, not being able to predict everything is a good thing for Oscars’ popularity. And maybe next year you could also focus on making the Academy understand that 3 hours long and tedious ceremony would simply not attract the younger crowd. Or a lot other people.
And I actually thought about all this the other, and even prepared a short list of “Oscar’s biggest disappointments”. So just to put things in perspective, and so everyone can see what really the Academy passed over the years (much more than a newcomer like Viola Davis) here it is:
1. Martin Scorsese not getting the Oscar for Raging Bull
2. Marlon Brando not being awarded for Streetcar Named Desire, Last Tango in Paris, and maybe even some more.
3. Citizen Kane not winning best picture
4. Crash winning best picture, despite being the weakest of 5.
5. Shakespeare in Love beating The Thin Red Line and Saving Private Ryan
6. Rocky winning best picture over Taxi Driver and Network
7. Goodfellas losing best picture and best director to Dances with the Wolves
8. David Fincher losing best director to the TV director Tom Hooper
9. Forest Gump winning best picture over Shawshank Redemption
10. Ingrid Bergman not winning for Casablanca
So comparing someone that defines the whole art like Brando, to this year, is certainly very far-fetched. Let’s be real here.
“Clooney was the only one who ran over to them and signed their autographs and shook their hands. The only one.”
Wow that’s very revealing. I remember Johnny Depp was promo’ing Public Enemy in Chicago, at a movie premiere, and he broke free from the red carpet and shook hands and signed autographs.
What’s with these stuck up stars who only show up when there’s an award or a movie to promote? What’s with that? Where’s the glamor? Where’s the autographed pictures? remember those things. I have a few from the past, but I wouldn’t know where to write or who to get an autogr’d photo today.
Shame on today’s stars.
Sasha a little tidbit. It seems that Angie was wearing a dress that Jennifer Aniston wore last year. And the leg? IMO it’s a desperate bid for movie work, because she’s a little thin in the imdb.com site with movie roles.
http://www.toofab.com/2012/02/26/angelina-jolie-wears-sexy-look-reminiscent-of-jennifer-aniston/
“Noone has shoved the race angle down people’s throats more than people vehemently SUPPORTING her.”
Well, I for one want to know is why is the last three supporting roles have been won by oversized black women (Spencer, Monique, and Jennifer Hudson); what’s with THAT!
(Where’s the edit button)
I for one am relieved — yes relieved that Meryl won this year, because I couldn’t take another year of nominations and guessing will she or won’t she….maybe now the Academy will NOT nom her next year.
As for Harvey promoting Viola — has he ever promoted a black (or colored) person? I don’t think so.
The Artist winning is the little film that could. In many ways it mirrors the Chariots of Fire win years ago.
You know, I wanted Davis to win for all the reasons you mentioned, I fully thought she was going to win last night, and I fully expect her to win in the future… but when you get right down to it, Streep’s performance was just plain better. She may be the best actress still working, and she’s always brilliant, and if any actor last night deserved a third Oscar, it was her.
The Davis robbery was not winning for Doubt – in that film she taught all actors what you can do to inhabit a character brilliantly – command the screen and steal the moment from another actor, Streep. That should have been the time one should have been upset about a loss.
It seems that the only people claiming that it’s not about race are those who wanted Streep to win.
On merit, I wanted Glenn Close to win. If not Close, Rooney Mara. But I won’t say that it’s not about race, just because I want to validate my opinion that I don’t think Viola Davis ought to have won. It was about race. Of course it was.
Heck, I even wanted Streep to win over Davis. But I can’t help feeling a little bummed that Viola Davis is as Oscar-less as she was this time yesterday.
Sasha – undoubtedly, race enters into the conscious or subconscious decision of some members (for better – those voting for Davis because they want a black actress to win – or for worse – those voting against her for the opposite reason). It’s impossible not to say that some level of homophobia was involved in the Crash/Brokeback fiasco.
But we can’t know for sure how much race plays a role, whether it matters to 100 out of the 5,700, or to 5,000 of them. We can speculate, but we can’t really know.
And I have to disagree with you that “it was about race” from the moment the contracts were signed. At least to the extent that implies that the winner was determined on the basis of her race. Otherwise, then basically everything in the world every day is determined on the basis of race, and we both know that is simply not true. You are, of course, correct, that it is harder for black actresses to get good leading roles and even harder for them to win leading awards – as a description of historical and current fact, that’s undeniable. But to the extent it implies there is racism in all decisions made with respect to black actresses, I can’t agree.
Two people are hired by a high profile company. One is black, one is white. Black people, historically and today, have a lot less access to these type of jobs. The unemployment rate for black people is about double the national average. And black people at the top of these companies, almost non-existent. But the day the promotion comes, if the white person gets it over the black one, it is not fair to assume it was “because of his race.” Could it have been? Sure, it could. It could have been because of Viola’s race this year, for sure. But it is really not fair to the sensible, non-racist people who make decisions to assume they made racist decisions simply because the minority lost out. That type of thinking really poisons the well and makes improved race relations almost impossible.
I guess what I’m saying, in fewer words, is that I take issue with the implication that your phrase “it was about race from the beginning” has for our society at large. There is undoubtedly a huge amount of disgusting racism alive. But there are also a huge ton of decisions made day in and day out in our society that involve people of different races and that are not influenced by race.
And if you look at Viola and Meryl’s performances side by side this year, I’m quite sure I can be very comfortable that this year’s Best Actress race was one of those that DID NOT involve race.
Paddy M: The counter-point is that it seems that the only people who claim it WAS about race was those that wanted Viola to win, so…?
Sasha, if you feel so guilty about being white and bad about the lack of opportunities to african americans why don’t you cede your role as editor of this site to a person of color?
Sasha,
Your reasons why you want Viola to win makes me ashamed I am a minority.
Unlike you, I would want her to win if she deserves it. She is a great actress but she did not deserve winning for this part. Meryl did.
The Oscars are for the Academy members, not the public. Therefore, let them award who they wish to award. We are merely spectators. Sasha and Ryan, you can create your own awards. You could just keep awarding The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo over and over. Now wouldn’t that make you feel good?
The Oscars are for the Academy members, not the public.
Wrong.
You could just keep awarding The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo over and over. Now wouldn’t that make you feel good?
It would start to, yeah.
Unlike you, I would want her to win if she deserves it. She is a great actress but she did not deserve winning for this part. Meryl did.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
Sasha, if you feel so guilty about being white and bad about the lack of opportunities to african americans why don’t you cede your role as editor of this site to a person of color?
Lol. A serious question?
It seems that the only people claiming that it’s not about race are those who wanted Streep to win.
Because they are too tangled up with adoration they can’t think clearly.
Honestly, I dont post much, but this is really becoming a little tiresome. I wasn’t so keen on Streep’s performance, I thought it was a very good impression. I thought that Viola Davis’ performance was better. But the endless bleating on here makes what I’ve visited for years as the best Oscar site (and one of the best film sites in general) a quite frustrating example of someone pushing their agenda. Its almost like it is acting as a parallel to the Oscar race…they keep pushing their agenda of wanting safe crowd pleasing film making, which is frustrating. Meanwhile you push your agenda of wanting the people you want to win, to win, which is equally frustrating because of the lack of impartiality and the constant repetition of it.
To put it into perspective, you are a film critic/opinionist/blogger…however the site describes itself. You get your first trip to the biggest event in the film calendar, the supposed greatest show on earth, which in your line of work must be like a kid being given the keys to the chocolate factory. You then write a reflection of the day, presumably for the benefit of giving insight to those of us who would love to go but will never be able to. I cut and pasted the article (impressively at 2500 words exactly, I wonder were you given a word limit) and I went and cut out ALL of the things about the WHOLE evening that pertained to that ONE award alone. The result is that almost exactly HALF of your entire reflection on the whole of your first visit to the Academy Awards was bemoaning the fact that Streep won over Davis. In fact quite a lot more of the article was negative too, going on about how awful the whole process is and why people still turn up to it…which almost seems incredibly ungracious and almost disrespectful to the millions of people out there whose dreams it is to be on one side of the red carpet or the other. I mean if you aren’t in this business for times like last night, why are you still doing this?
Speaking personally, I like this site, I think that you and Ryan in particular are wonderful writers and I am interested in hearing what you have to say. I like that you share your opinions. But as an observer it is a little bemusing to me how bent out of place you get by a couple of things that you dont like. Last year this site pretty much retrospectively shat all over The King’s Speech because it became clear it was the front runner over your favourite in The Social Network. This year Meryl Streep is getting thrown under the bus for a much lauded performance…because you wanted Viola Davis to win. Even The Artist is being talked down in hindsight because it became the big favourite in categories you wanted Hugo or The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo to win.
Worst is that you seem to have the attitude of being an Oscar purist and want the performances and films to win on merit rather than because of Oscar politics, and yet the vast majority of this race has seen you explain why Davis should win over Streep because she will have less chances and because black actors need more recognition, yet the greater issue (the fact that Rooney Mara’s performance was never really in the running…and even worse Tilda Swinton’s performance which was far better than the two front runners did not even get a nomination!).
Like I said, I like that you give your opinions, I respect them and I want to hear them. But some opinions cross the line of appearing like an agenda and some opinions get repeated so often and to such a lengthy extent that they are almost like having them rammed down my throat.
I dont remember it being like this in previous years, it all seemed to start last year and continue to escalate this year and I honestly do think that its a shame that you cant step outside of the whole process and be a little more impartial about your own favourites.
but when you get right down to it, Streep’s performance was just plain better.
Isn’t it always? It will be better every time Meryl Streep acts in a film. She’s a great actress. It was a terrible part. Viola Davis was far and away the more deserving winner — far more moving, more soulful – moreover, she drove the *only* Best Picture contender past $100 million and starred in the *only* Best Picture contender with a lead actress in it.
I for one am relieved — yes relieved that Meryl won this yea
Me too. Now the Streep fans will finally stop.
I really hope this is the last article we’ll have to suffer through on this matter because goddamn am I sick of hearing how Davis is somehow getting screwed by “the system”
NO ONE is more sick of hearing back from Streep fans than me. If this is what my site’s experience would be? I would shut it down. You people really need a reality check.
We are (again) talking about race, when tonight Octavia Spencer also won. That means that people thought that Spencer was the best of the 5 supporting actress nominees and that’s why they voted her. At the same time they didn’t think that Viola Davis was the best of the 5 best actress nominees and that’s why they voted for someone else. For me it;s as simple as that. They Academy members can’t consider the race issue when voting for best actress and not consider it when voting for best supporting actress.
And also find it not logical to talk about political voting when in the same night the winners of Picture, Director, Actor, Composer, Costume Design, Art Direction were all non americans.
Sasha, it sounds as though you really aren’t a fan of the Oscars anymore,
Honey, I never was.
What is more important? The Color of a Skin or the Performance? Streep deserved to win!
Then aren’t you happy? Be happy then. Can’t you all find somewhere else to celebrate?
Hey how about who actually was best?
How about a fair fight to begin with? Oh yeah, you don’t want fair, right? Status quo all the way. I was with you guys when it was Sandra Bullock vs. Meryl Streep. But I knew Bullock would win. Why? Because she had delivered so much money Hollywood’s way, because she was well “liked” and because she starred in a Best Picture nominee. The same was not afforded to Davis when it was her turn. Moreover, I talk about this stuff not because I expect the outcome to be any different but to get people to look at things a different way – to try and shed a little light into the dark corners. I could give a true hard fuck who takes home that dumb little shiny statue. But the whole power dynamic in Hollywood I *do* care about. A role Meryl Streep could have pulled off blind-folded and drugged half to death was not that impressive to me; that was a tailor-made role for her, a palatable Margaret Thatcher just so Streep could do the accent and the old age and give the Academy what it wanted. Weinstein delivered it on a silver platter. Streep campaigned harder than she ever has during any Oscar race. So guess what? She wants it that bad, you all want it that bad, take it. I certainly could give a rat’s ass. What I do care about is the on-going discussion it brings up.
Sasha, I certainly feel the bittersweetness of the win too. I’m a huge Streep fan (not all of us are quite so rabid) and was absolutely delighted she won, but I also really felt the disappointment for Davis. She too would have been a most deserving winner. I wonder if this win will be lamented in the years to come, such as Jodie Foster over Glenn Close in 1989 or Helen Hunt over, well, everyone in 1998 – I hope not.
Thank you, Katie. Honestly the Streep fans have done nothing but make me hate a woman who used to be my favorite actress. I have wanted Streep to win for years and wanted last night’s win to be one I too could celebrate. But.
This site should be re-named the Negative Nellies. How about we dump Sasha and Ryan and start our own site? Who’s up for it?
Why lament Streep’s win? Wasn’t her performance ranked the No. 1 of 2011 by TIME?
And that’s supposed to matter because….?
Thank you for your written words. The primary reason why I come back to Awards Daily is because of your Oscar analysis. I may not comment on every thread, but I do read what you write.
Thank you Rob.
I have to say a number of things. Last night was the first time I’ve watched the Oscars in many years when I actually lost track of the time. Last night flowed so quickly and smoothly that it was actually a pleasure to watch rather than something painful. Billy Crystal had some brilliant moments and there were a couple of “slow” moving schticks. I’ve been watching the Oscars since the sixties and last night was a good night as far as the telecast goes.
The thing last night that stood out for me was Octavia’s win. All along I’ve thought that Octavia was going to win and deserved to win. Had she lost I would have been very unhappy. But that possiblitily was there because Jessica Chastain had turned in so many powerful performances this year that it was conceivable that the Academy may have honored her “in bulk”. That didn’t happen which said to me that the Academy didn’t only disregard race when it came to Octavia but they rewarded a performance. And then they underscored her win with a standing ovation. Octavia could have delivered the Sally Field speech “you really like me” and it would have been right on target. And as someone else pointed out Monique, Jennifer and now Octavia. Yes these are supporting roles but damn they were good supporting roles and were honored by the Academy regardless of race. There is nothing conventional about Monique’s performance it’s just simply outstanding. Jennifer’s role is unique because it comes from a very popular musical that was embraced across the board and she delivered. So many times we see adaptions of Broadway musicals and they miss and it would have been easy for Hudson to have been ignored, however the performance she gave could not be ignored. Spencer was in the same category as Monique and Jennifer. You could not ignore Octavia’s performance. But more interesting is that everyone celebrated her win. There is no question she didn’t deserve her Oscar and she didn’t have to rely on anything else but her performance to achieve that goal.
I was ambivalent about both Davis and Streep. I never believed that Davis belonged in the Best Actress category and if she had been in the Supporting Actress category my bet is she would have lost to Octavia. The reason was that Octavia’s role was more showy and she connected in a way that Viola’s character did not connect. Don’t get me wrong that’s not Viola’s fault, Octavia’s character was designed specifically to be more showy and Viola’s was to be the “oak tree” that stands tall and firm and rarely bends to the wind. There is a quiet strength to Viola’s character where Octavia is more like a wheeping willow. A weeping willow dances to the wind and Octavia found the dance and made the best of it.
I would have liked Meryl to win for something more equal to her talent. One can surely not question Meryl’s contribution to film or her place in the historical archives of the cinema but The Iron Lady is really not what I personally would have wanted cited as Oscar winning. And why shouldn’t Meryl want to win? That’s one of the more absurd statements I’ve seen in print. I do think however that the pundits raising the issue of race hurt Viola more than anything else and I don’t think the Academy was going to be forced into delivering her an Oscar just for that reason.
As for Dujardin all I can say is “yawn”. I was pulling for Brad and I’m really not a Brad Pitt fan. But as I’ve watched his career over the years I’ve developed a respect for him and his talent. I was astounded by his performance in Tree of Life. I still haven’t seen Moneyball and probably won’t for quite some time but what little I have seen he would have gotten my vote.
Loved Christopher Plummer’s win and would have been happy had Max won but Plummer did something that hasn’t been done in film except by Colin Firth in A Single Man and that was to portray a gay man without a lisp, without a hand that needed a cast to keep if from looking broken, and not walking like he had a stick stuck up his ass. But most of all for been allowed to play a gay male who was intelligent, emotional without being on the verge of screaming and for the dignity that many of us wear just a well as someone wearing a monkey suit too some black tie event.
I really thought Hugo with the early wins was going to pull it off and was dissappointed that it didn’t. Thank you to the Academy for rewarding Woody Allen’s wonderful fantasy.
Was surprised by Dragon Tattoo especially since I pretty much thought Thelma with her long history of excellence had that one in the bag. But Tattoo winning signified that the Academy must have seen the film. If they hadn’t seen it Thelma would have been a shoo-in. No one will convince me that people just checked the box for Dragon if the hadn’t seen it knowing Thelma. She’s been around a long time so those old people had too see Dragon. Film Editing isn’t one of those tech awards that you just check off.
Even though the Artist walked off with the big ones that fact that it only tied with Hugo erases that “Sweep” notion. With everything everyone had been saying I expected The Artist to take almost everything. It didn’t. That’s good.
I was struck by two things Meryl said last night. That she believed she would never be up there again, and I think she’s right. But she also said that she could hear in her head all the people who were going “oh god not her again..” in her head. That’s a very revealing piece. It must be difficult to have worked so hard and achieved what she has and then still have to hear the voices that chant “oh god isn’t she satisfied”.
As for roles for black women in film. You can’t blame white filmmakers for that. White filmmakers make films about what they relate too, Spanish filmmakers make films about what they relate too, Italians and French make films about what they relate too. Black filmmaker are just now finding their voice. They are finding that audiences for their work are universal. Black filmmakers have learned that audiences will turn out if the work is worth turning out for. It’s just like the music business to a degree. The only problem is that black filmmakers have not found “their” song yet. They’ve found it in every other aspect of entertainment but they are just beginning to find the notes and the lyrics when it comes to film. I’ve seen a number of black films and as I watched them recently forgot that the characters I was watching were black. They were telling a story and I related to the story or found the story interesting enough to hold my attention. Black film is evolving but it has to evolve within the souls of the black filmmakers. There have been good films about the black experience from other filmmakers but then we all hear about the “white boys” making films about people they couldn’t possibly relate too. We seem to think that issues faced by the black community are only faced by them when in fact all issues are faced by everyone and are universal. The difference is how those issues are treated from an individual standpoint. If the connection is there it will succeed regardless of who makes the film. Thirty years ago you would have never seen a film like Jumping the Broom or Death at a Funeral. That’s cause for celebration in itself.
There are so many possibilities for Viola. I still think an all black version of Long Days Journey would be a showcase for her talent. The question is can Steve McQueen pull it together.
And just as a side note every actor comes to a place where they aren’t offered certain roles. It’s the nature of the beast. They have the A list and there’s a pecking order. That pecking order has existed from the time of Roman Novarro and Clara Bow. It’s the way of the world.
Sasha,
I can’t wait to read all the campaign articles that you’ll write, as you said, on Meryl’s A:OC lead performance.
Ah so I’m just a “Streep fan” and that makes it easy to wash your hands of actually having to adress anyone’s actual points? For the record, while I like Streep well enough, I haven’t actually thought she deserved it of the nominees since 1988, and that includes this year. However I’ve been actively rooting AGAINST Davis this year because of writers like you who have actually made matters WORSE by dragging the race card into a discussion where it doesn’t even belong. You know how we’re going to move past such issues? By not feeling the need to mention that an actor is black or white at all and treat them equally, not by handing black actors pity Oscars because of how “tough” they’ve had it (which is just laughable when we’re talking about the most glamorous and overpaid profession in the world to begin with. Viola Davis has it better than 99.9% of ACTORS, let alone all the people in the world battling real issues)
On a final note, do you think Viola Davis herself would want to win because it’s the so called “noble” thing to do, or do you think she would rather win based on merit alone? I think she would be rather appalled at the comments you’ve repeatedly made in her defense frankly.
Nicely written piece Sasha. As someone who’s been following AD and OW before that for many years, it is wonderful that you were able to attend the ceremony and give us an honest insiders look at what transpired. I agree with your critique, Viola was very worthy and Streep’s a bit more ‘manufactured’. Despite that, the only award that got me to yell out “YES!” was Meryl’s win, I suppose so many years of waiting overwhelms any single performance IMO. I had less involvement in the awards this season than any in decades, but that win and Plummer’s were the highlight of the night for me.
Well, Asian American actors hardly ever get leading parts in films and rarely get nominated even when they’re nominated and no one complains about that. Because no one cares. Which is sad.
Even Streep was shocked she won last night. You could see it in her face when her name was called. It was obviously a very close race last night for best actress and the applause for both Streep and Davis was very loud. Perhaps some of the votes went to Williams, Mara and even Close!
Despite that, the only award that got me to yell out “YES!” was Meryl’s win,
I think a lot of people felt that way.
do you think Viola Davis herself would want to win because it’s the so called “noble” thing to do, or do you think she would rather win based on merit alone? I think she would be rather appalled at the comments you’ve repeatedly made in her defense frankly.
It’s funny you use the word merit. Do you follow the Oscar race at all? Merit has very little to do with it. Like, in all of its history. Oh, every once in a while someone will win ON merit. But you see, the Streep machine this year had very little to do with merit and everything to do with positioning and publicity. Tilda Swinton actually gave the best performance of the year and she wasn’t even nominated. So you see, you have to be careful how you use the word “merit.” The Oscar race is a poker game. Never forget that.
I can’t wait to read all the campaign articles that you’ll write, as you said, on Meryl’s A:OC lead performance.
I will only write them if the Streep fans mind their manners, though, because a girl can only take so much.
The thing is, the Academy themselves do believe their awards are based on merit. Sure, we know that’s a load of crock and that so many factors influence who emerges on the other end of the process as the anointed “best”, but for the average ballot-checker, they really are simply ticking who they liked best. We may not like their choices, but either accept that they’re going to make what you consider crappy choices as to what constitutes “best” or dispense with it altogether and make the Oscars a career/humanitarian award. You can’t cry “racism!” at the Academy because they were only offered up two black acting nominees this year and only awarded one of them. The issue at hand, as you sort of flirt with is the lack of good roles, but this isn’t endemic to black actors and has nothing to do with who the Academy picks out of a particular lineup of nominees. And you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think Davis has had heavy promotion all season long aswell.
So are Baxter and Wall the first to go back-to-back with Editing wins? I’m pretty impressed by their work. I hope they work on all of Fincher’s films until the end of time.
Even though my favourite performance from the Best Actress-group came from Rooney Mara, and I´d favored Davis in the Streep-Davis duel (that sounds like a Western!), I can´t honestly be mad about Streeps win.
First of all, it was a big surprise (especially after BFCA and SAG honored Viola Davis), and a good show needs some surprises (best example: Dragon Tattoo for Editing, Yay!) – and above all:
Meryl Streep delivered such a hands-down classy acceptance speech! Really amazing and moving – what she said about friendship, I bought that, I think she was honest and straightforward. Certainly the best speech in an evening of many moving moments (Plummers speech!).
This show was much better than the shows of the last three years (not as good as 2007, but you can´t compete against the Coens, Day-Lewis, Cortillard, Bardem and – hell, yeah! – Tilda Swinton)!
I’ll admit, Streep’s win defined the year for me, and I loved seeing the comaraderie between she and Davis as Davis led the standing ovation and Streep proudly acknowledged Davis as she walked off the stage.
Very nice piece. Excellent coverage of this year’s race overall, AD!
Well, that’s it for me folks. After Crash beat Brokeback I was disheartened but after last night’s travesty of Streep’s win (for her impersonation of Olivia de Hallivand)I’m not even going to tape the show next year. Congratulations to The Artist (which must be one of if not THE most awarded films in history), but boo to Streep.
And this will be my last comment on this website.
I dont remember Sasha being this upset when Gabby lost for best actress a couple of years ago.
Indeed Amanda. I’m guessing she just didn’t care for the performance as much as with Davis and therefore it wasn’t about race, it was simply what it was, an actress losing an Oscar…
Bichir should have won Best Actor. Mexicans don’t get good roles that often. How unfair.
Something in me died last night. Streep’s 3rd Oscar is property of Harvey Weinstein. To think that Glenn Close had to have a front row seat to Meryl Streep winning a 3rd Oscar–how cruel?
Nic V: I think you make a good point about part of the reason Viola not winning was backlash against the blogosphere telling “them” they should award it to her based on her race.
Over the years we have discovered that “They” do not like to be told what “they” need to like, what “They” need to do. If a movie is too showy, too much of an Oscar bait, it will not win Best Picture – that has been true for several years now.
It’s also the lesson of “Brokeback” vs. “Crash” – they didn’t like to be told to recognize the gay love story, and there was backlash.
This whole conversation about Meryl v. Viola is a microcosm of what is so f*ed up about race relations in our country today. BOTH sides are entrenched, pointing fingers, and by their statements, both sides keep making matters worse.
It’s a vicious cycle that will not end as long as the first thing we notice about someone when we see them is the color of their skin. I’d like to think that both Viola and Meryl would be somewhat ashamed of this behavior.
are Baxter and Wall the first to go back-to-back with Editing wins?
Hasn’t happened since the 1930′s. Ralph Dawson won in 1935, 1936, 1938 for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Anthony Adverse, The Adventures of Robin Hood.
Thelma Schoonmaker came close in 2004, 2006 for The Aviator and The Departed.
The trick is not minding.
I laughed when Billy Crystal joked last night that Meryl Streep had to sat through 14 Oscar awards only to lose and still has to act thrilled that someone else won; that she deserved an Oscar just for that.
The trick is not minding.
When Colin Firth was introducing the nominees for Best Actress and mentioned that Streep was the most nominated actor in Oscar history and how she continues to raise the bar in every role she plays, the camera showed Streep clearly touched, welling up with tears and sighing a deep breath.
The trick is not minding.
And then Firth announced Streep as the winner for Best Actress! FINALLY!! After a string of more than 10 consecutive losses in almost 30 years– and with Viola Davis the favorite to win– Meryl Streep won!
The trick is not minding.
Meryl looked really shocked when her name was called. Amid thunderous applause and cheers from the crowd, she got up, walked towards Viola, hugged and kissed her, before heading up the stage.
The trick is not minding.
Meryl Streep, up on stage, amidst the loud cheers and standing ovation from the crowd, Streep just looked both relieved and ecstatic to win again– after almost 30 years– yet joked that half of America was not happy with her winning.
The trick is not minding.
Meryl Streep gave the best and most emotional acceptance speech of the night thanking her husband, her make-up artist of 30 years who won earlier last night, and thanked her peers she’s worked during her “inexplicably wonderful career.”
The trick is not minding.
Viola Davis (her second nomination) wasn’t the only one who lost last night. Glenn Close lost (for the sixth time). Michelle Williams lost (for the third time). Rooney Mara lost (her first nomination).
The trick is not minding.
Congrats to Meryl Streep for a well-deserved win last night for her brilliant performance in The Iron Lady!! And while there are others who are not happy about her win, Streep said it best last night to those naysayers– “whatever!”
The trick is not minding.
Honestly I stopped reading this site 2 years ago for the very reasons exemplified by Ryan’s response to the Dude’s comment. I can’t believe I thought there would be some genuine joy here for Streep. What a fool, right? Sasha takes a heartfelt stand against something she feels strongly about (which is overplayed and overdramatic to the point of maudlin muck) and then a reader calls her on it and then nasty little Ryan comes in with his passive/aggressive slap on the hands. Still the same shit as 2 years ago. And the shame of it is – Sasha is a brilliant writer with a brilliant perception if only she wasn’t so damn indulgent. I will not make the mistake again of looking to this site for anything but blind cynicism. I won’t even both to read to see what nasty response Ryan sends my way. I am so disappointed in you both.
I first thought of you Sasha when Girl won for editing. It was such a sweet win.
That being said, I hope this Viola/Meryl thing can finally be put to rest. As someone already pointed out, there are lots of deserving actors, directors, cinematographers who have been passed over by Oscar. Most of them are white. Let’s not forget that this is only Viola’s first Best
Acting nominee and second acting nomination overall. Glenn Close has had 6 nominations and ZERO wins.
Yes, I agree that part of the problem that black actresses have not won the top acting prize no more than once in Oscar’s history is that there are less good leading roles for them. But in an evening when Spencer wins, in a recent past where both the lead acting prizes where won by 2 black actors in the same evening (Denzel/Halle), where recently the Oscars rewarded Lee Daniels with a screenplay award the same night that Monique wins a supporting acting prize….well, I’m not sure exactly how racist the Oscars can be. Unless your argument is that Best Acting prize is racist against Black actors. Again, I would attribute this to the scarcity of good roles for Black actors. But when one does come up (in this case, it could be argued that it was supporting), is that reason enough to give an acting price to that actress? Doesn’t that sort of take away from the notion of “Best Actress”? As a minority myself, I would hope that any employment position, etc. I attain is based on merit. Although many Oscar awards are less about merit.
But I do think Meryl deserved this one. What’s lost in all of this was her touching speech about friendship which was demonstrated by her longtime makeup collaborator winning in the same evening- so I’m sure this Oscar meant a lot to her (same collaborator for every movie in the past 37 years or so…friendship, faith, loyalty, fidelity, not unlike her longtime marriage. how refreshing is that in hollywood).
History was still made. We have our 5th black supporting actress. Not particularly the right one, though. If we were to have a black supporting actress winner this year, I’d rather have it be Viola Davis or especially Cicely Tyson. What a legend and a true wonder/talent on the screen in this film. Spencer is pure comic relief with a few fleeting moments, but nothing lasting. The same can be said of Plummer, but his was an honorary oscar pure and simple. Spencer’s most certainly was not.
Sasha, have you bothered to pay attention to what happens to best actress winners under 60 these days? Helen Mirren, being over 60, is an exception to the rule as Streep likely will be too. They suffer career downspirals (Halle Berry and Nicole Kidman both have had recent films [Dark Tide and Tresspass, respectively] go straight to VOD and flop). Many have also suffered from failed marriages/relationships: Susan Sarandon, Halle Berry, Charlize Theron, Hilary Swank, Reese Witherspoon, Kate Winslet, Sandra Bullock. I, for one, would not wish this same curse on Viola Davis. Being a black woman, there are not many good parts out there for her. There used to be a few good ones for Halle Berry, but being partially white probably didn’t hurt in this superficial, shallow industry. If anything, these nominations keep her screen career afloat.
She will be black and back with a vengeance in a matter of a few years, just you watch.
Also, not to sound racist, but what’s up with the hair? I’m assuming that she’s been wearing a wig of sorts to other shows and now is presenting herself as a very non-superficial (what’s the word, again? truthful, maybe?), strong and healthy black woman.
Streep fans – just be happy and stop commenting. You all know how the editors of this site felt about Streep vs Davis. Your team won, so why come back here to attack Awards Daily when they lament David missing her chance?
Poor sportsmanship it seems.
And the Quote Meryl:
“I have everything I’ve ever dreamed of in my life. I think there’s room for other people and frankly I understand ‘Streep fatigue’ and it shocks me that it didn’t override this tonight. I was really happy, but I don’t take anything for granted, that’s for sure.”
That say it all and it is clear how much she loves and values Davis. Such a gracious woman – too bad a few of her fans are not.
It is over – lets look forward and hope someone is busy adapting ‘Fences’, cause that is all we can do.
Well, it’s been a great awards season. Glad that Meryl Streep won (last time I saw her on that stage holding the trophy I was still in college many eons ago). Viola Davis not winning isn’t a disappointment. Pulp Fiction and GoodFellas not winning are.
I guess I’ll see you all in a few months (I might visit once in a while) when everything stars all over again and I can read comments like how predictable the Oscars are (or the whole awards season is), “this is the worse year in movies ever!”, how boring the Oscar telecast was, “I’ll never watch the Oscars again!”, “Fuck Harvey Weinstein!”. Those start popping out by November, but never fail to show up (they never have. I’ve read them every year on this site).
Have a great year!!
I think Sasha is entitled, the day after the Oscars, to write her last words about the Best Actress race. Surely the fact that Streep won in a hotly-contested race doesn’t mean that we cannot discuss what happened for a few days.
Davis is incandescent, so I am sorry she lost, but I would have been sorry if Streep lost too. Someone had to win and someone had to lose. Streep was extraordinary in The Iron Lady, and it doesn’t matter a bit that the film itself is mediocre. She gave a great performance as both the younger and the older Thatcher, and it was undoubtedly a lead role, so we can hardly begurdge her the award for this performance. I would have been more upset if Streep had won for a performance that was not particularly special, or was small-ish. I’m happy that she won for this role in this movie.
And by the way … I was convinced that Davis would win. I did not even think it was close by Oscar night. I thought Davis had the love of the audience. And when her name was announced by Colin First as a nominee, the warm loud cheer she got made me quite certain that indeed she was going to win. Well, I was wrong. I’m glad there was one upset (in my mind) in the major roles.
I think the fact that Viola Davis drove The Help beyond $100m (which is a somewhat dubious claim in and of itself as there were other elements behind the film’s commercial success) is not especially relevant. I rail against any suggestion that public approval is affirmation of anything given what dominates the box-office. The Help is the only nominated Best Picture to surpass $100m (in the U.S.) because it is the most accessible film in the running. That’s not to detract from Viola’s performance but she’s been better before and will be better again.
Similarly, Jessica Chastain was better in every other film (apart from The Debt) that she appeared in last year than The Help but that’s the one she got her nomination for. The reason? It was more accessible than Tree of Life, Take Shelter, Coriolanus etc. The fact that The Help topped $100m doesn’t make its performances any better or more deserving.
Having said all of that, history won’t look kindly on Streep’s win, and speaking from a U.K. perspective, the film itself is something of an embarrassment. Davis would’ve been a preferable choice from the selection, but again, the best performances by lead actresses weren’t nominated so it would only have been a hollow victory. At least in the eyes of those that believe The Help is extraordinarily unremarkable.
This site should be re-named the Negative Nellies. How about we dump Sasha and Ryan and start our own site? Who’s up for it?
Yep, and then you’ll be writing me to ask for a link to it.
I LOVE Viola davis,love her,but i can’t be mad at Meryl’swin,i just can’t.The woman is amazing. It’s a tough place to be.
I think the fact that Viola Davis drove The Help beyond $100m (which is a somewhat dubious claim in and of itself as there were other elements behind the film’s commercial success) is not especially relevant.
Hee hee.
“Viola Davis was still a winner tonight. She doesn’t have an Oscar but she has the right stuff inside that matters.“
Of course she`s a winner. She`s a fantastic actress. If she REALLY wanted an Oscar statuette so hard, she would just go supporting (what she truly is, no matter what anyone tells me… she has basically the same screen time than Spencer and the actions showed in the film started because of Emma Stone`s character, the real lead) and would be an Academy Award winner right now. In the Tonys, she did the same thing and had a happy ending. This time no. She was brave to go lead but she just didn`t have the performance to beat Meryl Streep. She ended up giving Octavia Spencer one of the best Cinderella stories I can remember at the Oscars.
And this stuff that a part of Streep statuette is Weinstein… just like a part of No Country For Old Man (saying this because I know there are many fans of it here) success was due to the campaign its producer (the 2nd best campaigner in town) made. Same for Waltz in Basterds (it was undeniable… but does anyone think he would win without campaign). Same for Holly Hunter for example.
when THE HELP hit the theaters and there was all that talking about Viola Davis, if she was leas or supporting, everyone agreed on one thing: if she goes as supporting, she´s winning everything this season, but if she tries a leas entry, she´s likely to be nominated for oscar.
I don´t get this whine about her loss. She was great at The Help, but come on, we´re talking about the finest Meryl Streep´s performance in a long time. Every detail in her performance is remarkable.
Although, if you want to blame someone, blame on Sandra Bullock. If Meryl had won by playing Julie and Julia (what she should have, actually, if you consider only these two actress in 2009 race), Meryl would´n be rewarded two times in a row.
I enjoyed this piece and look forward to Davis winning for an outstanding role (don’t jump on me too fast, it could happen). Still want Streep to break Hepburn’s record though. Come on A:OC!
And queenstreep: you’re a puke.
Let’s declare a moratorium on charges of racism.
I loved reading your peace Sasha.
Now, someone tell me why is it all the black actresses to win supporting are “oversized”….did anybody notice?
I noticed AwardsDaily’s pick was Viola Davis, though, huh? Hindsight is 20/20, huh Sasha? I too had the feeling that Meryl would prevail when all was said and done, but I caved to the Viola pressure and picked her on my office ballot, since just about everyone was saying she should win. Turns out I should have checked Meryl. So should have you Sasha, if you just knew she was going to win.
I loved reading your peace Sasha.
^
SallyinChicago, I love that typo too.
I think this site should be shut down for a few months. I’ve never read more depressing Oscar articles than on here for the past few months (and no, I don’t need to read all positive ones all the time either). I had to unfollow you on Twitter, Sasha, because I just couldn’t read anymore about your “heartbreak” and depression this season while at the same time being all “Hey, but nobody cares, right? Right???” I don’t know if you’re writing for your regular readers or for your buddies from other Oscar sites. I know how it used to be on here. And it didn’t used to be this whole “OMG, this is all so depressing, everybody is stupid, but listen, I don’t care!” schtick.
I hope your heartbreak that has been going on for the past two awards seasons will be over soon and that next year a movie wins that you’ll be happy with. I never root for a particular movie because I know it’s not about the best of the year. Doesn’t mean I don’t care, it just means I don’t place my entire sanity and happiness on one film.
How about we dump Sasha and Ryan and start our own site?
Same thing we heard from Barney before he left to start a rival movie site.
Great article, Sasha
As some of you have said already Sasha has all the right to continue discussing this debate, it is her site after all and if you don’t like it leave. Plain and simple.
Back to the topic
I did have to ask myself last night if this will be the last time we see Streep up on the stage, or even nominated for a while. In a way it felt as though they were nominating her every year just because she didn’t win her third one….but now she finally has and that makes me wonder will we see her at the Oscars again next year. It would certainly be a crime if August: Osage County happens to be way better than The Iron Lady on every level, and she not win (or be nominated) for that role. The Academy is very fishy about handed out the statue to actors two years in a row, yet they have no problem giving the tech awards out the same people every year.
As for Viola, maybe I am being a bit negative (or realistic), which ever one you want to call me, but honestly its gonna take a lot of luck for her get back to Oscars for a third time….because Denzel Washington she is not LOL.
“Even Streep was shocked she won last night.”
You think?
And I agree about the Asian actors not getting nom’d, but China movie making needs to step up to the plate.
And can someone tell me how the Rio song got robbed by the Muppets song? Talk about highway robbery!
Can we add
Broadcast News losing to The Last Emperor
Edward Norton losing to Cuba Gooding Jr.
Tom Cruise losing to Michael Caine
Pulp Fiction losing to Forrest Gump
Julie Christie losing to Marion Cotillard
all huge snubs in my opinion
FYI: I’ve never been a rabid Streep fan, and either winning was fine with me. I thought both were very deserving. I’m just trying to illustrate the strength of the “20/20″ phenomenon. We all like to look like we’re better at predicting this stuff than we really are. I only got a score of 19 last night.
@SallyinChicago
I no longer take the Original Song category serious anymore, simply for the shit they (The Academy) pulled this year with nominating ONLY TWO songs. It was a slap in the face to the people who took their time make Original songs for these films this year. The Globes maybe a joke to people, but at lease they nominated 5 songs.
I did have to ask myself last night if this will be the last time we see Streep up on the stage, or even nominated for a while.
This year is iffy. Great Hope Springs looks like a light comedy (though it’s directed by David Frankle who did a fine job plumbing the depths in Devil Wears Prada). It’s all about the role — with enough material to chew on Meryl can elevate the crummiest movies.
2013 promises a pretty secure nomination with August: Osage County.
Furthermore, There’s no reason to think Meryl fans (inside the Academy and out) will be satisfied until she ties Katharine Hepburn’s 4 Oscars.
After that, some will want her to have more Oscars than Walt Disney and Edith Head.
Viola Davis in the Help had a supporting role. More than that she really hit one note and one note only – very good – but one note. I saw her in Doubt, The Help and Extremely Loud Incredibly close: she cries, she is emotional she is very moving but… one note, one note only. This was a very competitive year in the best leading actress category, Tilda Swinton and other great performances were left out but I feel like Viola deserved somehow the nom with the other five, even if her role was to me the weakest. Rooney Mara deserved to win, Meryl deserved to win, Glen Close deserved to win, Michelle Williams deserved to win (4 great great performances that really made their movies be what they are (leading role). I feel that The Help would have been quite the same with another good actress playing Aibileen because the character is not that difficult, it is really an empathic role like Dallas Howard is the evil one. Octavia’s Minnie and Jessica’s Celia, their scenes, to me they really make the movie more interesting. Besides The Help is an ensemble effort and I don’t see Viola Davis shining more than the others, I see Spencer and Chastain light the screen.
So, why all the momentum for Davis? Why especially here it has become a Viola against the world thing? I don’t know… sure a lot of people like Sasha were impressed by this performance but then it became something else, it became political: if Davis doesn’t win is either because the Academy is racist or because Weinstien is playing dirty for a streep win. That I don’t understand! Davis was not that undeniable great performance that must win, of that I’m sure, it is not better than at least other 6 this year. It is not Swank in Million Dollar Baby, or Firth in The King Speech, it is not Whitaker in The last king of Scotland, Monique in Precious, Hudson in Dreamgirls: it is not a role and a performance that clearly is in a league of its own compared to the other nominees. That is what I think and, by the way, even if I like arguments and discussion, I feel this year the site and Miss Stone became a little to much obsessed with this “Davis must win” thing, becoming a continuos campaigning, pushing, trying to undermine in a subtle and not so subtle way the concept that anyone else could deserve the Oscar more than Davis. It didn’t pay off, not because Davis didn’t win but because I – for example – started to read your blog less and less. I hope the site will can came back to “Sasha Stone at Awards Daily” leaving the “Sasha Weinstein for Viola Davis Nobel Prize President of the world only worth candidate” behind.
Hahaha
I love Meryl as much as the next person…..but Walt Disney she is not LOL.
The Oscars are over! Let’s PLEASE stop with this stupid Viola-Meryl discussion and just be happy for the person that won! They’re both amazing, talented actresses with many more Oscar nods on the way, k?
Olivia Coleman’s and Tilda Swinton’s performances were leagues better than Viola Davis and Meryl Streep, respectively. Those omissions are more egregious than this, quite frankly, weak attempt to cast the Academy as “racist” for not awarding Davis. Neither Davis or Streep were better than Rooney Mara’s career making turn in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (which was much better than The Social Network, and should have gotten more nominations for Fincher and the writing team).
What I don’t understand is all this flailing about Davis’s performance not winning, when her turn in Doubt was the criminally robbed one. That I could understand. What Viola did with her limited screen time should have been recognized. Davis will be back. She is too good a talent not to get recognized some day. The Help will allow her to gain traction on more substantial roles in the future. Shit, her limited work in Solaris was great.
But it is time for blunt talk:
1) I can’t help but think Ms. Davis bringing up her struggles, in regards to her incidentals (black female), in interviews helped her very much. I don’t remember, say, Mo’Nique bringing up the issue of race during her run. That was a case were the best performance did win, regardless of the other non-factors that come into play.
2) Meryl Streep was awarded based on the primary reason she beat Davis; the “overdue” factor. I hate it, personally. If you are going to give an actor an award because she/he is overdue, then give them the lifetime achievement award. It takes away from the other, more worthy nominees within the category. This was THE factor in voting above all else.
3) Playing the race card in this instance is childish. You can’t prove it, one way or the other. This is just how Sasha feels. I think it is a bunch of nonsense, but it is what it is. There is no “there” there. And to keep bringing it up continually on the site is annoying. This tribalism mindset corrodes one’s ability to look at the results objectively.
I noticed AwardsDaily’s pick was Viola Davis, though, huh? Hindsight is 20/20, huh Sasha?
If you don’t trust Sasha, then there’s no reason you would trust me either — but Sasha told me several times that she felt Meryl was going to win. And she’s on record o Twitter saying the same thing for the past 10 days.
Same way some of us kept officially predicting The Social Network to win BP last year, even though we knew in our hearts it would not.
My own predictions of the Big Bad Movie chart I have The Artist only winning 2 Oscars (Best Picture & Director, ad that’s it! ha.) As if I really thought that could ever happen? No. But my picks in all the other categories were stubborn protest votes.
Because you know why? I don’t even know how many categories I got right or wrong. I didn’t count them up because I don’t give a damn. I don’t make wagers or try to win office pools.
So when I look at somebody who guessed 22 correct next to myself who maybe got 16 right — strangely enough I do not feel humiliated. I’m not in this to be King of Predictions. I’m in to support the filmmakers I admire.
As ever Sasha a very well written piece with some great insight. I’ve never been sold on whether a win is ‘manufactured; or not and really whether that matters. The awards season is generally pretty manufactured. For me both performances were worthy as winners as Judi Dench once said “it’s just a pitty someone has to win”.
I think the bigger point you made well is how Hollywood views Black Actresses. Davis’s comments about her role in Extreamly Loud were interesting, she was drawn to the role because it wasn’t specifically written for a black actress. I do hope this will give Viola a great outlet for more meatier roles on film – she seems to be an actress with great talent and i’d like to see more of her.
It’s hard to get behind Davis not winning. Yes, she elevates a bland movie with her powerful performance, but can I say something?
First of all, I don’t know why we are complaining about Davis not winning when Tilda Swinton was ignored THREE, and I say THREE times! She was great in Julia, This is Love, and now We Need to Talk About Kevin.
Swinton does have an Oscar, but it’s a supporting and that was not for her best performance. And can we agree that Davis NOW will have the goodwill of a lifetime to someday win an Oscar (along with her talent)?
I also find is disrespectful to say that Streep could play this role blindfolded and she can do accents so to please the Academy members. Don’t you think she might like the challenge of playing someone not likable and get to play her in different stages of her life? There are a lot of crazy and disrespectful comments towards Davis as well on here, but there are a few thoughtful criticisms about your article as well. instead of dealing with those, you just argue with those idiots. I wasn’t going to write anything, but seeing Swinton gets shut out of nominations 3 times with GREAT performances really make me mad…
I have never commented on this site before, but I have been following it obsessively since the awards season began. I just want to say thanks to Sasha and Ryan for all the work that they put in just so people like me can have their awards fix.
P.S. I’m already campaigning for Django Unchained, The Dark Knight Rises, The Master, The Great Gatsby, and Lincoln for next awards season!!!
I suppose it comes down to this, you either believe in them or you don’t.
The problem is that as film fans we DO believe in them when they choose our favorites and we profess to NOT believe in them when they disappoint us. Isn’t that the same with anything in life?
Sasha has a right to feel betrayed today just as fans of Streep have a right to feel validated. What no one has a right to do is say that their opinion is the ONLY correct one.
I was elated Streep one, not because Davis lost, but because I truly felt she gave the better performance. Period. It was also a tonic to a dull ARTISTy night. And, for the record, to give Weinstein the credit diminishes her achievement. What Harvey did so well was to get Academy members to actually see the films. Perhaps if more studio heads did the same we’d have tighter races.
Sam, in your comment above, I took out the phrase about how you found Viola talking about her experience as a black actress to be “mildly nauseating.”
Because I think that looks great standing alone. Fine reflection of your personal feelings.
Let’s spotlight that, instead of burying it. When Viola Davis talks about her background as a black actress you feel “mildly nauseated.”
You should get a T-shirt and wear that across your chest.
Oh, can I have a Christopher Guest movie now? lol It’s been too long and the segment during the Academy with the usuals from a Guest movie gives me hope!
First of all, Sasha, I’m in awe that you managed to produce such a lucid piece after an insanely long day such as that. So, thank you.
I am a huge fan of both Streep AND Davis, but I’m kind of asking myself if I’m on ‘Crazy Pills’ because people feel that you are merely Streep bashing; working some kind of “agenda”. I’ve never gotten that from her. Ever.
It’s my understanding that you were sharing experiences and observations about your evening that included your take on Davis/Streep race, which seemed to be soooooo under the microscope more than any other race.
I have to confess that I’m a bit appalled, but sadly not all that surprised, at the short-sightedness by many of you from BOTH camps. How many of you were ranting and raving about “Streep was robbed AGAIN!” or “What’s it going to take for this woman, who is painfully overdue, to finally win a 3rd Oscar???” who now find yourself making similar complaints on Davis’ behalf? Are your memories that short? One impression/understanding I have about what Sasha was expressing in this piece is that Streep’s win (indisputably overdue for many YEARS) is tainted by Weinstein Machine behind it – there’s something sadly empty about it (that’s how I feel, anyway). But is that Meryl Streep’s fault? Why punish her?
I find it comical that so many of you act as if this has NEVER happened before. I suggest you go back revisit the circumstances surrounding Elizabeth Taylor’s win for “BUtterfiled 8″ at the expense of Shirley MacLaine’s performance in “The Apartment”. Now THAT is a true and embarrassing travesty (in the realm of awards anyway).
The reality is what Viola Davis experienced last night is something Meryl Streep has had to endure many times over and for a variety of reasons. And lest you think that this woman is under appreciated, trust me…she’s not. I would bet money (a LOT of it) that a great majority of you have absolutely no idea that Viola Davis won a Tony Award in June of 2010. And that was her SECOND one. Yeah, this gal’s got TWO Tony Awards on her mantle. Streep has only been nominated once. She lost.
I have a suggestion that might be a bit out there: to those of you who bemoan the possibility that Viola Davis will scant few opportunities to win a Lead Actress Oscar how’s this for an idea? Instead of incessantly bitching about it be a part of the solution and write the woman a damn script.
As Sasha so succinctly put it: The trick is not minding.
Indeed.
I gotta be honest. I don’t usually post unless i disagree with sasha or another reader on something i believe in and i let her or them know about it. I almost never post when i agree with sasha. I don’t know why. Maybe because it’s more boring posting when you agree than when you don’t. Maybe because we like to create discussions. It’s more fun. And it’s a better way to understand why other people think differently.
But tonight is different. I posted last night that it really stung with me that Davis lost. It still stings. I don’t remember when was the last time i cared so much on someone not winning. Maybe it was with Saving Private Ryan, i don’t know. But this time i really agree with sasha and i wanted to say it. I agree 100% on why Meryl won and that it wasn’t fair to Davis. It just wasn’t. Meryl fans will never understand this, i know because i’ve been on the other side. Last year i rooted for TKS and i know TSN fans will never understand that win. As i will never understand this win by Meryl.
The difference here is that if felt dirtier. Like they didn’t voted on the best performance. I know that is not always the case but this time it really did felt racial. And i just applaud sasha that she has the stones to say it out load. Everyone in the world who doesn’t follow the oscars like we do, will read today that Streep won and will say… “oh right, of course she won”, but the truth is, those of us who follow the oscars know that this year, the right woman didn’t win. Racial or not.
Congratulations Sasha and Ryan. Whether I agree with you or don’t, I’m a fan.
Davis’ performance in The Help was not especially the best made by a black woman and the same can be said of Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady in regards to white actresses. There are just not enough good parts for leading ladies, so now they appear to be dipping into supporting role pit and grabbing up winners Nicole Kidman and Kate Winslet (who, let’s face it, really won for Revolutionary Road) and now a nomination for Viola Davis.
Let’s look back in history and highlight a few very excellent performances by black women that have been overlooked:
Mariah Carey (Precious)
Viola Davis (Doubt)
Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow, Crash)
Thandie Newton (Crash)
Taraji P. Henson (Hustle & Flow, Talk to Me, Benjamin Button)
Sharon Warren, Regina King and Kerry Washington (Ray)
Jamie Foxx (Collateral)
Djimon Hounsou (In America, Blood Diamond)
Will Smith (Ali, The Pursuit of Happyness)
Jamie Foxx (Ali)
Michael Clarke Duncan (The Green Mile)
Pam Grier (Jackie Brown)
Eddie Murphy (The Nutty Professor — a great comedic role well-executed the first-time-around, Dreamgirls)
Don Cheadle (The Devil in a Blue Dress, Hotel Rwanda, Crash, Talk to Me)
Samuel L. Jackson (Jungle Fever, Pulp Fiction, A Time to Kill, Jackie Brown, Mother and Child)
Angela Bassett (What’s Love Got to Do With It)
Denzel Washington (Malcolm X, The Hurricane)
Jaye Davidson (The Crying Game)
Laurence Fishburne and Ice Cube (Boyz n the Hood)
Forest Whitaker (Bird, The Crying Game, Ghost Dog)
Morgan Freeman (Street Smart, Lean on Me)
Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey (The Color Purple)
Adolph Caeser (A Soldier’s Story)
Alfre Woodard (Cross Creek, Passion Fish, Down in the Delta)
Howard E. Rollins Jr. (Ragtime, A Soldier’s Story)
Diahann Carroll (Claudine)
Diana Ross (Lady Sings the Blues)
Cicely Tyson and Paul Winfield (Sounder)
James Earl Jones (The Great White Hope)
Ossie Davis (The Scalphunters, Do the Right Thing, Jungle Fever)
Beah Richards (Take a Giant Step, In the Heat of the Night, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner)
Ruby Dee (A Raisin in the Sun, Do the Right Thing, American Gangster)
Woody Strode (Spartacus)
Juanita Moore (Imitation of Life – 1959)
Sidney Poitier (The Defiant Ones, Raisin in the Sun, In the Heat of the Night)
Dorothy Dandridge (Bright Road, Carmen Jones, Porgy and Bess)
Ethel Waters (Pinky)
James Baskett (Song of the South – he won a special Oscar, but not an official acting Oscar)
Louise Beavers (Imitation of Life – 1934)
“The reality is what Viola Davis experienced last night is something Meryl Streep has had to endure many times over and for a variety of reasons. And lest you think that this woman is under appreciated, trust me…she’s not. I would bet money (a LOT of it) that a great majority of you have absolutely no idea that Viola Davis won a Tony Award in June of 2010. And that was her SECOND one. Yeah, this gal’s got TWO Tony Awards on her mantle. Streep has only been nominated once. She lost.”
Are you really comparing the Tony’s to the Oscars? Ask any living actor today if they would exchange 5 Tonys for 1 Oscar and be surprise at the results. Be serious.
In the spirit of Twihards – I’m Team Sasha
@devil’s advocate
People on here are not bitching, but simply stated FACTS. You do know that it takes more than writing a script for a actress to get nominated for a Oscars, right? These actress are not winning Oscars on their own merit, it takes a whole team, hence them getting up on the stage and thanking their whole TEAM after a win. So yea If I could write a great script, produce, Direct and profit a film, I would. So for right now I will improvise and use what I have instead….my voice, my opinion.
Okay enough already – clean the slate. Clear the boards. Oscars 2012/13. Let’s begin.
GONE FISHIN’ — BACK IN 6 MONTHS!
Meryl either won or did better than Viola with BAFTA, the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Golden Globes, the London Critics Circle, the National Society of Film Critics, the New York Film Critics, and the Southeast Film Critics. Viola either won or did better than Meryl with the Satellite Awards, the Broadcast Film Critics and SAG.
Is Harvey the only reason that Meryl won all those awards. I don’t kid myself that no critics are corrupt, but did Harvey really orchestrate all of Meryl’s critics awards? If he’s that all-powerful, why didn’t he get her the SAG award?
Meryl won. As she said, to the people who have a problem with it, “Whatever.”
Have the abysmal ratings been revealed yet?
I, too, was rooting for Viola Davis to win, and even though I admire Streep, I was disappointed that she won. I appreciate Sasha’s commentary, and I think it’s spot on with regards to Viola Davis’ chances in the future. I don’t believe a black actress has ever been nominated twice for Lead Actress. Only two black actresses have been nominated more than once (Viola for Supporting Actress 2008 and Lead Actress 2011, Whoopi Goldberg
for Lead Actress 1985 and winner of Supporting Actress 1990). I too believe that it’s going to be very, very difficult for Viola to get another nomination, which is partly why I wanted her to win last night. If she does get another nomination, I doubt it will be in Lead Actress, but rather in Supporting Actress. Great Oscar winning Lead Actress roles for black actresses are so few and far in between, it’s embarrassing.
I personally thought Streep should have won the Lead Actress Oscar in 2008 for Doubt as I felt that performance was better than Kate Winslet’s supporting role in The Reader. However, that year, Kate Winslet was considered to be “due.” It’s a shame that the Oscars had to award Sandra Bullock in 2009 (really, one of the worst decisions in recent years), and I would rather have had the Academy award Streep then (even for what I saw as a bad performance based on mimicry in a terrible movie with a horrid script) just to get past the “Streep is so due” claim. Then Viola would likely have been the winner last night, or maybe not. Maybe the Oscar would have gone to Michelle Williams, who better fits the most common demographic of the Lead Actress Oscar winner – the young, pretty white actress winning for the first time in her 20′s or 30′s in a Cinderella-ish ending to the award season.
The Academy had been setting up for Streep’s win last night for decades. It’s like all those nominations after Sophie’s Choice were “consolation prizes” for not winning a 2nd Lead Actress Oscar (“we’ll give you the
acting nomination record, but not a 2nd Lead Actress Oscar”). Then they wised up and realized they would never get rid of the elephant in the room (the “Meryl Streep is so due again” opinions that came up almost annually every time she was nominated until she actually won that 2nd Lead Actress Oscar), and finally caved in last night.
However, it is one big popularity contest, and I watch every year with a grain of salt and a headache afterwards. I don’t take it too seriously in the end, otherwise, I would be driven insane everytime someone like Helen Hunt, Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Roberts, Tom Hooper, or Sandra Bullock won an Oscar.
I agree Deena!
Everyone needs to calm down.
You is kind
You is important
Maybe it’s because I’m young, but I feel out of touch with this whole debate. ROONEY should have had more buzz.
I found Rooney Mara’s performance FAR better than Viola Davis’s. As I haven’t seen The Iron Lady, I really shouldn’t comment on who’s performance was best, but between Davis and Mara, I was shocked all the awards seemed to be going to Davis.
I honestly don’t see the race issue here. I think people just love to hate what’s popular, and Davis was certainly very popular this awards season.
@TB – First of all, I really liked the comment you made following my post. I am a bit disappointed, however, that it appears you failed to see that I was merely making a point by bringing up Davis’ Tony history. I wasn’t implying that one award has more merit or value than the other, the opinion of which is completely subjective. Personally, I feel it’s far more difficult to pull off 8 performances a week than it is to make one film where a performance can be “fine tuned” in the editing room. Viola Davis is among the very few who can be regarded as masterfully proficient in both mediums. (Hint: we’re basically on the same side)
@Steve – A) You mentioned female performances, but mention both sexes. B) Please define “overlooked” because your list is LITTERED with nominated performances…of both genders.
FYI, nothing more:
The bottom 10, least-seen best picture winners in American movie history (adjusted for inflation):
10. The Last Emperor ($89 million)
9. It Happened One Night ($86 million)
8. No Country for Old Men ($85 million)
7. Marty ($70 million)
6. Crash ($67 million)
5. An American in Paris ($65 million)
4. Hamlet(1948) ($61 million)
3. All the King’s Men (1949) ($60 million)
2. The Artist ($32 million so far)
1. The Hurt Locker ($17 million)
A serious disconnect between moviegoers and the Academy, none more pronounced than in 2 of the last 3 years. Source:
http://www.pajiba.com/box_office_round-ups/the-10-lowest-grossing-best-picture-winners-of-all-time-adjusted-for-inflation.php
Unfortunately we don’t know how close the race really was. Maybe only ONE vote has made the difference.
We’ll never know….
I don’t want to comment further on this, though I understand why people are dissapointed Viola has lost.
I myself was truely convinced she has that in the bag, after her SAG win.
She had everything going for her that Meryl hadn’t.
For example when Weinstein send this campaign E-Mails and announced A:OC is finally ready to be made, I thought it was over for Meryl completely.
I hate this stupid “next time” thing. I.HATE.IT.
I’m really really glad that damn thing is finally OVER and she prooved that she did not needed to be in a BP nom to win, that she did not need to work with a “great” director (although I don’t have anything against Lloyd-I love MM! and I don’t think TIL will dissapoint me either), who she HAD worked over the years and they brought her nowhere and most of all, she did not had to top Sophie’s Choice, wich I really think is just not possible.
It’s done now.
Look forward to this years awards season. Meryl-free.
But it’s hard to know what drives anyone to want to go to the Oscars, particularly, especially if they don’t have to.
It’s a shame you have to go to these things if you dislike them that much. It seems like it would be fun. Maybe next year, you can send Ryan in your place.
@j84
I agree with everything you said, wholeheartedly. You took the words out of my mouth.
I must say that I finally got around to seeing The Iron lady and My Week With Marilyn a few days ago, and I am shocked that Williams didn’t win. Williams was soooo hypnotic as Marilyn, like you couldn’t take your eyes off of her for a second, unfortunately the movie itself felt rushed.
I’ve grown to love this site and Sasha’s articles. The fact that we can disagree on certain things makes it all the more interesting. And regardless of how vehemently she vouched for Davis rather than Streep all the while reminding us how performance means little, race means everything in this category, I will continue to visit/comment/appreciate this site. It really is excellent work.
I can understand the disgruntled Davis supporters if they honestly and genuinely thought her performance was better than Streep’s in TIL. But being so angry at not awarding Davis because of her race and the little chance she’ll have in the future for being lead, making it seem like Streep won only because of Harvey Weinstein, etc. that’s quiet sad to read. Not to mention Sasha’s comment on how she hates Streep now, only because of a handful of maniacle fans. I hope that’s not actually true and is only the steam talking.
Best moments, apart from Streep winning which is quiet honestly the best Oscar moment I’ve yet experienced (first time I see her winning live), are Dragon Tattoo shocking in Editing, Plummer’s speech and Emma Stone, Chris Rock and Robert Downey Jr. as presenters. Chris Rock KILLED IT.
I’m curious about people’s reading of Charles McNulty’s criticism of Streep at http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-oscars-streep-20120226,0,562325.story . “The virtuosic ‘Iron Lady’ star is stuck in two self-parodying modes of late: impersonating a character quite unlike herself or playing one who bears a teasing resemblance to her starry self.”
I’m really curious about why the early criticism of Streep as being too clinical has morphed into such wide praise for her as the best actress ever. Does our generation love Streep simply because we’ve grown up with her? I assume Pauline Kael et al. didn’t like Streep because she wasn’t an old-fashioned “movie star” actress. But if we’ve grown up with Streep as our model, then we compare all other actresses to her, without considering whether she has any weaknesses or flaws as an actress.
Are so many people Streep fans because she’s what *we* know of movie acting? And is McNulty correct that she’s over-rated?
Viola Davis should have been put in supporting where she most likely would have won (sorry, Spencer) instead of going for lead, which some would say was greedy on the part of the film even though it was incredibly generous with respect to Spencer.
The difference with Nicole Kidman and Marlon Brando was that they were unquestionably leads in their storylines, regardless of their screentime. Of course, we all figured Davis would win based on momentum and superiority of film anyway, but who knows if they ever would have given it to her over the Harvey campaign for Meryl playing a difficult and unquestionably commanding lead role.
She may never win lead, but hopefully she’ll get good dramatic parts and one year the competition won’t be strong. I hope she does. She’s obviously a great actor. She just needs another great value. And yeah, I’ll say it, it’ll “help” if the role isn’t another passive, humble, maid-like character lacking in personality.
Whoopi won it for Ghost partly as payback, and partly because, even if some would say she was playing herself, there was a lot of personality and scene-stealing there. Spencer was the scene-stealer in The Help, but I wouldn’t have awarded her and not Davis for the same movie.
I just hope in 30 years we won’t look at this as another Color Purple snub (sorry, I enjoyed The Help a lot more than many of the other nominees, but it’s not The Color Purple and Viola Davis didn’t do what Whoopi Goldberg did). I hope we won’t feel that this was an inherently racist vote. I just hope we can look back and forgive the Academy for giving it to Meryl for such a disappointing film.
This is beautiful, Sasha.
@MKing – Of course it takes a team. Film is an ENORMOUSLY collaborative business. However, as most people will say it starts with a script. Just sayin’…
Can we please get back on topic now?
Sorry, meant to write, “She just needs another great ROLE.”
Sasha…..such a great article I really agree with it all. I didnt think I agreed on the fact that Davis should have won til last night….when Streep actually won it hit me. 17 nominations? in fact, i dont doubt that all five of the women last night will have at least 5 or 6 chances at the Oscars by the time their careers are over. Because your right, they make these roles for white leads. How can anyone on here deny that when these roles are handcrafted for white women. Just think about it for a moment….seriously. Because I used to be on here saying to myself, “Oh shut up Sasha, It’s just about the performance nothing more”. But looking at those five women last night and realizing one was nominated for being a maid…and she is the also the black woman of the bunch…That’s just not right. Davis is a great actress and she should be able to get any role that she wants, just like any other woman. Not saying her role in the help was bad, she was a powerful woman and Im happy she played her and she should have won. However, in her next movie I truly hope she has a role that is made for oscars just like Michelle and Meryl had this year, yet she wont. Because black actors and actresses dont get that kind of treatment. Oh and fuck the weinsteins by the way. They are literally ruining movies in this century. And Hugo should have took Best Picture, Yeah The Artist was great, but that movies plot said, “Talkies are better than silent films we should move on from it”. So yeah it was great to see it nominated, but for it to win? Its like slapping Scorsese in the face.
@ Nik Grape – Bravo. Well put.
Viola Davis in the Help had a supporting role.
Right. Um. Covered this already, over and over again. Nicole Kidman, Marlon Brando. Must we continue?
Oh, I almost forgot. You know what I actually DO want to bitch about??? How can “The Artist” win for Original Score when it included such a sacrilegious and blatant rip-off of Bernard Hermann’s score from “Vertigo”? Original indeed. WTF???
I noticed AwardsDaily’s pick was Viola Davis, though, huh?
I felt Meryl was going to win at BAFTA. I had championed Davis and hoped she would prevail from day one. The Iron Lady SUCKED BIG HAIRY BALLS. Streep should never have won for that performance in that film. But whatever. Streep fans get to have their day. Yay, lucky them.
@devil’s advocate
Of course it starts with a great script, no one is discounting that part, but it’s also about who you know and how popular you are, as well. Trust me, this is coming from somebody who was elected class president over people I felt was more qualified than me. Hell, Pariah had a great script, even Night Catches Us, had a great script but that didn’t help Anthony Mackie, Adepero Oduye, or Kerry Washington, did it? Just Sayin
If she REALLY wanted an Oscar statuette so hard, she would just go supporting
Ugh. Must we yet again?
Im glad that Meryl STreep won because she was impressive in a very BAD movie. And she was clearly the lead character and got the time to showcase her talent, skills and character the most. Davis was good, but should have had more screen time. The Help is an ok movie.
The race issue: I think that a small movie like The Help with a B.O over 160 million dollars, says alot about that race is still an on going case in 2012. Harvey Weinstein did campaign for both of them and Weinstein won.
I believe now that Streep will not be nominated for a couple of years making other actresses like Sarandon, Weaver, Keaton, Pfeiffer etc to shine, hopefully.
I also believe that Viola Davis will me nominated again cause she is such a strong and talented actress.
I believe in talent no matter the colour of the skin. But the whole presidential hollier than O’ campaign going on in the US when it comes to Oscars, worries me alot.
Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore, Glenn Close, Sigourne Weaver, Michelle Pfeiffer, Judi Dench, Naomi Watts, Tilda Swinton, Samantha Morton are all talented white women who has yet to win any Oscar or to win the best actress award. Blanchett and Swinton dont care about getting another one. The others? Im not so sure
@devil’s advocate
And when I say who you know that can a be said for that person team as well. What top name actor or director will slap his/her name on the project as a “executive producer”. Even Spencer knew that she had to thank Spielberg for being a part of the help. because ultimately you have to be foolish to not believe that his input don’t somewhat influence the academy members, or people who go see these films. Do you understand what i am trying to say? I am not trying to bash my opinion on you, but just let you see where I am coming from, my side of the fence so to speak.
Just want to give a special shoutout to Nic V for his/her insightful comment above. It’s fine to feel passionately about the Oscar race one way or the other, but the trick is not only not minding; the trick is understanding how they think, how they justify their choices both in terms of what they film and what they award.
And in other news, there’s still a recession, Eurozone crisis, Iran with nuclear weapons…
Get a grip people.
(Or maybe I am just too content cause Meryl won
So, what kind of lead roles do you think Ms. Davis could play?
I don’t want to write a long screed or anything. It’s your site and do what you will with it. But if it’s all about “supporting the filmmakers [you] admire,” as Sasha and Ryan say it is, then why even concentrate on the Oscars as a theme for this site? Why not just convert it into a movie review site and forget all about these awards seasons? Clearly, concentrating your pro-film agenda around this awards-themed framework is making you each quite cynical in ways I don’t even think you can detect. I think the reason you guys DO concentrate on the Oscars, however, is because this is where you somehow found your niche–in the industry, in the press, on the web, and financially (I hope to God you guys are making some money off this enterprise). In other words, you’re dancing with the one that brung ya…
But if you hate the Oscars so much, why are you trying to change them? If you REALLY hated them, you guys would be passionless and indifferent. Indifference is the true opposite of love. No, I think you love the Oscars, but you want them to be what YOU want them to be. But you’re trying to achieve this how? By writing articles? Ain’t gonna happen that way–you have to know this, right? People have been writing articles about how unfair the Oscars are for YEARS, and it hasn’t had one iota of effect on how much “fairness” has seeped into the process.
I’m with Mik in being astonished at how you guys have gotten so bent out of shape over this awards process, and yet you get cash and opportunities to interview great people and you get to go and get insider views of the awards that many of us would die to join in on, yet we’re supposed to be heartened by this fact that you hate every minute of the process. It does lead me to question why I should care what anyone who hates what they’re reporting on has to say ABOUT said reportage. I guess they’re a lot of political writers who hate politics, but keep writing about the subject because they’re hoping to change the world…or maybe it’s just because it’s the business they’ve found themselves mired in.
Maybe all this emotive drumming up is designed to keep people coming back to the site day in and day out. I mean, that’s the only thing I can see you guys are getting out of it. You don’t like the awards, you like movies (just not the ones usually nominated/awarded Oscars), I don’t think you care for people with opinions that differ from yours (or you guys wouldn’t be so quick to answer back, often insultingly—though you have every right to do so, to nice people and especially to those who call you names and, I guess, offend your values). I think a lot of these “dramas” these past few awards seasons have been, to some extent, cooked up by you in order to drive more hits to the site. I mean, I HAVE to think that. Because, if all this effort you guys are putting forth is not enriching your soul, then it must be enriching your bank account. At least I hope it is, because the only other option is that you’re both insane.
Sasha:
On a different note: From one huge Hugo/Scorsese admirer to another, was there any moment at all – - say, after winning 5 and seeing Editing go to TGWTDT, when you thought Marty might pull it off?
I’m with Mik in being astonished at how you guys have gotten so bent out of shape over this awards process, and yet you get cash and opportunities to interview great people and you get to go and get insider views of the awards that many of us would die to join in on
Then go do it, buddy! What’s stopping you. If I could do it you can do it and you can join the hundreds of other reporters and bloggers who cover the Oscars as YOU WOULD PREFER THEY DO. How about: you tend to your garden and I will tend to mine. Does that work for you? Go elsewhere if you don’t like the content.
This all reminds me of that line from Annie Hall about the awful food at the fat farm…”And such small portions.”
I think that’s why Sasha, Ryan and readers keep going because yes the Oscars are frustrating as anything, and the journey is a treacherous one…but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
I just wish Sasha had a paypal link on her site.
The error of their waves? Waves don’t make errors. I know it was probably late…but just saying.
I loved the help and Viola is wonderful but aside from the Harvey machine, Meryl gave the best performance of the bunch. Viola was deserving too. All five women gave something worthy of recognition but Meryl wasn’t just the lead female in ITL, she was the whole movie. It rested on her shoulders and it couldn’t live without her. Viola Davis was great in a very emotional performance but the virtuosity with which Streep played that role will stay with me for a long long long time (Something as simple as her telling Dennis “Too much butter” in the first 10 minutes of the film is still with me all those weeks later)
I don’t care that The Iron Lady was not as good as the help. I care that the best actress gave the best performance and elevated a so so film to the level of a master class. I’m not just talking impersonation, I’m talking honesty. I got where she was. I got the old lady in body language and lost spirit. I got the young prime minister in her hideous need to get her way and be right all the time at all costs and her recognition of the kind of monster that made her. I saw the push and pull and I was sold. It was more than just the voice and the mannerisms, it was the conflict that was present at every moment of a woman who realized that at every point in her life, she never quite fit in with her reality. The movie didn’t do that. Meryl Streep did… pretty much all by herself.
There were three great performances in The Help, none of which were truly lead, all three were nominated, one won and the rest got to be runners up. It’s OK.
And comparing the Hours which was three separate stories that are related in theme and structure to the Help which took place in the same time and space continuum is comparing apples to oranges but yes even there, Oscar politic played a role. Julianne Moore didn’t want to go lead because she had another movie she wanted to champion for that, Meryl Streep was completely snubbed and Nicole Kidman (who yes had the shortest screen time in the whole film) was the lead in her own story and was the entire driving force behind the themes of the film) was pushed into lead and won… leading or supporting is as arguable in this case as Kate Winslet in the Reader, which I argued endlessly was supporting (because she lived in the same world as the lead character and had much less to do with the direction of the story itself than he did plus I thought Hannah had half an arc at best.) and yet she was seen as the lead female and that was enough for the Oscars.
It happens all the time but often it happens when the woman is the absolute lead female, which Viola Davis wasn’t. And yet, I’m not crying foul over her nomination. I am just saying that I can watch the help and love it as I did and yet still have to admit that the Iron Lady wasn’t a film with Meryl Streep in it (Such as adaptation… where she was the biggest female role) It was all Meryl Streep. From “Too Much Butter” down to the last second Dennis walks off into the Abyss.
Sasha – do you honestly think anyone would of been complaining that Davis was lead if they actually put her in the supporting category instead?
The hate you have for The Iron Lady is well known, but the category was for performance, not film. Though it’s probably the last thing you want to do right now, I hope in the future you give the movie another chance to see the performance Streep won for again.
Sasha – do you honestly think anyone would of been complaining that Davis was lead if they actually put her in the supporting category instead?
It’s a silly notion. She was the lead. If she were a white actress we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
I’m really glad this piece was written, because in between the rote star-fucking and the snark-fests, it captures this honest wistfulness I rarely see in film coverage.
The funniest thing about these comments are the people who declare they’ll never read or comment on this site again or go off and start their own Oscar site. Like someone’s going to beg them to stay.
Really great piece, Sasha.
I’m of two different minds with the Best Actress race this year.
The system is rigged against black actresses. And, while awarding Viola Davis for making the most out of a part and propping up a black actress in an industry that almost scowls at them, it would have been nice to see her shine. But, I don’t blame the Academy for not taking the affirmative action approach. On some level, it would have been. But, the industry has to change first. And, we’re all complicit in supporting the flawed industry, because we personally involve ourselves in the awards ceremony which congratulates it. It is a vicious cycle. And we’re part of it.
But, it’s not just black actresses. It’s actresses of all colors. Even with Streep, women still get the short end of the stick. As bad as black actresses have it, Hispanic women aren’t doing much better (one could argue they are neck in neck, or one is marginally more fortunate than the other). Asian women have it much worst. So do Asian men.
So, while black women in lead roles didn’t step forward last night, there are plenty of other minorities who didn’t even have the opportunity to lose to Streep.
Streep, like you alluded, played the game. She did it quite well and she did it with class. Yes, she is going to have a career until, well, Sasha, I’m going to disagree with you and say she’ll continue to have a career to well after she can’t speak. She’s a magician and she’ll figure out how to turn it into her advantage. She’ll even probably figure out a way to turn out a performance or two from beyond the grave. Did she need another Oscar? No. Did she hands-down deserve the win? No, not on all accounts. Did she earn it? Hell, yeah, she did.
Was this race about race? Only if we make it so.
Thank you for sharing this writeup.
Did my comment just got deleted because I disagreed with you? I said nothing even remotely inppropriate
@bebe – Grace Kelly in Rear Window – when will I see you again? – answer “Not for a long time. At least…not until tomorrow night!”
_____________________
Sorry for the multiple posts. Just feeling rather punch drunk after staying up to watch Oscars at 1am – then straight to work!
“If she were a white actress we wouldn’t be having this discussion.”
If Virginia Woolf had been black, we WOULD be having this discussion … just like we did in the lead-up to Kidman’s win.
If Skeeter had been “black” (which is logistically absurd, but I digress), we wouldn’t be having this discussion, because the film version of her was clearly in the driver’s seat.
“‘I’m with Mik in being astonished at how you guys have gotten so bent out of shape over this awards process, and yet you get cash and opportunities to interview great people and you get to go and get insider views of the awards that many of us would die to join in on…’
Then go do it, buddy! What’s stopping you. If I could do it you can do it and you can join the hundreds of other reporters and bloggers who cover the Oscars as YOU WOULD PREFER THEY DO. How about: you tend to your garden and I will tend to mine. Does that work for you? Go elsewhere if you don’t like the content.”
I notice you addressed only that ONE part of my note to you; it’s so weird how you guys take for granted your readers; I guess you think like any corporation does—hey, if we lose one, another one will come up to replace them. Unless they were directly insulting me, I would never treat visitors who disagreed with me at my site like you do your imagined “foes” here.
Without going too deep into it, I already cover that part of the film industry that makes me happy. If I hated, say, going to the NY Film Fest every year, believe me, I wouldn’t go. But I love it, and reporting on it makes me happy (even if there’s no real paycheck at the end). My question is simple: if you hate doing this, why do you do it? Can you answer that for me?
It’s a silly notion. She was the lead. If she were a white actress we wouldn’t be having this discussion.
I’m not so sure. Winslet was clearly not lead in The Reader and she won for it but many, including me, were crying Category Fraud, and she’s as white as can be. Point is, the lead/supporting category fraud debate has nothing to do with Davis’ race. I agree with you that she was the lead in The Help, if I had to choose one I’d choose her. But if someone tried to make a case that Emma Stone was the lead, I wouldn’t be able to fight them too much on it because there’s a good case to be made there.
slim, I don’t want to discuss something in the comments about a comment that got canned because it was off-key. defeats the whole purpose of trying to keep things civil.
your comment implies something that’s pretty crude. if you don’t see it, email me and I’ll explain to you one-to-one, ok?
ryanadams.AD@gmail.com
If Skeeter had been “black” (which is logistically absurd, but I digress), we wouldn’t be having this discussion, because the film version of her was clearly in the driver’s seat.
That’s a matter of perspective. I thought that the first time I saw it but changed my mind the second time. The Help is clearly about both of them – they are co-leads. As Davis herself points out, in the novel much of what happens to Aibilene is internal. Not external and that’s hard to put on screen. But whatever. Maybe she should have worn a fake nose and been a tall thin redhead?
Meryl Streep won on merit. A plurality in the Academy was mesmerized by her towering performance and had no other choice than to vote for her as the year’s best actress in a leading role.
@ MKing – With utmost sincerity, I truly understand and appreciate what you are saying in response to my posts. I do, however, feel that “our dialogue” veered off-track from my original intent which was to merely encourage those who were whining for the sake of whining (and with nothing intelligent to back it up…and I’m by no means implying that’s you) to be “part of a solution”. At the end of the day, I’m neither gloating that Streep won nor ready to slit my wrists because Davis lost. Rather, I’m inviting people to participate in a heated dialogue more constructively, regardless of viewpoint, because all the vitriolic and facile negativity can be so exhausting and ultimately boring. I hope this makes sense.
Ryan, it didn’t imply anything. To say that some people are calling Viola Davis’ performance supporting only because she isn’t white implies that those people are being racist. Pure and simple. And it’s not necessarily true. That’s all I said.
You wanna just delete comments because you don’t like them then there is nothing I can do to stop you but then you’re being unfair in a way that is completely unproductive. I didn’t use any foul language, lie or call anyone names or even say something racist myself.
God ahead…delete away.
Dean Pelton from “Community”* is now a Oscar winner. Maybe NBC should aired the episodes already filmed with this buzz (“See the final episodes of a Tv series with an Oscar winner in a Supporting Role”), ha, ha.
* tie-up with “30 Rock” as the second funniest and cooleste american TV series comedy nowadays. The first place belong, of course, to “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia”.
“That’s a matter of perspective.” Very true, very true. I can’t remember if you read the book or not, but I feel I’m prejudiced, because I read the book and Skeeter, Aibileen and Minnie were all treated equally in the novel.
In the film, however, I feel that Aibileen and Minnies’ stories were comprised in the translation, where Skeeter got the full treatment (and for that matter, the white Celia Foote). The film failed to capture a great detail of Aibileen and Minnie’s albeit internal lives, which would have sold them more as leads. While I understand the decision to pare down Minnie’s role, the movie could have been much more effective at fleshing out Aibileen, namely the connection she had to her dead son. I didn’t get enough of a sense of the relationship she had to him that was SO integral to her character’s being. That’s all. I ultimately still see Aibileen as a lead in the film, but she’s still in a grey area for me. The film could have done a better job at making it clear that her character’s story was equal to Skeeter’s as far as relevancy. I don’t believe that movie accomplished that.
“compromised” Feel free to correct. Sorry.
Well, that’s it for me on reading this thread. Need to get on with my life.
Hoepfully Sasha and Ryan, et.al will return to their discussions of other years. Loved hearing that.
@Adam, lol!
it’s so weird how you guys take for granted your readers; I guess you think like any corporation does—hey, if we lose one, another one will come up to replace them. Unless they were directly insulting me, I would never treat visitors who disagreed with me at my site like you do your imagined “foes” here.
Ryan and I have to deal with this every year. We say the same things every year. We delete comments every year. We don’t tolerate bullshit. Sorry, but it’s our right.
Sasha, I’ve been following your site from day one, and if you remember, back in the early days, around 2002-2005, I even wrote a few columns for your site that you posted. I’m with you all the way on so many things, and this as well. Your insightful thoughts I continue to enjoy (I never miss a state of the race), and thank you for sharing them despite your disillusionment with the process, but isn’t that what makes us keep coming back? So it’s been two years straight with this… last year the social network, this year viola davis. Ah but remember 2007… the year of No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood??? Sometimes they get it right. But honestly, even if neither of those films were even nominated, they’d still be my top 2 from that year, and Into the Wild #3 despite its actual performance. This year the film that rose above all the rest for me was Tree of Life. I knew there was no way that it would get nominated, let alone win, but it did and I’m glad for that. But if it didn’t, it’s still the crowning achievement for this year for me (and I know not for you but isn’t that what makes art grand?). I don’t even know what I’m writing at this point Sasha other than the fact that Cubs fans keep coming back to Wrigley Field despite the anger and disappointment that each season inevitably brings. Why? Because they love the game. Our game is film, we love the game, and I hope you come back next season my friend (that I haven’t e-mailed back and forth with for years).
I thought one of the best parts of the night was George Kuchar actually getting included in the In Memorium section, very classy of the Academy. However its a shame that Michael Gough and Tura Satana were not included, and I hope that Erland Josephson gets included next year.
@JIM
I thought they should have mentioned Damien Bona, too. I mean he wasn’t actually in movies but he did an amazing job collecting and recounting Oscar History. If it wasn’t for him and Mason Wiley, a lot of us would never have found our Oscar passion.
When Meryl won I jumped off my couch and said “Yes!”
I was actually pretty happy with the Oscars overall (although I think all the technical love for Hugo was a bit much–Cinematography and Art Direction, REALLY?)
I was fine with Octavia Spencer winning for The Help because I agree with Sasha there is a huge difference between lead Actress wins and Supporting Actress wins. But it is 2012, Oscars should not be going to Black women for playing maids, period. That is why, although I would have been fine with Viola winning, I don’t want her to win for playing a maid. I want her to win for playing Shirley Chisholm, or Barbara Jordan in a bio-pic (or Flying Spsghetti Mnster forbid, even Condoleezza Rice).
Meryl has given the best performance of the year by an Actress at least a half-dozen times (maybe double that) and been denied the Oscar due to some other reason. That is why, people like me, who are Black and love the Oscars and love Viola Davis, yelled “Yes!” and jumped off the couch when Meryl won and Viola “lost”
I just read Dean Treadway’s comments, and he eloquently expresses a great deal of what was on my mind, but I was unable to articulate.
“Sasha – do you honestly think anyone would of been complaining that Davis was lead if they actually put her in the supporting category instead?
It’s a silly notion. She was the lead. If she were a white actress we wouldn’t be having this discussion.“
Don`t know if I got it right but…. Jennifer Conelly? A LOT of people complained that she was the lead but went supporting to make things easier. The SAG actually put her lead. Catherine Zeta-Jones? Co-lead… the Globes put her as lead.
@Mike, thanks! Nice to hear from you, old friend. I remember you from the old days. Didn’t I used to post your stories?
My comment is being altered by the site’s owner because the comment was deemed hateful and repulsive.
Sasha-
Do you truly, honestly think it’s fair to call Streep’s acheivement something that she could have “pulled off blindfolded and drugged half-to-death?” COME ON. What vantage point are you looking from? Just over a year or so ago, you wrote the most beautiful, impassioned profile on Streep’s behalf. It hardly seems fair to make such a sour, mean-spirited comment. It is obvious to anyone who saw The Iron Lady, a movie I didn’t care for, that Streep put in a herculean amount of effort and transformed herself beyond any measure — and for you to belittle her un-debatable skill and hard work as something so crass, to be done in her sleep, without much effort, etc., which is exactly what you are suggesting, shows that you are completely out of touch with the art of acting, period. It’s rude, insulting to Streep and as low as you accuse the Streep fans of being.
Viola Davis was wonderful in The Help — extraordinarly moving. But you slinging unfair mud at the artistry of Meryl Streep, which is not negotiable, is lousy.
And of course comes Melanie Laurent in Inglorious Basterds, who delivered one of the finest female performances in 2009. It`s exactly Viola`s case but Laurent was not well known… She was campaigned lead and I think many people preferred to see her campaigned as supporting, where her chances were better to get nominated. The lead in Basterds, as the lead in The Help is not a showy role (Brad Pitt and Emma Stone).
@sasha yes you did! those were good times, you even hooked me up with an interview with adam duritz once with the shrek 2 nomination… good times! well now i’m teaching high school world history, but still your resident reader and cinephile.
Personally, I am glad that this year is over and that there will be a clean slate for next season. While I do agree with many that Meryl’s performance was not her best, she still is a marvel to watch. Same with Davis, this year was just not her time and she will get her due because she is respected in the industry and people in the industry tend to reward that, race issue aside. Wonderful that Meryl won and commiserations to Viola and she will be back at this stage in the future, whether it be in a few years or in a few decades, we’ll see.
Sasha and Ryan, do please take a vacation when the aftermath settles the rubble. While I applaud your opinions and your willingness to voice them out (one of the reasons why I visit this site year after year), I think you have ignored the mantra of this site which is ‘The Trick is Not Minding’, something that’s been brewing since last year with TKS vs. TSN. Many of the articles and comments made here recently in AD have left a bitter taste in my mouth, but i do understand where you are coming from, as well as many of the readers. I know Hollywood and the Oscars can be frustrating but that is the nature of the beast, unfortunately. Howling at the wind about the ‘Race Card’ will not change now but it is changing, albeit slowly. Its worse when a minority is mentioned. When it comes down to it, all it takes is one good story in a time when the universe is in alignment and the Academy will eventually recognize and award another black actor/actress or actor of another race. I’m still wishing for the day to see Don Cheadle win since I’ve been watching his work since his TV days in Picket Fences. I still live in hope that someone will give Taraji P. Henson another Oscar-worthy role since she was wonderful in Benjamin Button. Is it wishful thinking to want an Asian like Rinko Kikuchi get recognized again?
Back to my point, both of you need to stop for a while and clear your heads. When the new season comes, hopefully all the negativity that’s been brewing in this site has been exorcised and both of you can resume working with less baggage to carry and be more focused on what you love about about Oscar-watching. 2011 was not the greatest for movie history and hopefully 2012 will be better.
Viola Davis was wonderful in The Help — extraordinarly moving. But you slinging unfair mud at the artistry of Meryl Streep, which is not negotiable, is lousy.
I have no problem calling Streep’s best performances her best. But it’s hard to get behind such a carefully orchestrated Oscar-bait role like this one. I know to you guys you’re happy she finally got the free throw that would be an easy slam dunk but for me…well…I wanted Davis to win where the win would have meant something more than business as usual in Hollywood. Come on, even Streep fans have to see that.
Of all the years when Meryl was so deserving to win – the Academy chooses this year when perhaps the most substantive lead performance by an African-American actress since Sounder in 1972 – to give her the overdue third Oscar. Of course its gonna lead to cries of racism. When the average age of an Academy member is 62, comprised of 77% men who are 88% white – how many of them actually even watched a film about the plight of black maids in the deep soutn in the 60′s. Not that they watched Meryl’s performance either but they knew she portayed Margret Thatcher and checked her name readily. ( Maybe this is why in recent years so many people have won for impersonations rather than performances, the sreeners just gather dust and the famous or notorious portrayl wins.)Like Brokeback Mountain’s snub a few seaons ago – its not so much the Academy’s bigotry showing but the collective cultural indifference of a bunch of old white guys. And Meryl will be back in 2013 and probably win again for August Osage County.
JP >> You could argue that A Beautiful Mind was Crowe’s story. You could even argue that Chicago (the movie) was Roxie’s story (it’s told through her eyes, for one). You could further argue that The Help was Skeeter and Aibileens’ stories. But, with The Help, there is slightly more ambiguity.
But, I don’t believe if Skeeter was “black” and Aibileen was “white,” the conversation would be any different as far as clear lead vs. ambiguous lead. The conversation would be the same. Race has nothing to do with it.
However, the bigger debate would be if Aibileen had been “white,” would Davis be getting the push that she got.
One thing remains certain (to me), if Margaret Thatcher had been “black” and Davis had been cast and played her at the level of Streep, and Aibileen had been “white” and Streep had been cast and played her at the level of Davis, Davis, no doubt, would have walked home with an Oscar last night. I challenge anyone to disagree with me on this.
Ugh! Is this conversation still going on??
I just did the washing, changed my bed linen, vacuumed, descaled the bath and made some Paella. And it’s still going on.
Okay, the smoke has cleared. Time to air out the site a little bit.
Folks, the Oscars are not made for you. The show is a show. I get that there will always be attempts to bring a younger, hipper demo to the table, which I’m sure 85% of the readers of this and Tapley’s and Stone’s sites belong to. But if they never make the sure hip, there will still be an Oscar show. You know why? They could care less about what you or David or Kris or Sasha or me think.
In fact, if the Academy had a face, I could see it laughing up a storm at our comments about this bit that didn’t work, or that byte that didn’t play. Laughing all the way to the bank.
I’m an Oscar watcher for 30 years. I’ve seen great things. (Shades of Blade Runner’s Roy Batty are dancing in my head right now) I’ve seen terrible things, but as they say in Hollywood, the show must go on.
Just a reminder, the LA Times told us the average age of the Academy members two weeks ago. It hasn’t, nor will it ever change. So why did Billy Crystal sound like Henny Youngman? Why did so many bits “fall flat” for the young, hipsters at their computers or television sets, hoping for a change that won’t be coming anytime soon?
Because that is what the Academy likes. That is their taste. It’s not yours. It’s not mine. It’s their show. Turn it off, if you don’t like it. Or roll with it, like I do. It’s done. The Academy has spoken.
But quit griping and complaining that their opinion doesn’t match yours. You are not 70 years old with a fetish for the glorious past that they’ve got.
That´s correct. If someone makes a biopic about Oprah, the first actress he´s gonna call the portrait the main role will be Viola Davis. Then, with a film all based upon her role, upon her impersonation, then we’ll be able to judge Viola as the best actress in a leading role. The same position Meryl is this year.
We cannot compare a master performance capture 100% of time on screen to another who appears just 30% and don´t even motivates the climax of the story.
That´s just not fair. Viola was dead on arrival. If she had won, we would be complaining the fact that a supporting lead took the Oscar, just like Nicole Kidman 9 years ago.
And YES, IF VIOLA WAS WHITE, WE WOULD SAY THAT. BUT AS FAR AS SHE IS BLACK, AND WE WANT TO PRETEND WE ARE NOT HYPOCRATS, WE ARE OK WITH THAT.
KIDMAN did not deserve her Oscar. Her role and performance were not the main subject of her movie. She appeared on screen for just 33 min. She was good, but not great.
DAVIS had 33 min on screen. Her role does not influence the curse of the narrative (Stone´s character did all by herself). SHE’S BLACK. Why does she deserve to win? I have no doubt the was great. But for the WINNING? In a LEAD category?
We gotta think again what´s the conception of the term RACIST.
JP >> Harvey seriously misstepped with Inglorious Basterds. Melanie Laurent and Diane Kruger should have both been nominated for supporting actress for 2009.
I’m sure that Viola Davis is probably thinking, “Well, if you’re going to lose, at least I lost to Meryl Streep.”
Meryl was overdue. The academy knew that. They HAD to giver her a 3rd Oscar because she hadn’t won in THIRTY years. It was THAT that pushed them to reward her this year. Viola should have won, yes, but Meryl the academy could not continue to let Meryl lose year after year. Also – the biopic factor.
Still, it’s a sin that the only black Best Actress winner is talentless Halle Berry.
@devil’s advocate
It does make sense and thanks for replying. I am the first to admit that I often get side track more than I should, just a silly habit of mine. I am glad that we can see a common grounds on both ends. I do agree with you that people should get more involved if they have the access.
This maybe off topic a bit:
I thank Ryan said a couple of weeks ago that WE as an audience could start to change things slowly by doing small things, such as going to see films that we don’t normally go see. As a black person, many of my friends and I tend to go see all types of films (There is probably not one Asia foreign film I haven’t seen) so it’s only befitted that whites and others do the same in return. I am not saying go out and see everything Tyler Perry makes (god knows he need a little help in the directing department) but I really wish more people would have seen Night Catches us (for Mackie’s performance) and For Colored Girls (for Elise’s performance). And for all the people on here talking about what about Hispanic and Asian…I feel your pain, and I wish the same for you guys as well. If I had my way Song Kang-ho would be nominated every single year because he is truly one of the best ACTORS. PERIOD. What I guess I am trying say is it’s all about BUZZ and the type of people that are spreading the BUZZ come award season.
Side tracked once again, sorry lol
AGAIN, Not awarding VIOLA DAVIS for THE HELP is not RACIST.
@ Cinesnatch
You are right in many things you said. I just remembered another one that`s quite tough too: Mira Sorvino for Mighty Aphrodite.
Sasha, for the record, my vote was for Michelle Williams. I’m saddened at how her performance, which to me was remarkably complex, nuanced and most importantly, heartbreaking, was completely discarded when it was somehow decided that this was merely a two-horse race. I was very touched by her fragility and found her Marilyn to be so empathetic, which I didn’t expect. It was truly a career high for Williams and after the Globe, should have been a stronger contender.
What’s keeping me away from this site isn’t Sasha and Ryan…it’s the Meryl fans. Seriously…I can’t believe people are still talking about Viola being supporting. I really hope when Meryl Streep competed in lead for The Devil Wears Prada people were complaining just the same. Or in Julie and Julia where she only appeared in half the movie!
If I were Sasha, I’d shut down the comments. You’re lucky she allows people to attack her and her opinion on her own blog. (The nerve of her to have her own opinion on her own blog. She outta be impartial like Wikipedia.)
I have no problem calling Streep’s best performances her best. But it’s hard to get behind such a carefully orchestrated Oscar-bait role like this one. I know to you guys you’re happy she finally got the free throw that would be an easy slam dunk but for me…well…I wanted Davis to win where the win would have meant something more than business as usual in Hollywood. Come on, even Streep fans have to see that.
I think you’re underestimating how much effort Streep actually puts into her roles. Everyone knows she’s consistently good, and so it must be easy for her or effortless? A slam dunk, eyes closed, half asleep, reciting lines while checking off her grocery list for the next morning….Everything about the art of acting, and what she’s been saying herself, points to the fact that this wasn’t an easy role for her.
Oscar baity? Hell yes. You hear Thatcher biopic and Streep and immediately you think Oscar. Harvey sure did, there’s no denying that. But how that demerits Streep’s actual performance is the confusing bit. Baity or not, she was still brilliant in it.
Yes, a Davis win would of been more historic because there would be two black actresses win at the same time and so on. Meryl Streep’s win wasn’t just “business as usual” for many of us, snubbed in times before this felt like an overdue Oscar and acknowledgment for an actress who gives so much to her craft, performance after performance. That it came for a role she actually also deserved, in many people’s opinions, makes it all the more satisfying.
So neither win would of been business as usual. Davis would have had more impact because of this race card that keeps getting flashed left, right and center. They both campaigned heavily where there was always going to be a “loser”, though they are both winners and they will both be back at the Kodak soon enough.
@Film Fatale
We are so on the same page with Williams performance.
I am not jumping on the beat up Harvey bandwagon, because honestly you got to give it up to the guy. He’s good at whatever he does, however I am upset that he pushed Williams to the side as if he only had one actress campaigning this year. Very ironic that she was used and pushed to the side, playing a Icon that was no stranger to this sort of treatment.
@ Blue
In Julie & Julia, it`s 50/50. And although I like Amy Adams, she was definitely not good in this film. If her part was better, the film would be better and Meryl would have possibly won there.
For The Devil Wears Prada, I think the Godfather, The Last King of Scotland and the Silence of the Lambs cases apply better. Meryl was the title character, same for Brando, Whitaker and Hopkins. The actions that motivated the film are centered in their characters. But it would be acceptable to see Meryl going supporting, and as much as Jennifer Hudson looks like a very nice person, her win is one of the worst choices the Academy made in the last 10 years… Meryl would have easily won. And any of the other 4 nominated and the not-nominated Emily Blunt were better than Hudson for me. What I always thought about The Help is that the action that motivated the film was the search of Emma Stone`s character for changes.
To say that some people are calling Viola Davis’ performance supporting only because she isn’t white implies that those people are being racist.
We have a pretty stern policy about throwing around the word “racist”
I don’t get the implication you see, and I think it’s inflammatory for you to say it’s obvious.
Don’t you see when you amp up the argument in such blunt terms, you’re not helping the situation?
Here is what Sasha wrote: “Nobody wants to call anyone racist”
Here is your deleted response: “Yes Sasha, we’re all just a bunch of racists”
slim, that’s warped. It’s screwed up. It’s twisting the whole discussion inside out and it’s putting words in Sasha’s mouth that are THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT SHE SAID.
You were out of line, and if you don’t see that, then it probably won’t be the last time you get deleted.
Meryl Streep: 2 Best Actress awards
Black Actresses: 1 Best Actress award
How was Meryl Streep – a double Oscar winner – “overdue”?
JP >> Hopkins was the title character? I don’t see this, but if I have missed something all these years, I would love to hear this! Please explain.
(Streep, to me, seems to be one of those actresses who will never be put in the supporting category just to snatch a win like Jennifer Connelly did)
@ Cinesnatch
No… my mistake. Hopkins was not really the title character. What I wanted to say is that his importance in the film is equivalent to Marlon Brando`s and Forrest Whitaker`s in their films. I didn`t express myself properly.
Anyway, it seems that the ratings were not bad as I expected: 39.3 million viewers. Imagine that with just a BP nomination for Harry Potter. The telecast was actually one of the best of the decade. It just lacked the public-friendly material. But although I`m not the big fan of Billy Cristal in the world, he does hosting very well. Meryl Streep definitely helped this rise in the ratings also. America (and the world) love her and I have to say that this was the third time in the past 5 ceremonies I said YES when they announced a winner. The others were Tilda Swinton and Sean Penn.
Dean Treadway has pretty much summed up my thoughts on the whole thing to. Maybe I just hold you two as ‘opinion leaders’ to a higher standard than any old Tom, Dick or Harry that posts their two pence worth, but its really disappointing to see such obvious agenda pushing on this site and especially such dripping bitterness and cynicism to the awards process and worst of all the snarky and even spiteful responses to some of the posters who disagree with you politely (respond however you want to those who arent polite to you by all means) in the comments section. I agree with Dean that this place is probably the best movie forum I go to 9 months or the year, and then the Oscar season just seems to change the whole place (particularly in the last two years) when it becomes clear that you’re not going to be getting your own way. The whole behaviour just seems unbecoming, particularly when you’re talking to and disrespecting the opinions of the visitors, readers and commenters that help make the site what it is (again, not talking about the trollish ones here). I mean just looking at a load of Sasha’s responses in here, they seem to be absolutely dripping in spite and I understand that this season is difficult for you and it must wear you down people constantly disagreeing with you and questioning your judgements, but I feel that you have a responsibility to not stoop to that level.
As for this part:
“Then go do it, buddy! What’s stopping you. If I could do it you can do it and you can join the hundreds of other reporters and bloggers who cover the Oscars as YOU WOULD PREFER THEY DO. How about: you tend to your garden and I will tend to mine. Does that work for you? Go elsewhere if you don’t like the content.”
As much as I would love to, I dont have the skill in writing that people like Ryan and Sasha do. I do however teach film-making at college level and have worked a number of films in the past and hopefully I might get my Oscar rub someday when a lucky student breaks into the industry.
I think The Artist has a better chance of being remembered/loved in the future than, say, Hurt Locker or Slumdog from recent years. It’s not like there was some classic film out there that everyone loved and thought was robbed. Honestly, compare it previous years. The Searchers vs Shame? Lord of the Rings vs The Descendants? Raging Bull vs fucking HUGO!? Are you kiddin’ me, here?
The Artist wasn’t the best thing in the world, but it was a very good movie. That’s all this year gave us, at best, some very good movies. 50/50, Shame, Harry Potter, Moneyball, whatever. There was no Social Network this year. No Inglorious Basterds. No Saving Private Ryan, Good Will Hunting, or Pulp Fiction.
If the Artist gets forgotten, so will the rest of 2011. Everything else is just sour damn grapes.
Please do not compare the Artist with Chariots of fire. The Artist is a masterpiece. There is not one well acted well directed or well written sceen in the entire movie I even hate the music. chariots of garbage is the worst best picture winner in oscar history .
No one who’s written “I’m so happy for Meryl!” or “Meryl was great!” or “I thought Meryl was the best!” has been censored or unfairly rebuked. Maybe Sasha would write “Sorry, I disagree, Meryl’s been way better in other things and it’s Viola’s year” but that’s hardly an knee-shattering retort, is it?
I think Meryl was great in The Iron Lady and she’d be a badass if she was 22, let alone 62. Now watch this post NOT get deleted because it doesn’t disrespect anyone else.
What the fuck is “hateful and repulsive” about my comment?
I wish we could see the voting results. It was probably real close in Best Actress ( I think it was more close than in Best Actor) . I was slightly disappointed by Davis losing but I can’t deny that Meryl WORKED (and I don’t just mean campaigned) for that Oscar. I find it encouraging that Viola is looking into producing (which is the way one effectively deals with the issue of not having enough good leading roles for women of color). She’s making a path forward for herself. If anything I hope Viola’s journey to this point will motivate other directors and producers to take more chances on projects for more mature women of color like Viola and Angela Bassett (who I’d like to at least see nominated again).
“What the … ” February 27, 2012 @ 1:14 PM
Carlos >> I didn’t read your comment, but you’re not off to a very good start with using the f-bomb in your question.
JP >> Thanks for the response. I figured as much, but I needed to double check with you, because, that’s, like, my favorite movie and everything.
Anyway, it’s encouraging that ratings were up. If the nominated movies were more populist, I wonder if the viewership would have went through the roof.
Sasha, please keep up the great work! I’ve been reading you for years and I apprecitate the insightful comments, even though I don’t agree with everything you say. I’m in my 40′s and grew up reading Pauline Kael – I’d rush to the store the day The New Yorker hit the newsstand and couldn’t wait to read her reviews, even though I probably disagreed with her more than 50% of the time. It was what she said and the way she said it – with obviously a lot of thought put into it – that I relished, and I feel the same away about you.
I was pulling for Meryl and was thrilled she won, but couldn’t help thinking what Kael would have thought – she would have hated THE IRON LADY and especially Streep’s performance in it. But I think she would have also dismissed THE HELP and its performances, albeit for different reasons. I would like to think she would have championed Mara Rooney and especially Michelle Williams this year (but not Glenn Close, or Tilda Swinton, for that matter – just a hunch), and all that’s OK with me – diversity of opinions makes me think even more, and no one is right and no one is wrong.
I’m surprised no one has brought up the comparison to Katharine Hepburn yet (unless I missed it) – Hepburn won Best Actress early in her career and then had a dry spell of 30+ years before winning her second, for GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER, arguably one of her worst films ever (although an “Important” picture), even more distressing considering she won over Faye Dunaway in BONNIE AND CLYDE and Anne Bancroft in THE GRADUATE (Really?) Hepburn was long “overdue” after years of great work, especially in the 1950′s/early-1960′s with a string of great performances and nominations for THE AFRICAN QUEEN, THE RAINMAKER, SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER, LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT, and (my favorite), SUMMERTIME. So along comes DINNER and a dying Spencer Tracy and she wins, and then what happens? She ties Barbra Streisand the next year for THE LION IN WINTER, arguably her crowning achievement. So it could be a repeat for Streep in AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, if it’s anywhere near what it was on Broadway.
As for parts for women overall, I long for the day of the first Oscars I remember being really involved in: 1977, the year Diane Keaton won for a pitch-perfect ANNIE HALL, beating Jane Fonda in JULIA, Marsha Mason in THE GOODBYE GIRL, and Anne Bancroft and Shirley Maclaine, in THE TURNING POINT – all Best Picture nominees! If that wasn’t a banner year for women, equaling 1950, I don’t what was. Maybe that happens every 30 years or so? In that case, we’re a few years overdue.
Thanks again and I’m a fan.
londongirl said “I’ve never read more depressing Oscar articles than on here for the past few months (and no, I don’t need to read all positive ones all the time either). I had to unfollow you on Twitter, Sasha, because I just couldn’t read anymore about your “heartbreak” and depression this season while at the same time being all “Hey, but nobody cares, right? Right???” I don’t know if you’re writing for your regular readers or for your buddies from other Oscar sites. I know how it used to be on here. And it didn’t used to be this whole “OMG, this is all so depressing, everybody is stupid, but listen, I don’t care!” schtick”.
Sasha, I don’t post much. But I visited/read/commented over the last few years. I love(d) this site. Many of your articles are exceptional. but I must say, I’m really sad to see the way the site has become so negative. This whole Davis/Meryl, black/white debatre is a real shame (and I think it’s awful that you’ve let recent award activity change your feelings toward a claimed favorite actress of your, Meryl Streep. Just a shame).
I would still like to visit/read/coment, but I do hope the tone changes here. “The trick is not minding”. “I don’t like the Oscars”. Well, then why devote so much time & energy to a site about awards coverage? I really hope that for the sake of the many readers who have enjoyed their time here that things lighten up, a bit. You’re so dismissive towards your devoted readers (as evidenced in this thread, alone). The Oscars shouldn’t be taken so seriously.
I hope that you consider, Sasha, that many people here (like myself) really, truly respect your hard work and devotion; but that things really have gotten quite ugly here in recent times – and your call & response throughout the site has been disappointing. I always used to poo-poo the negativity, put it on a back burner, and progress through your many wonderful articles. I have enjoyed this site too much to stop reading and enjoying. But please don’t dismiss your devoted readers.
@edkargir,
“The Artist is a masterpiece.”
I laughed harder at the quoted statement in your post than at anything in that cute, nice, little, inconsequential movie.
I concede, however, that The Artist was the best B&W silent film of 2011.
Caseyko >> My instinct is that you’re pretty spot-on with what Kael would have thought of this year’s Best Actresses contenders. Pretty spot-on.
@Cinesnatch
I used it because I’m pissed. My comment was accurate and didn’t made use of any harsh words. I still don’t know why it was deleted, considering I’ve read very rude things here in the past days (and months)
Carlos, did you or did you not say that you wish there had been a camera on my face when Meryl Streep’s name was called?
Carlos >> Just a word of advice, your professed lack of use of harsh words comes into question when you follow it up with the f-bomb. Something you might want to consider next time, especially when original comment is not on display or others to judge. Or you can ignore me. Up to you.
I always used to poo-poo the negativity, put it on a back burner, and progress through your many wonderful articles. I have enjoyed this site too much to stop reading and enjoying. But please don’t dismiss your devoted readers.
I respect you and Londongirl’s right to go elsewhere to find content. What you see is what you get here. You don’t like the negativity, I don’t know what to tell you. As Al Pacino once said in The Insider, “I won’t shut up for you.” I write about what I think is important. I fight against things I think are wrong. I really don’t feel like changing the coverage I provide. I lose and gain new readers every year. We take a lot more shit than we give, believe me. So good luck – I hope you do find something you like reading elsewhere. As for the negativity, well, it reflects the season(s).
As much as I would love to, I dont have the skill in writing that people like Ryan and Sasha do. I do however teach film-making at college level and have worked a number of films in the past and hopefully I might get my Oscar rub someday when a lucky student breaks into the industry.
See? There you go.
If I were Sasha, I’d shut down the comments.
So close to doing just that. I think they doth protest too much. They “won” yet they are still fighting. I think it’s because they feel badly about the win. Maybe?
As Al Pacino once said in The Insider, “I won’t shut up for you.”
I plan to rewatch ‘Francis’ and ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’
I’ll try to see if there’s anything I can do to make readers happier with my attitude — short of electroshock and lobotomy.
If there is anyone’s reaction I would have loved to see it would have been Jennifer Aniston’s (had she been there) when Angelina made “the pose.”
That would have been *priceless*
So one small afterthought. The Oscar telecast was shown in China last night for the first time as Sandra Bullock pointed out. Then she said she was going to speak Chinese with a German accent. And she spoke German.
Why couldn’t they try to find an actor who spoke Chinese to say something genuine and nice instead of turning it into a joke?
Would it have killed them to have someone Chinese American on the show? Pathetic.
They “won” yet they are still fighting. I think it’s because they feel badly about the win. Maybe?
I think a lot of us are still pretty surprised (and excited, of course) that she won. Yes, the race was extremely tight, I predicted her to win more from my heart than from my head but I thought it was clear that Davis was the frontunner if there was one. So many more pundits were calling Davis. So that’s why we keep coming back to read, comment, deliberate and defend.
Ah, defending. That’s where the fight lies. For me anyway. It’s the Davis supporters who imply she lost simply because of Weinstein’s machine or other such coarse reasons that draw my attention back. It’s staining what should be a glorious moment.
But you may be reffering to instigators like Carlos up there, in which case, “their” fight is futile.
Cinesnatch, thanks. That’s a favorite game of mine: WWPT? (What Would Pauline Think?)
And you’re spot-on about 2009: Diane Kruger and Melanie Laurent should have both been nominated (over Maggie Gyllenhaal and especially Penelope Cruz – talk about a lazy nomination, just checking the box of the previous year’s winner), although Mo’Nique still would have (deservedly) won in a cake-walk. I think there was some debate at that time whether Laurent should be in lead or supporting? The confusion probably cost her a nomination. Kruger, though, was definitely supporting – and the look on her face when she reaches into the bag and discovers “the shoe” was alone worth a nomination. Along with her character’s name
I forgot to mention in my previous post that 1977 was followed by probably my favorite-ever female performance, Jill Clayburgh in AN UNMARRIED WOMAN in 1978. She lost to Jane Fonda in COMING HOME (good, but not great), and the fact that she lost today doesn’t diminish my view of her in that film – she simply amazes me every time I see it.
@MKing – thanks for your thoughtful response
Be well
Jill Clayburgh was amazing in An Unmarrried Woman. I cried when I saw her come on the screen in Bridesmaids (I didn’t know she was in it beforehand), not only because she was deceased and that was her last film, but it was heartbreaking to watch her. She was so fragile, yet had such a robust sense of humor. What an amazing woman.
I would take any crumbs I could get before Kael passed. I think it was a small blurb in EW at the end of 1997 that shared a few quick thoughts of hers on the films that year. I seem to remember her saying something to the effect of “you’d be a bully to make fun of a youngster who believed Titanic was the best film of all time.” I probably was around the 50/50 or hovered above it with agreeing with her reviews. She retired from The New Yorker, the week before the release of my favorite film (The SIlence of the Lambs), I think. I could be wrong.
Mo’nique definitely would have won two years ago, but Laurent and Kruger were a close second for me. I agree that Laurent was more of a lead, but it was so ambiguous. She definitely drove what I thought was the best part of the film (there were portions of the general movie I could have done without). Christoph Waltz obviously owned his role, but Laurent and Kruger held their own. It still kind of bugs me that they were overlooked.
Sasha, you HAVE changed your coverage. You used tobring a sense of love, joy, magic and enchantment to the Oscar process that was infectious. Now everything is bitter, cynical and jaded. Even the tagline of the site ‘The trick is not minding’ represents a world weary view to something you used to seem to love so much. Your reaction to the whole thing seems a little petulant to be honest. It’s a shame really.
Great report, Sasha after your experience of the event. Thanks for taking us all there, behind the curtain and giving this diehard an evocative and personal account of the palava involved. I enjoyed getting that window into your experience of it.
I don’t enjoy reading (but i do anyway, or until i reach a threshold), the disrespect and vitriol that gets fired at the editors and writers of this site. Discourse can be robust without being narky; owning one’s point of view, but not using a site or an opinion as a dumping ground for what’s wrong with society and the Academy. They are an influential group of privileged/wealthy folk. I want them to reflect my choices too and my approach but they don’t. SOmetimes they get it ‘right’ – in my view. That will never appease every voice and commenter. It cannot
Much to my surprise, i was not jumping for joy at Meryl’s win. There isn’t a bigger Streep fan in the southern hemisphere than me! But I have come to understand the power and the politics of these prizes, thanks to erudite writers as Damien Bona, Mason Wiley and Emmanuel Levy, and in recent years Sasha Stone and Ryan Adams. I don’t need Streep to win an Oscar to love her and appreciate her place in the culture and in movie history. She doesn’t need it either. The Oscars have long NOT represented the pinnacle or the best or the rightful – perhaps they never did! One of the inherent problems with Oscar is that they historically do NOT bestow in sync with an actor’s best work – they end up playing catch up eternally – so that Career Oscars and MakeUp (As in make up sex) Prizes end up meaning that for every time a winner is crowned, a Glenn Close or Jeff Bridges or Viola Davis or Laura Linney miss out, and eventually some/most get the prize, either for lesser work or at the expense of yet another sublime piece of work. And so it continues – out of sync. Year after year, decade after….
The campaign for Streep was strongly about it being nearly 30 years in between awards. Even the comments on this site, gave me great insight from those who are in their 20′s, of their excitement to see La Streep get an Oscar in their lifetime. That said to me, the reverence with which she is held. Her win last night was no ‘SURPRISE’ – she was neck and neck for weeks. I even changed my predix to Viola Davis, thinking the ‘heat’ was with her, not with Meryl. Who knows how close….
It really matters NOT, whether Davis was in the right category, or in a better film etc – but her win would have made for an emotional impact and historical moment that changes the landscape, and invites progression within movie casting, production and publicity. It also would point to screen acting not only being about make up, body suits, accents, body language (all relevant and necessary for great performances – John Hurt, Robert De Niro, Glenn Close, Streep among others), but also a stirring, pulsating performance, where the body is still, but the emotion is raging and the fire in the belly is struggling to make its way to the surface and find its voice through words – Viola Davis in The Help.
Don’t get me wrong – Streep is majestic in The Iron Lady, but Viola Davis is a furnace of beaten hopes, dreams, misery but compassion and determination in her character on screen. Irony big time, she came up against the woman that publicly championed her and seems to genuinely care about her as well.
I’ve said it before, the Oscars hold up a mirror for our beliefs and hopes. Sometimes it is not reflected back. but i admire the passion, the advocacy and the discourse that it propels – especially on this site. Onwards and Upwards.
p.s Ryan -loved your comment about Edith Head – what if Meryl played Edith Head and Pauline Kael and Walt Disney – there’s 3 more Oscars – easy!
Sasha, you HAVE changed your coverage. You used tobring a sense of love, joy, magic and enchantment to the Oscar process that was infectious.
You have not been reading me for very long if that’s what you think. I have NEVER brought any joy or magic or enchantment. You have me confused with someone else. Crouching Tiger vs. Gladiator, that’s how far back the bitterness goes, pal. And if you were here for Brokeback Mountain you never would have said that. You might have caught a wave of those three years when things were GOOD – The Departed, No Country, The Hurt Locker. Those three years things were very very different. I am writing about the world of Oscar that I am experiencing. I will draw readers who are either challenged by this, turned on by it or put off by it. Two years ago I was answering comments exactly like this one. And you don’t know me. I don’t know you.
I’ll try to see if there’s anything I can do to make readers happier with my attitude — short of electroshock and lobotomy.
Nah. They are fair weather readers. It’s the same story every year, pretty much. I’d rather write honestly than try to please everyone. There is nothing more wasteful of anyone’s time than that. But hey, think of how many other Oscar sites there are out there where people AREN’T “negative” and ARE really happy with the status quo because gosh, the glamour! Gosh, the romance!
And p.s. for all of the mean and complaining commenters there are at least ten really one great ones. And they make up for it. But Ryan and I take major hits every year from the kind of comments we get here. I don’t think any of you readers quite understand what that is like.
Sasha, as a matter of curiosity because I only started to read Oscarwatch in The Departed or NCFOM season, which film was being supported here in the year Million Dollar Baby won?
think of how many other Oscar sites there are out there where people AREN’T “negative” and ARE really happy with the status quo because gosh, the glamour! Gosh, the romance!
…sites where headline would be “Lube for the Oscar Machine”
Is this Entertainment Weekly.com? When did this site get so vicious?
Personally, I have no problem with The Artist winning. It was romantic, charming, and made a statement about how technology is changing without being too preachy.
The Streep win really shocked me. I’m also kind of sad that Davis lost, but hopefully she’ll get more chances. I haven’t seen Streep’s performance so I won’t judge.
It was really disappointing that The Tree of Life didn’t win cinematography. That was one of the most gorgeous things I’ge seen in a long time.
Hats off to next year, and good luck to The Artist at the box office from now until the end of its run.
@ discomfited:
“Meryl was overdue. The academy knew that. They HAD to giver her a 3rd Oscar because she hadn’t won in THIRTY years. It was THAT that pushed them to reward her this year.”
And happily for Harvey, Viola Davis is not America’s sweetheart.
“You have not been reading me for very long if that’s what you think. I have NEVER brought any joy or magic or enchantment. You have me confused with someone else. Crouching Tiger vs. Gladiator, that’s how far back the bitterness goes, pal.”
Ha! Sasha, I love it! The anti-Tinkerbell. And yeah, Gladiator over CTHD? Sigh.
People earlier were mentioning Pauline Kael. I just finished reading her biography “A Life in the Dark.” Great read. Just a small summary of movies she liked/disliked from the late 60s-early 80s.
Liked/Loved: McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Cabaret. The Godfather and Godfather II (in particular the latter, I think). Last Tango in Paris. The Conversation. Nashville. The Story of Adele H. Mean Streets and Taxi Driver. Carrie. The Fury. Melvin and Howard. Jaws and ET. Breaking Away. Blue Velvet. Atlantic City (I think Burt Lancaster stopped and thanked her personally on his way up to accepting his Best Actor away from the NYFC for AC).
Disliked/Hated: 2001: A Space Odyssey. Midnight Cowboy. The Exorcist (she HATED it…gave it one of her most scathing reviews. I luvs The Exorcist). Barry Lyndon. Network. Apocalypse Now. Raging Bull. Shoah. I think she also preferred early Woody Allen and didn’t like as much his period from Annie Hall onward, which is basically the reverse of what most critics thought.
I’m still waiting for folks to suggest good (Oscar-bait) leading parts for Viola. Whom should she play?
Love this story: The Oscar is Mexican: http://thinkmexican.org/post/18356883425/oscar-model-mexican-statuette-emilio-indio-fernandez
“As you watch the Academy Awards ceremony tonight, remember the story of how a young man in Mexico went from fighting in a revolution to being the model for the ‘Oscar,’ and ultimately becoming and acclaimed star in his own right.”
Viola Davis? She could play a-Margareth Tatcher-kind role: Condoleezza Rice.
Did one of my comments get deleted? Did I do anything wrong?
Ryan, I’ve already made my point… several times. Arguing with you is downright exhausting at this point and downright pointless.
It is what it is.
Jeremy Lin should win NBA MVP then since we’re long overdue for a asian to win one.
Thanks, JP. I think someone else said she could play Oprah.
Who else? Harriet Tubman? Coretta Scott King? Hattie McDaniel? Aretha Franklin? Ella Fitzgerald? Marion Anderson? Winnie Mandela?
Can we get all these biopics in production NOW???
I heard a long time ago that M’onique was playing Hattie McDaniel in a biopic. Don’t know if this project is still in production.
While a biopic could land her an Oscar, I’d rather see Viola turned loose on a big, meaty, original role which would indelibly identify her as the great actress that she is. Even better if it were written – and directed – by a woman. That’s my wish for her – and us.
I think Viola should play an evil role.
Sigh…here we go again. I just don’t understand some of the mindset of the commenters on here. Sasha has no obligation to anyone but herself on what she chooses to write about. I don’t always agree with everything she says but I come here because she allows me to see another side of things. And no matter what is being written, it is thought provoking and engaging.
All of that being said I will admit to be a die hard Streep fan. I was excited to see her win one in my lifetime. However, if it wasn’t last night it would of have happened at some point. So should it of been last night…IDK? But those who think that race didn’t play into things are out of their mind. Yes plenty of Black Actresses have won the Supporting Trophy…but only one lead…thats insane.
I have to say as well its a bit disgusting to hear people say things like Viola should stop bringing up race in everything. Why are we not applauding her for trying to be a positive role model for the Black community? Especially for women. There are so many other black entertainers not setting a great example for girls (Rhianna) that its nice to see someone doing it. Some of y’all are probably the type that don’t understand the need for Gay Pride or Black History Month.
Sasha keep doing your thing. I’ll keep reading it…and loving it.
“I have NEVER brought any joy or magic or enchantment.”
Well, we can agree on that at least. I am unaware of any Oscar writer who is more of a Negative Nelly than you, Sasha. Even when your favorite film of the year — the one that you claim is objectively superior to all others, but which I and many other film fans found overlong and merely “good but not great” — ties for most awards of the night by winning a few unexpected tech awards, it merits just one sentence before you move on to complaining for countless paragraphs about Meryl Streep winning over Viola Davis.
You relentlessly belittle the Academy, sometimes with good reason, but it makes one wonder why, if this is all so distasteful, so racist, so misognynistic, do you not move on to spending your life doing something else rather than making a living, albeit distantly, off of Oscar?
I thought your piece above was well written, and agreed with certain parts of it, but I agree with much of the criticism above. And this is all becoming a one-trick-pony routine. This is just the lastest example of how this site has become a case study in major/clinical depression. For a site whose slogan is “The Trick is Not Minding”, there is an incredible amount of pouting every single Oscar season. Some good analysis too, which is why I reluctantly come back, but DEAR GOD, SOOOOOOOOO MUCH POUTING.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a big happy Care Bear who thinks we can all get along. I’m cynical about the Academy too, and I enjoy some snark. I wore a Hitchcock t-shirt last night as a reminder of one of Oscar’s greatest snubs. I rarely think they get it right, and even when they do get it right, I think they probably got it right for many of the wrong reasons. None of my favorite three films were nominated in any category. Only three films in my personal top ten received any nominations; one won just one award and one didn’t win a damn thing. Last year, I had to bite my tongue while the exceedingly mediocre King’s Speech won most major awards and the far superior True Grit and Winter’s Bone came up empty-handed.
But I don’t let that get me down. Great films are still being made outside Hollywood, and occasionally even by Hollywood, and I can still find ways to see them. The Oscars don’t determine what I watch, they only have an effect on what the general public watches. And one can remain critical of the Oscars, and Hollywood in general, without becoming a complete nihilist. One can give context to how the Hollywood/Oscar machine works, and what motivates it without implying that virtually every meber of the Academy (or Hollywood) is an “old white fucker” who voted for Meryl Streep over Viola Davis because they’re racist.
And one can also celebrate when Oscar gets something right. The Artist was not my favorite film of the year, but I’m pleased that many more people will be going to see this charming and clever film because it did so well. You should be pleased that Hugo won so many Oscars for the same reason, and that Dragon Tattoo can now claim to be an Oscar winner. Because that’s all that really matters about the Oscars. Other people who aren’t as in to movies as we are think Oscar matters – people that might be motivated to go see a movie they wouldn’t have otherwise seen because it won an Oscar. Frankly, The Help didn’t really need much help from Oscar – it had already reached a very large audience. And Hugo had plenty of chances to do the same. The Artist was a good film that was a hard sell to the public, but now it will (hopefully) benefit from an Oscar bounce. Viola Davis didn’t win the Oscar, but she got lots of major awards and publicity this season. And frankly, given the history, winning an Oscar might have been the worse thing that could have happened to her career.
I was really wrong about the ratings. There are gonna be really funny things to look up for in this site next season. If they could get their best ratings since The Lord of the Ring Oscar (25.50) with a BP lineup with not a single huge hit (I`m talking about Inception or Avatar, not The Help), get ready for a lot of Harvey, Lincoln, The Master, The Great Gatsby and all the other Oscar baits projects. OK: the ceremony doesn`t have the appeal of awarding Meryl Streep every year. Imagine if they could put any or all this 3 films in the ceremony (Brave, The Hobbit, The Dark Knight), get a classic host like Cristal (or Goldberg, Steve Martin… alone this time) and hope there`s some star like Sandra Bullock, Keira Knightey, Amy Adams, Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman or Leo DiCaprio nominated with chances of winning…. And that`s how the INDUSTRY works. Awards reflect the industry. There`s nothing we can do about it. We can get upset (I was personally very very upset by 2010 results with Hooper and Kings Speech), but film awards is fun… want serious awards… go to the Nobel prizes. Film awards are fun and a celebration of the industry nothing more than that.
And even in the Nobel prizes, politics are involved… Imagine in the film industry ones. The show must go on!
What if Meryl just won because her performance was more impressive?? It was for me. I think more Academy voters vote for what they think is best than we give them credit for. Sure, there are some times when the overdue factor (Kate Winslet, Susan Sarandon) or the “it girl of the moment” factor (Reese Witherspoon, Sandra Bullock, and many more) overrides what they think is best, and they vote for that, but not always. Look at Marion Cotillard or Hilary Swank’s first, Holly Hunter, Frances McDormand, Emma Thompson, and Kathy Bates. I think all of them won because people thought they were the best.
Though sometimes I have no idea what the fuck they are thinking, like Hilary Swank’s 2nd. WTF.
Well said, Dan. Said it all better than I could.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a big happy Care Bear who thinks we can all get along.
I can see that, Dan. Yes, I think we can all see that.
Anybody else notice that the people complaining most loudly about negativity and whining do so with the most whiny negative comments of the day?
I still never got an answer to my question (which had nothing to do with this ridiculous debate over the Best Actress race): Why do you guys even write about the Oscars, if you hate them so much? Why not just write about movies in general? Also, if the comments of some readers bother you so much, why even read any of them, favorable or unfavorable? After all, most writers tell you not to read the reviews of what you’ve written–if they’re bad reviews, they’ll destroy you; if they’re good reviews, you might start believing them, which is its own sort of destruction…
With all due respect, Ryan, I am much bothered by the negativity of some of the posters, as well as how it’s being handled. I don’t think that I nor some others who feel the same way have not gone about expressing it as diplomatically and heartfelt as possible. We’re met with: thanks for sharing, but this is the way it is. Readers come and go, and I don’t care to take your thoughts into consideration.
So, perhaps I am not expressing myself loudly enough, but it sounds like it will fall on dead ears. Be that as it may, it’s not a coincidence that there are a notable amount of people who feel the way I do and aren’t acting like children about it. I’m sorry about all the trolls you are constantly having to manage.
I’ve been visiting this site for years. The tone HAS changed, whether that’s of significance to AD or not. And it’s clearly not just something that I feel. And I’ve had separate conversations with people about it outside of AD.
No, I don’t know what it is like for you or Sasha to have to deal with the crap that you two put up with. You both provide an invaluable service. Despite everything, there is something I get out of AD that I can’t get from anywhere else.
As a long-term reader and appreciative of your services, I only suggest you swallow your pride and take a good look at how things have played out recently. However, I don’t donate to this site. All I have to offer is my traffic. If its worth it to you, then you’ll take it into consideration. I’m not threatening to take away anything of great value to you, I just used to enjoy coming to this site. I seemed to remember a time when everyone would dogpile on Afrika, and watch her defiantly sip her tea…
Those were the days.
Actually, I think Afrika was a guy. Just saying.
As for Sasha’s bitterness, as much as I would like her to, you know, MOVE ON, I think it’s nice how she’s so passionate about the race and was so interested by the Streep vs. Davis thing. There are several sites that seem so disinterested during the awards season (cough Rope of Silicon cough) and it’s nice to visit one with so many interesting articles that spark equally interesting comments.
Interesting article, nice to attend vicariously through you. I’ve enjoyed the analysis and give and take but boy am I glad this is over. Thanks to all who trumpeted A Separation so much, what a great movie. Now Meryl has won and life can continue without that debate every other year. Viola Davis will be back, who seeing her on the red carpet wouldn’t want to put that lightning on the screen. But please stay away from Tyler Perry. You know, she may have dodged a bullet. Best Actress Oscars and the Revlon contracts that come with them doesn’t do most of these girls any good. Oh and I hope David Fincher doesn’t get bogged down in Dragon Tattoo sequels, just think what we’ll miss in the interim.
As a long-term reader and appreciative of your services, I only suggest you swallow your pride and take a good look at how things have played out recently. However, I don’t donate to this site. All I have to offer is my traffic. If its worth it to you, then you’ll take it into consideration. I’m not threatening to take away anything of great value to you, I just used to enjoy coming to this site. I seemed to remember a time when everyone would dogpile on Afrika, and watch her defiantly sip her tea…
That Afrika stuff was recent history. Also, the only measure we have for how we are doing is how much money we are making and how the traffic is – all of these markers are not only up but they’re going up. We’re not here to make things more comfortable for you guys. You are lucky because you get Ryan for most of the year and I take a break until Oscar season ratchets up. But once it does, the bitch is back. And the fun stops. Just know this. Ryan makes it a lot better for readers than I do. And I’m *fine* with that. I do not do this site for the readers, I never have. I love to have the contribution of comments and I hope that I can entertain you and occasionally challenge you but I do this to have a broader voice.
Why do you guys even write about the Oscars, if you hate them so much?
It didn’t get answered because it is a dumb question, and one written by someone who doesn’t know anything about this site. We write about the *Oscar race* and occasionally the Oscars. Go anywhere else on the web and you can find sites that write about “the Oscars” in the kind of way YOU apparently want which is in a favorable light. We don’t do that here. Try Entertainment Weekly, the NY Times and Vanity Fair.
Anybody else notice that the people complaining most loudly about negativity and whining do so with the most whiny negative comments of the day?
And it’s mostly the same people over and over.
I am unaware of any Oscar writer who is more of a Negative Nelly than you, Sasha.
Is that something they teach you in “I hate women” school of comment writing? Or do you go around calling male writers Negative Ned and such? Betcha don’t.
You relentlessly belittle the Academy, sometimes with good reason, but it makes one wonder why, if this is all so distasteful, so racist, so misognynistic, do you not move on to spending your life doing something else rather than making a living, albeit distantly, off of Oscar?
Because I care about the film industry and the future of film. The Oscars only mean upsetting or altering the power dynamic in Hollywood – and that’s it. But misogynistic? Are you kidding me? Oh, right, because all of the Academy members are men and I criticize the Academy….And why don’t you spend your life worrying about yourself and your own life and not about mine? Give me credit that I know what I’m doing with MY OWN life. Oh, right, Negative Nellys don’t really know, do they, because they are too busy being negative!
but DEAR GOD, SOOOOOOOOO MUCH POUTING.
Again, you’d only write that about a woman, eh? Come on. WEAK, bro. WEAK sauce. No matter how many Negative Neds back you up. As in, “I couldn’t have said it better myself!” And the like.
But I don’t let that get me down.
Yay for you! Aren’t you SO happy then?
Sasha keep doing your thing. I’ll keep reading it…and loving it.
Thank you, thank you.
M1>> I know Afrika was a man. But she never corrected me the many times i referred to her in the female pronoun. And it kind of endeared me to her. Not sure how else to explain it.
The Afrika stuff I engaged was from two and three years ago, recent or not. And, yes, those were still the days. But if it suits you to diminish my longevity with this site (going back five years as a reader), so be it. I wasnt asking for a gold star. Now, I am sounding bitter. Maybe it’s time for me to move on.
Good for you and Ryan for your success, sasha. You worked hard for it. Hopefully. You can continue with your growth and restore the site suited for a more mature, or, at the very least, fun exchange. Challenging people doesn’t have to get ugly and uninviting. The trolls ate hardening you and it’s not a flattering look.
Hope to be back.
The Afrika stuff I engaged was from two and three years ago, recent or not. And, yes, those were still the days. But if it suits you to diminish my longevity with this site (going back five years as a reader), so be it. I wasnt asking for a gold star. Now, I am sounding bitter. Maybe it’s time for me to move on.
Absolutely. You have to do what you have to do. Incidentally, Afrika=Deena Jones Wig.
“Honestly the Streep fans have done nothing but make me hate a woman who used to be my favorite actress. I have wanted Streep to win for years and wanted last night’s win to be one I too could celebrate. But.”
@ Saha, I adore your site. And I love the analysis etc, but how could you hate Meryl just because she won!?!? And just because she wasn’t yor choice? Is that her fault? Is it Davis fault she lost? It’s no ones fault. Both of them will have more roles in the future, true probably less so for Davis because of her skin color, which makes me sick, but it’s not the actresses faults. Both of them will
Still continue to entertain and earn more money than the average joe. But come on, why hate someone just because a group of people voted for her as Best Actress this year? It’s not like she became president and chose to start a nuclear war or something.
Cinesnatch,
If anyone has an issue with the slant or attitude of the site it would great if those issues were raised in a reasonable well-meaning tone like you’ve done. But you know as well as I do, that’s rarely the case. More often the complainers attack in harsh terms. We don’t have 10 hours of free time to enter into diplomatic negotiations with 20 angry terrorists every day.
Listen, I’m so bored with hearing about the peaceful little communes on other sites. We received over 500,000 page views yesterday. The Oscar night post alone has over 700 comments. (a fraction of the thousands of visitors who came to check the winners without responding.)
The closest sites similar to AwardsDaily have less than 100 comments on their Oscar Night discussions today. We have 10 times the activity in discussions here — so naturally we get 10 times the cranky troublemakers.
This isn’t a quaint little village where all the neighbors leave their doors unlocked. AD is a big urban jungle. That’s part of what makes it exciting, but it requires setting some boundaries so bullies don’t take over in discussions.
“handle them” you say? Handle them how? There are three ways to handle them. 1) let them run rampant, hijacking and bullying every topic. That’s not a option. 2) Debate them on the same terms. Exhausting and time-consuming, but we make the effort. 3) in extremely rare circumstances, delete the worst comments and — as a last resort — block the worst offenders altogether. We only do that when every other attempt to “handle them” fails.
===
Look, I know you and Afrika were buddies. Fine, I hope you two found a way to stay in touch (I think you already know where to find him.)
But nobody “dogpiled” on Afrika unless she absolutely worked their last nerve — which you know was his specialty.
Dude, How many times did we have to see “Jennifer HUGEson” before than shit got old? 200 times? And that was one of Afrika’s milder insults. Afrika would come on the site in the middle of the night and go on drunken rants telling me to go fuck myself. So, no, that’s not gonna be allowed. You miss Afrika? We don’t. I can give you his email. Meet for coffee, Get a room.
We had comments today… this afternoon… a reader calling me a fag and calling Sasha worse words than that. That reader is gone and he’s never coming back. ok? Sorry, one less misfit in the clown show you enjoy watching.
If that’s the sort of “handling” that bothers you, then the only thing you can do is get used to it or stop worrying about it. Because that policy is not going to change just because you miss Afrika being a constant antagonizing smartass and pulling her asinine SMH & “sips tea” act.
Ask Deena Jones’ wig how long it took her to get permanently banned from Hollywood Elsewhere. The are aggravators who bounce around from site to site, getting off on their ability to ruffle feathers. Sorry, but there’s a limit to how much shit-stirring most webmasters will tolerate.
You might think those drag queen performances are hugely entertaining. So it’s great that you have your own site where you can offer them a refuge.
We don’t come to your site to tell you how to run your show. I wouldn’t dream of doing that. We don’t need a management consultant or amateur psychotherapist, alright?
I’ll tell you what I prefer. If somebody has a problem, why not email me and discuss about it privately?
Here’s why: Because some scolds thinks this is a courtroom and a few people like to pretend they’re Clarance Darrow, showboating in front of the Jury. So long as you do it without being insulting or abusive, that’s fine.
But we have thousands of visitors to the site who come here to read about movies.. Those people have to plow past all this nonsense. So when the nonsense gets out of hand, we handle it in ways that work best for us.
Thanks for causing this past hour to evaporate for me. I took the time because you’re one of the good guys. Now imagine if you had 10 readers come to your site every day demanding that you listen to their snarly suggestions and getting pissy if you don’t take time to give them a personal response to each of their individual gripes.
You are lucky because you get Ryan for most of the year
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rl1TJG17Wk
I understand Ryan and Sasha. I’m sorry. I won’t take up any more of your time. I appreciate your time and honesty.
I have more of a sense of humor about these kind of things and isnt right for me to assume you can be the same.
I’m sorry you and Sasha have to take the abuse that you do. And please don’t think I found entertainment value in anything that got personal between you and others. I didn’t tune in enough to see anything other than the tea sipping and the put-downs she administered to certain actresses who weren’t streep or bening. And your comment about us getting a room? Lol.
I only get emboldened (is that the right word?) when others make it personal and cross the line. Or, mostly. I laugh. Once I get half a million hits a day, we’ll have to see how I handle the abuse. I guess we’re just built differently. Sorry if it would have been more appropriate to address you privately. That was perhaps a mistake on my part
Again, you guys do a good job. And congratulations on your continued success.
Btw Sasha,
Are those pictures taken personally by you? If they were WOW! To be that close to people I admire for a while!
Sasha I love you, and you have a top site- but I must disagree.
Meryl Streep won her Oscar last night because she EARNED it. She had gotten the best reviews of the year again, she won the Drama Globe, BAFTA and New York Film Critics- three very prestigious precursors. Davis won the SAG and BFCA, so slightly strong but this was a race in the end.
As much as I want to say that Viola Davis should have been the second black woman to win the Lead Oscar, it should not be about the color of her skin. Its about her work, and it was just not the same as Streep.
And if you wanted Streep to win for the “right” role, then which one? She lost every other time. I heard no one complaining when SANDRA BULLOCK WON FOR THE BLIND SIDE! Where was your long essay saying Bullock shouldn’t have beaten Streep (or Sidibe, Mirren and Mulligan) for that matter. Bullock’s best actress win was a travesty, because she won because she was Sandra Bullock and NOT for her work. Streep could have won for Julie & Julia, but apparently that wasn’t good enough. So what will be?
The Iron Lady is not a perfect movie, but Streep’s performance is, and the film won 2 Oscars (Makeup baby) so the academy apparently liked it.
And so what if Harvey helped campaign for Meryl? What actress DOESNT Campaign? Were you complaining when Viola was on Oprah and doing the talk show scene? THATS campaigning too. And Sandra Bullock and Kate Winslet both whined their way to Oscars too. Streep at least was more classy about it. And can you blame her? I would be sick and tired too of always losing, year after year, to performances that were inferior to mine (save Mirren and Zeta-Jones in the 2000s).
I’m glad she won. It was about damn time. I do appreciate your honesty and your site. Just wanted to put my two cents in.
Sasha,
I was surfing the WEB for news and discussions on the Davis vs. Streep debate. Firstly, I am an American who happened to be in London during Maggie Thatcher’s last days. Did you know that “Iron Lady” is a ‘white wash’ (pun intended) of Thatcher as prime minister. Inaccuracies aside, I literally took a nap during the film; it was sooooo awful. I love Meryl Streep as an artist, absolutely brilliant in “Doubt” and other films. However, her portrayal of Thatcher was mere mimicry and impersonation in a terribly scripted, imbalanced movie.
Has anyone on this blog considered the massive historical implications of Davis’ character in “The Help” ? Some people are critical of the historical inaccuracies of “The Help”, but I challenge anyone to visit a hip urban neighborhood. Believe me, there are plenty of “helpers” pushing baby carriages around. I challenge people to watch a few Hollywood films pre-1975, especially B & W. Many of “the help” were Black maids, butlers, etc…. Let’s face it, art was imitating life. Therefore, Davis’ character and the movie represents America’s racist past, present, and future. Come on, look at this country people; it is always about the man-created institution-RACE! Logically speaking, where the academy is concerned, it is inevitable that the majority rules (over 90% white voters). Money talks and oh well, you know…
Dear Sasha,
My sincere apologies for not proofing my comments; I’ve been working all day. I will edit in the future. By the way, love your strong voice.
Cheers!!!!
But she never corrected me the many times i referred to her in the female pronoun.
And your comment about us getting a room? Lol.
Cinesnatch, Your instincts about such things are in tune with mine. Afrika was way too fluent in the gay vernacular to be unaware of the image he projected. She aggressively invited confusion by hazing over the definitions of her/his inclinations. That’s casually intriguing until the cocktease aspect devolves into nothing more than asexual male bitchiness. Not a game anybody should challenge us to until they’re advanced to upper-intermediate level, right?
Thanks for the opportunity for each of us to clarify where we’re all coming from.
DMS — proofing? happy to do that for you.
Hey Ryan, thanks! I shall return to this extremely invigorating and provocative site.
So, what other actresses are overdue for their SECOND Oscar? Spacek!!! Keaton!!! McDormand!!! Bates!!! Hunter!!! Swinton!!! Blanchett!!!
We spend so much time complaining about Close, Moore, and so many others who’ve yet to earn their first. But only with Streep do we hear loud campaigning for a repeat win. So now that she’s taken care of, whose the next-most overdue previous winner?
Yes Sasha. I indeed wrote that, because your defense of “The help” is just sickening.
This really is a jungle, isn’t it?
Whatever TIME, Ebert, EMPIRE, Berardinelli, New York Film Critics, or any other reputable (or not) critics say, people will bitch and moan and cheer and rejoice and get disappointed and angry and happy and defensive and offensive and all the rest of it because of the elephant in the room hardly anyone talks about anymore: the art behind this industry we love and hate so much. The art speaks to all of us in different ways, the performances and films move us because a) b) c) or d) reasons that are all our own, sometimes shared with other kindred spirits, sometimes ridiculed and mocked by people who feel just as strongly as you about a completely different performance or film. It’s all in the game. This is what makes the ticking of the clock more exciting.
The trick is not minding that you mind, and that’s the way it should be.
So I’ll just say it one last time here in the lingo of the web we all find ourselves sharing and weaving: Meryl Streep’s Thatcher > all 4 other nominated performances. Viola Davis, the beautiful and talented actress that she is, will find her way again to the Kodak, of this I am sure. The times, they are achanging. Colman and Swinton were not even recognized and gave some of the best female performances from the year. This shit happens all the time people.
Why aren’t we talking about the second most deserved prize of the whole night and the one that came as a complete and utter shock in the best possible way (but still made me lose my friendly Oscar pool…bastards): Girl with the Dragon Tattoo winning Editing. That was the best editing of the year right there, and it freakin’ won. Am I the only one that’s so delighted about this outcome?
“Viola Davis … will find her way again to the Kodak …The times, they are achanging”
They certainly are Nik Grape. Davis will never make it to the Kodak again. No one will. The Kodak doesn’t exist anymore.
Great post, Sasha — strange as it might sound to think of it this way, between this piece and your Cannes coverage, you make a great travel writer.
–the commenter formerly known as ‘qwiggles’
MIK and NIC V agree!
i’m gobsmacked at your reaction sasha, not so much the article as you’ve been drumming that tune all award season! but your answers in the comment section , there’s such a visceral violence in your reactions, time after time that i feel is disproportionate in regards to the subject at hands: an award ceremony!
i can’t understand that! this snapping , retaliation has got to stop! you tell people to go elsewhere etc etc but then why have a comment section to your blog if there’s no room for discussion or even considering others opinions!At the very least i’m always trying to understand your opinions, where you’re coming from even if i don’t agree and i say as much in my comments to you and ryan !
its off-topic but i’m a soccer fan and i was extremely bitter for over a week after AC MILAN lost the champion’s league cup in 2005 vs LIVERPOOL after leading 3-0 at halftime, i could not believe how i reacted back then i didnt watch that competition for 2 yrs until AC MILAN was back in the final again and won it, i was aware enough to take a healthy step back and put the whole soccer thing in perspective and now have a more healthy soccer fan life and enjoy the sport even more now that its not a life or death situation to me, and have been applying it ever since.
you should check up this poem by rudyard kipling “IF” it is indeed very inspirational whenever i feel my blood boiling or certain things in life unfair i remember it and i check my behaviour in accordance!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If%E2%80%94(link)
all this said i know you must be smarting from davis loss but please have more faith in her in spite of the odds! the way you’re looking at things is a disservice to her more than un-pied-de-nez at those who were rooting for her, not saying what you’re doing is absolutely wrong but a little more balance would go a long way , but hey if this is the way you like your site by all means en avant! after all i’m just an anonymous visitor!
if nothing else please read the poem if you haven’t before, you’ll be the richer for it! as usual i start off very strong yet by the end i’m always trying to be the diplomat , such is my plight in life wanting people to get along or disagree in a healthy manners that doesnt involved online daggers and poisons! c’est la vie
well i read the other half of the comments and huhhh ok then!
once again ryan i have to say you most certainly know how to articulate your opinions in a rational manner, impressive in its consistency!
sasha please if you even bothered to read my previous comment pay no mind to what i said! far be from me to tell you how to run your site!
i apologize , i can’t keep up with your virulent stance!
You’re strongly opininionated OK! the oscar seasons these past few years have coloured your posts OK i can understand that!!
well ok then huh ciao until next oscar season maybe ,surely by then i will have forgotten how bitter and nasty this one got but i’m not sure i’ll comment again!
i have been coming here for the past 2 yrs but never commented and for whatever reason(what was i thinking!!) decided to join in in the discussion WOW the sea was rough, the jungle was extremely harsh and incredibly lethal, i think i’ll stay on the sidelines and enjoy the view from the sand!
aurevoir then…:(
Sasha Stone: “I felt Meryl was going to win at BAFTA. I had championed Davis and hoped she would prevail from day one. The Iron Lady SUCKED BIG HAIRY BALLS. Streep should never have won for that performance in that film. But whatever. Streep fans get to have their day. Yay, lucky them.”
I don’t always agree with Sasha, but I think she’s spot-on here. It’s sad for Streep to win her third Oscar for a ridiculous performance in such an abysmal film.
eclipse22,
you should comment more often.
I had written a reply to you 15 minutes ago but I deleted it — because the deeper I got into reading what you wrote, the more I could see how carefully and amiably you’re trying to express yourself.
My first reply wasn’t necessary. I don’t have much problem with anything you’re saying.
there’s just this:
The comments are here for discussion about movies; discussions for us to consider other opinions about filmmakers.
But time and time again, people show up to write lengthy essays discussing Sasha’s attitude or mine. I’m sorry if this sounds like a visceral violent reaction to you — but I am not interested in considering anyone’s opinion of my personality. Nobody is interested in that. Nobody comes to the site to read critiques of my temper flareups.
(I don’t even ever flare up unless I feel somebody is nagging me. I don’t even let my own mother nag me. Why would I put up with it from a stranger, right?)
Awards Daily has thousands of readers and the most articulate friends of the site contribute hundreds of great comments every day. We love that. We just don’t need unsolicited personality advice cluttering up the smart movie discussions.
It’s only a very small handful of people who ever get asked, “If the site doesn’t suit you, do you need help finding your way out?”
I mean it though, eclipse22 — you should comment more often. More readers like you, fewer readers like [..deleted..]
That’s how I’d like to improve the discussions. By putting all the burden of being less snappish on YOU GUYS.
You’ll find out that Sasha and I would rather have fun than be defending site management all the time.
Don’t like a hissing cat? Don’t deliberately pull its tail, right?
I like what Ryan and Sasha do. But I think the site would probably be better if they didn’t even comment on other people’s comments. The articles themselves should represent their say. Why fan any flames here? Oh, I get it…because it means more hits. Follow the cash, y’all…
As I’ve said, I respect your work, Sasha. It’s often brilliant. The topics, the articles, it’s what I come here for. And I also love that you stand your ground against the more immature, instigatory, violent commenters.
But really, I don’t think you realize how you are coming across in the last few days (and particularly this thread). It’s like someone else has literally put a chip on your shoulder, and you can’t decipher violent commenters from devotees. Some of your responses have been curt and unwarranted when you normally offer snarky-but-understandable defense of the comment-in-question. And I DO respect that you get an exorbitant amount of nasty folks that you have to wade through. That sucks.
But I think don’t think it’s fair to your readers to dismiss them (“then go elsewhere”) and respond in the way that you have (to those of us who have loved this site and not been one of your violent reactionaries).
Oh, and I’m not the “John” above this last post, haha.
Streep should have won her third for her comedic work — it fits her career narrative and it plays to her strong suit.
“But I think the site would probably be better if they didn’t even comment on other people’s comments.”
I’ve deliberately stayed out of this battle because Sasha and Ryan are more than capable of defending themselves with intelligence and grace (yes, even “sucks big hairy balls” has a certain grace to it).
One of the reasons I prefer this site is because the site owners interact with the commentors. You get good writing and analysis, you get clarification and discussion, and sometimes you get a fiery battle against the bullies that would normally make me pack it in and move on. The revealing discussion during the Ratner/Murphy thing is the perfect example.
I don’t envy their jobs, but I assume that they love it and that it satisfies their crusader genes. I think a lot of the fun was brought down this past season because, with more readers and commentors come more assholes looking for attention, like jackals following the herd.
Sasha and Ryan – you do an outstanding job running a website that caters to serious movies lovers and you manage to do it in a unique manner where we feel free to express ourselves and interact with you guys. Sasha, you sometimes comment to detracors that “you don’t know me and I don’t know you,” and while that is very true for good reason, you have somehow created an atmosphere where we all feel at home.
Thanks for all your hard work this past year.
“You have not been reading me for very long if that’s what you think. I have NEVER brought any joy or magic or enchantment. You have me confused with someone else. Crouching Tiger vs. Gladiator, that’s how far back the bitterness goes, pal. And if you were here for Brokeback Mountain you never would have said that. You might have caught a wave of those three years when things were GOOD – The Departed, No Country, The Hurt Locker. Those three years things were very very different. I am writing about the world of Oscar that I am experiencing. I will draw readers who are either challenged by this, turned on by it or put off by it. Two years ago I was answering comments exactly like this one. And you don’t know me. I don’t know you.”
This is the kind of over the top reaction I’m talking about. I’m not being impolite here, I’m not being rude. I’ve followed this site since 2002 when Fellowship of the Ring was nominated, I am pretty sure that 10 years constitutes ‘very long’. Whether you realise it or not that coverage and the way you deal with the whole process HAS changed, surely enough loyal and long term contributors have pointed it out to make you realise that its the case. Maybe you were just better with playing the ‘not minding’ trick back then whereas now its perfectly clear that you DO mind hugely, you also seem to mind if people disagree with you enough to regularly argue and belittle people’s opinions in the comments section. Even going so far as to tell them outright that they are wrong and that you dont respect their opinion at times…which I dont recall you doing to anywhere near the same extent before the last couple of years. You dont know me, that much is true, but I think that the thousands of lengthy articles that I’ve read over the last ten years is enough to give me knowledge of whether the way you are covering the Oscars, reacting to the process and dealing with people who disagree with you has changed.
“If anyone has an issue with the slant or attitude of the site it would great if those issues were raised in a reasonable well-meaning tone like you’ve done. But you know as well as I do, that’s rarely the case. More often the complainers attack in harsh terms. We don’t have 10 hours of free time to enter into diplomatic negotiations with 20 angry terrorists every day.”
In complete honesty, I see many posts on this page that demonstrate issues with the attitude of the site that are presented in an impolite way, and many that are presented in a polite way and but for a few exceptions they have overwhelmingly been responded to in an incredibly snarky and spiteful way (generally along the lines of ‘If you dont like it, you’re free to leave’ in the best cases, which kind of suggests that you’re simply not interested in any views or opinions that conflict with your own, even if they are given with the most honourable of intentions, every negative post is being given the same treatment. Which brings me to the point:
“I like what Ryan and Sasha do. But I think the site would probably be better if they didn’t even comment on other people’s comments. The articles themselves should represent their say. Why fan any flames here? Oh, I get it…because it means more hits. Follow the cash, y’all…”
I agree with Dean again here. I know that you dont care what people think about how you come across, how you write or anything like that, you have said it enough times (even though I think that attitude is a little short sighted) but you cover the Oscars and seem to hate it, you get invited to the Oscars…and seem to hate it. You have a comments section that you constantly find yourself embroiled in squabbles on and if anyone was planning on leaving feedback…by your own admission you dont care what anyone has to say on the subject. This place did not used to be so negative and it is not just the trollish commentors making it that way.
Whether you realise it or not that coverage and the way you deal with the whole process HAS changed,
Yes, it HAS. Intentionally. If I was providing the same coverage in the same way since 2002 I would shoot myself.
I agree with Dean again here. I know that you dont care what people think about how you come across, how you write or anything like that, you have said it enough times (even though I think that attitude is a little short sighted) but you cover the Oscars and seem to hate it, you get invited to the Oscars
I’m glad you all agree. So — what are you going to do about it? Stick around and tolerate the abuse or head elsewhere? Because from my standpoint, I cover the Oscar race I see – which is disgust from last year and horror from this year (Davis over Streep, not The Artist winning). I react to it and I write about it. I get as much support from everyone else “out there” as i get these kinds of letters. I’m tired of having to defend myself. I am taking the direction that I feel is the right one. I am trying to change the way the Oscars are covered. I used to be the only one out there – I am not any more. And so my way of evolving is to do it differently. I’m sorry it isn’t to your liking but you’d best be advised to find a new site to hang out with because until the Oscars change, the coverage ain’t gonna. When bad movies beat great films people should get mad and stay mad. Our brain dead culture accepts way too many things on face value.
I didn’t *get invited* to the Oscars. I applied as a press person and got a credential. There is a big difference there. Had I been “invited” I would have probably felt obligated to kiss their asses a little bit more. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do that. The people I feel grateful to are those who put on the event, the press office and everyone who puts the show together – they are an amazing, dedicated, hard working staff – the best I’ve ever seen. The higher ups? The hideous way the Oscars vote? No, pal, get mad and stay mad because nothing is ever going to change otherwise. And thanks for your thoughts.
But really, I don’t think you realize how you are coming across in the last few days (and particularly this thread). It’s like someone else has literally put a chip on your shoulder
People said the same thing last year, John. When things go well, when a great movie wins everyone feels happier. When bad stuff goes down, they don’t. I never had to deal with such ugliness as what went down on this site over Meryl Streep this year. When it was Sandra Bullock the ugliness was kept at bay. But that it was Viola Davis — you guys don’t see the worst of the comments because we delete them. But do you know what someone said to me yesterday? That they were glad I lost and “her little negro maid”. We have deleted over 70 comments. What bothers me is when people like you, the readers, tell me and Ryan how we should and shouldn’t behave. Sorry, that is not your right. You are invited to leave a comment here. If we approve it, we approve it. If we don’t, we don’t. End of story. I draw a hard line because I have to. You say you wish I wouldn’t even comment back? Well half the time I wish many of you wouldn’t either! But what can I do about it? I love it when the discussion is just about movies, too. I hate the shit that’s been brought up about Streep and Davis this year. It has brought out the worst in people and no Oscar win is worth that.
I do mean it: go elsewhere if you don’t like the coverage. I mean that both because I’m annoyed having to deal with this kind of shit and for your own sake. You should never hang around where you feel like you’re being abused. No one should.
Moreover, Awards Daily has A LONG HISTORY, a lot longer than many of you remember. A few do, like Bob Burns, who has been here since the beginning, and Kris and Nat and people like that. Oscarwatch used to be a message board mostly. A site with news that took no viewpoint. I simply reported on the Oscar race objectively. The message boards was where all of the action was because they were arguing, debating and putting forth their points of view. As I’ve been covering this race, over 13 years, I saw things. Ugly things. Terrible, horrible things. And occasionally great things. Once David Poland said publicly that all Oscarwatch was was a “message board” I worked hard to create a voice, to create commentary, to separate myself from the readers. The blog software came along and there became comments. But those comments again created a wonderful community, which I love and appreciate. My focus is not on creating and cultivating that community. Ryan does a great job of that and seems to like it. But he didn’t live through those early days. We still have a forum, by the way, and that might be a better place for you if you hate my coverage so much. But the way I’ve evolved has gotten the approval of Bob Burns, someone who knows me very very well. And if he wrote me and told me I was crossing the line I would listen to him. But people who have only been coming here since 2002?
You do what you have to do. I respect your decision to leave or stay or whatever. But Ryan and I can only take so much before we snap. I agree with you that I should stay out of the comments but the comments also count as content on this site and therefore I am responsible for it. So you know the only thing that’s going to change is that I will stop being mad eventually. And I’m almost there. Not quite.
Oh, I get it…because it means more hits. Follow the cash, y’all…
Sorry, but you’re wrong. This site doesn’t make money because of the traffic or the commenters. It makes money because we are an important site to read during the awards race. The site would not be better if we didn’t comment because we’d be victims to people like Deena Jones Wig on a daily basis. Thanks for your comments but please do find another hang out if this one bothers you so much.
Yes Sasha. I indeed wrote that, because your defense of “The help” is just sickening.
As are you, Carlos. As are you.
Okay, I can see a little more where you are coming from now. If you’re tired of defending yourself, maybe stop defending yourself, like Dean said, maybe allow your opinions to stand for themselves via the articles instead of coming in here and sniping or disrespecting people that arent disrespecting you (again obviously I’m not talking about the people who ARE disrespecting you in here).
I can share your frustration with the Oscars, but I disagree with the way that you are going about it on a personal level. Streep’s performance was NOT horrible, many years it might have been Oscar worthy. However I believe that you turned the whole thing into a ‘Davis winning will be more important than Streep winning’ and created polarising views which turned into arguments. Personally I thought that Williams, Mara and particularly Swanson were all better than Streep’s performance. Why were they never really in the running? If your issues are with the Oscars, that seems to be a much bigger issue than hammering on about how you want Davis to win over Streep, that just seems to be papering over the cracks.
Same with last year. Yes The King’s Speech was not the best film of the year, but it WAS a very good film. The problem that year was that there was a range of exceptional films and your agenda/commentary turned it into ‘The Social Network vs The King’s Speech’ which was focusing on the little issue of the academy rather than looking at the wider issue of the fact that The King’s Speech was not as good as The Social Network, Black Swan, Inception, Toy Story 3 (the issue of why Sci Fi films and animated films arent given due reward is a bigger issue in general for the academy than the fact that TKS won over TSN)…and very possibly many of the other nominees (I certainly thought that The Fighter was better too).
As for the rest of the post about what I’m going to do about it. I’m not thin skinned and I’m not a naturally impolite person that is likely to ever be considered a troll. I get a lot of pleasure from this site, I dont think that its a case of either deal with it or leave as you seem to be saying (after all, if that is your advice, surely you wouldnt be trying to do anything about changing the Oscar process would you? You’d just give up on the whole thing). You read comments and I’ll keep leaving comments, I’ll leave feedback and you might ignore feedback, but maybe thats just the cycle.
Did you know that “Iron Lady” is a ‘white wash’ (pun intended) of Thatcher as prime minister. Inaccuracies aside, I literally took a nap during the film; it was sooooo awful. I love Meryl Streep as an artist, absolutely brilliant in “Doubt” and other films. However, her portrayal of Thatcher was mere mimicry and impersonation in a terribly scripted, imbalanced movie.
Yep. An Oscar win designed specifically for Streep to finally win. Terrible film, embarrassing way to deliver a biopic of Thatcher. But you know, no one really seems to care about that. They’d rather complain that Davis was a maid than talk about how The Iron Lady whitewashed Thatcher.
Are those pictures taken personally by you? If they were WOW! To be that close to people I admire for a while!
They are my pictures – you really should try to get there if you can – I’m sure you’d appreciate it a lot more than I did.
You are lucky because you get Ryan for most of the year
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rl1TJG17Wk
Ha!
“But people who have only been coming here since 2002?”
ONLY been coming here since 2002?
Following your site pretty much every day for 10 years is not something that should so easily be dismissed.
Following your site pretty much every day for 10 years is not something that should so easily be dismissed.
Not easily dismissed. But the way I’m changing and evolving will turn some people on and it will turn some people off. I’m not going to be doing this forever – believe it or not but this site isn’t my life. Trust me that I know best what direction to take things. If not, I understand completely. And I don’t really fault you for either your complaints or your leaving. People have come and gone for years and years and year around here. We can either moderate comments, delete them or engage with them. Probably doing as I am doing now, engaging, is the worst option. But after the exchanges that have gone on this year I may moderate them next year and that will really drive people away.
Oh, how boring this site would be if Sasha & Ryan agreed with everyone all the time (or even each other all the time!)
You two keep on writing and expressing whatever you want! Otherwise, what is the use of having your own site, right? I think most of us realize this isn’t a democracy!
I am sorry you have to deal with nasty, racist and mean comments like that on a daily basis, it has to wear on you after awhile!
While I disagree with some of your points of view, I always come here for insightful, passionate and compelling writing and analysis of the Oscars. Honestly, no one does it better.
As a fan of both actresses, I am sad that this year turned into a Viola/Meryl love/hate festival. But I think it just speaks to the work of both of those actors that they have such a passionate and rabid fan base.
As Brother Boy says in Del Shore’s “Sordid Lives” while performing in a mental institution: “I love my fans. They’re crazy, but they’re loyal.”
How bored I would be if you didn’t care enough to be outraged, Sasha. Even if I disagree with you-please keep getting angry-please keep writing about it. This site actually has a heart beat. There are not many that do.
I agree with you that I should stay out of the comments but the comments also count as content on this site and therefore I am responsible for it.
Honestly, gang, if we let the comment boards run wild with no monitoring and no attempt to guide discussions, it would soon be the kind of lawless frontier that no readers in their right mind would ever want to visit.
We hear some say that it’s wrong to suggest an aggressive commenter go find another site to aggravate because we should respect AD readers more than that. You should see the personal emails we get from readers WE LIKE asking us to please do something about ____ or ____ because they are being bullied or feel worn out by some of the troublesome comments that offend the good readers we want to keep.
These comment pages would be so full of offensive language about women, minorities and gay people — readers who say awful things to other readers. It’s not just attacks against me and Sasha.
It would be easier to have a more ruthless policy about comments (many sites do), and just be done with annoyances with no explanation. Instead we sometimes spend a couple of hours every day just holding press conferences like this, trying to smooth ruffled feathers.
The only good thing about that, is I do enjoy seeing Sasha articulate the guidelines, outline what she does, and why she does it.
Reminds me of the scene in Citizen Kane when Welles composes his “Declaration of Principals.”
I applaud you, Ryan and Sasha. I can’t believe someone would actually send a comment like that “maid” one. Racism is still alive, no doubt about it. But not all Meryl fans = racist bigots or rabid monkeys, which I’m sure (hope) you’ve already noticed.
Now in the spirit of respectfully disagreeing I feel like I must fly in my defensive position once more…
Yep. An Oscar win designed specifically for Streep to finally win. Terrible film, embarrassing way to deliver a biopic of Thatcher. But you know, no one really seems to care about that. They’d rather complain that Davis was a maid than talk about how The Iron Lady whitewashed Thatcher.
It’s a good thing then that is wasn’t a biopic of Thatcher because if it were it would truly be embarassing. Time and time again, Streep and Lloyd tried to explain this but somehow it always seems to fall on deaf ears. I don’t get it. The film is about the inner workings of an old person’s battle between reason and emotion. The fact that this person was the controversial Maggie Thatcher just made matters more interesting and easily translatable for a cinematic story.
So the Iron Lady didn’t “whitewash” (clever word choice there) Thatcher because its aim wasn’t to lay out Thatcher’s controversies that everyone who cares enough to know about the subject will already know about and have already made up their minds on movie or no movie, but they took an “easier” way out to avoid all the criticism and divisions and told a story centered on a powerful female character who made history in her country.
I think the movie speaks volumes about the strength and character of women, I’m honestly surprised that it’s not being championed by more female critics.
i’ve been a die-hard fan of meryl since i was a kid and was pissed when she lost to winslet and then to bullock. i didn’t care much for “the help” but thought viola and jessica were both great in the film (i never got the octavia talk at all though). so i was rooting for meryl even though i didn’t care for “the iron lady” at all. and then something happened. meryl won. and i was surprisingly a bit disappointed. viola should’ve won.
i realized that the reason i wanted meryl to win so badly was because as a 30-year old, i’ve never actually seen her win. and i wanted to see her honoured again because i always felt like she made very gay-friendly pictures, many of which were my favourites growing up. but she should’ve won for “doubt”. or “adaptation”. after she won, it became apparent to me that she won for the wrong film, the wrong performance, the wrong year. it was a “let’s just give it to her” win. which feels completely wrong. like when winslet won when she should’ve won for “eternal sunshine of the spotless mind”.
also, there’s already a rumoured whitney houston biopic in the works. i’d like to see viola in consideration.
Sasha, you wrote to me (about 10 posts ago):
“You say you wish I wouldn’t even comment back? Well half the time I wish many of you wouldn’t either! But what can I do about it?”
and ……
“You do what you have to do. I respect your decision to leave or stay or whatever. But Ryan and I can only take so much before we snap. I agree with you that I should stay out of the comments but the comments also count as content on this site and therefore I am responsible for it”.
I never wrote about that to you. That may have been the other “John” who commented prior to my post (haha, easy to confuse). But anyway, thank you for your response. I appreciate it. I still don’t love the way you dismiss some of your devoted readers. But I do understand a bit more where you’re coming from now. And I’m sorry that this process (over so many years) has made you a bit apathetic to the Oscar process. We all have our Oscar horses that fail to win, and we get upset. I totally get it. I will continue to read your articulate articles. I just may try to avoid controversial topics because the flow of comments/responses has become unfortunate. Thank you again, Sasha.
latest word is that Rihanna might be in line to play Whitney.
I’d like to see Viola Davis in a solid first-class literary adaptation. Something like Tony Morrison’s Sula.
For the record, I have no problem with this comments section being moderated to keep it civil. Moderation is used on all the best message boards. It’s more the bickering and dismissing of the reasonable (obviously they aren’t all reasonable) points because they differ that is more of a problem. Anyway, that’s the last I’m going to say on any of it today because I do love this site.
True story.
Lunch with my niece, 14. There’s an Iron Lady clip on Tv, because of the Oscar win. She asks me, why is that called Big acting and when others do it it’s called over the top? I just couldn’t reply, my jaw had just dropped. I’m so proud of her.
@Ryan Adams
The fact that you mentioned one of my favorite novels on this site is enough for me to say that….I LOVE YOU. PLAIN AND SIMPLE. We are on the same page LOL.
On a serious note
Were are all the great ideas to make Sula, The Bluest Eye, or one of my top favorite novels Things Fall Apart into films. These stories have Oscar written all over them.
Great piece, especially for describing to us what the Red Carpet shows never reveal.
But, as some have pointed before, I gotta say that the argument is a bit vicious …
“You see, the Oscars aren’t really anything important. They aren’t curing cancer or helping the poor. They are a night for back-patting and really nothing more. They can’t mean anything because the people voting on them don’t consider them carefully enough for them to mean something. They vote for whom and what they “like.” They are film awards as a Facebook status update.”
So, what´s the point of the whole Viola Davis campaign? Either the “system” can be infiltrated and fought from within, or it cannot. But you gotta choose a coherent strategy. If change can come incrementally by playing the rules and eventually winning, then the Oscars ARE IMPORTANT, your frustation notwithstanding.If not, better forget them, at least as an indicator of social change.
“Ryan makes it a lot better for readers than I do.”
Amen to that.
Ryan, “Crimes and Punishment is right up there with Hannah and Her Sisters Karamazov!” That’s classic. Brings me to a chuckle every time I’m reminded of it, and I’m reminded of it a lot, that’s every time I come here and see your avatar. And that’s just one of your countless zingers.
Thanks for another very engaging season, engaging in a combative sense, and that’s perfectly fine. Sasha, you always said you take hard line stances to keep the discussions from becoming boring. And boring this site is anything but. Just look at this thread.
I’m looking forward to next season. The ratings are up, so the show will go on.
Afrika = Deena Jones Wig. Really?
Sasha, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but your comment about Swank’s acceptance speech is still one of my favorite zingers:
“And the Oscars aren’t over until the girl from the trailer park thanks her publicist!”
Hindsight is 20/20, but predicting Viola Davis for the win was wishful thinking.
I don’t think she ever had a chance. Sasha is right.
The Iron Lady was not about Margaret Thatcher, it was about getting Meryl’s third Oscar.
The entire role was designed to push the Academy voters buttons.
Not only Weinstein had his machine behind it, but Meryl did everything but kiss babies campaigning for the award.
You’re right Sasha, it was not a fair fight.
I’m not saying that Meryl wasn’t great. What feels wrong, is that it was such a naked ploy for the Oscar. The movie should’ve been named FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.
Not only Weinstein had his machine behind it, but Meryl did everything but kiss babies campaigning for the award.
My God…can we get over this already? Did everyone forget how EVERYONE was saying Meryl was campaigning more for Viola than herself in the beginning? Then all of a sudden, after the BAFTA win I guess, it was all “oh Meryl wants this one badly”.
Did Viola not do absolutely everything possible to make sure she had a good chance? Campaigning like crazy with Oprah, Smiley, Fresh Air etc. What exactly did Meryl Streep do to campaign SO MUCH this time around and convince everyone that she wanted her third Oscar so badly for this movie? She did a Fresh Air interview? Got an honorary Bear at Berlin? I don’t get it, seriously. People say “Oh Meryl wanted this one badly” as if that’s a bad thing and should be used against her just because Viola lost. It’s driving me nuts this warped logic seriously.
Can we stop blaming Meryl Streep or the Weinsteins for this and just accept the fact that she was deserving of an Oscar for that role whether you liked the movie or not? It sucks that it came at the same time as Viola Davis’ first co-lead role but everyone is implying that she’ll never have another chance EVER AGAIN to win another lead Oscar. Can we be serious here. She’s a fantastic acctress, her SAG win shows how much people love and admire her, and she’ll get another starring role. The Academy is full of white males but they are evolving and changing slowly, minorities are getting more recognized, now that Supporting roles are not enough to be admired/praised for I’m sure a lot of people are going to make sure the Academy members understand how important it is for a black actress to get a lead role/win. Hell, some people are already predicting that she’s going to get nominated NEXT YEAR for her role in Won’t Back Down.
This is getting to be a bit too much. Knowing how Meryl Streep chooses roles, how many times she hasn’t won in the past, you really think she looked at the opportunity to play one of THE prominent women in history of the 20th century and said “Hmm…I want to do this because I am so desperate for a third Oscar”. No. If you know anything about her you know that she doesn’t choose roles for these asinine reasons. Everything we know about her points to the fact that she would be the FIRST person to be delighted for Viola Davis winning; she never stopped promoting her after Doubt. She was geniunely surprised to have won, as was a lot of people actually since practically all the pundits were predicting Davis. But now that she lost, of course in hindsight it was just “wishful” thinking. Give me a break, please.
Yeah Weinstein saw an opportunity to cater to the voters with this role for Streep. It is extremely baity. (But don’t kid yourself that Viola’s role wasn’t baity either.) They are Weinstein, they have a huge hard on for the Oscar we all know this but that does not mean Streep chose this role for the same reasons and that her doing “everything but kiss babies” (what a ridiculous comment) was the only reason she got the Oscar.
You hated the movie? Fine. You think Streep is a good actress but she didn’t do a good job portraying Thatcher? That’s very confusing. Even Sasha, the biggest Viola supporter this side of the blogosphere, admits Streep did a good job.
Stop blaming the rules of the game when they don’t suit your desired winner and try to be happy that an iconic actress was recognized by her peers for her consistantly fantastic performances including her latest one of Maggie Thatcher that NO OTHER WOMAN could of done better. Performance like that deserve awards, why is that so crazy to believe?
Viola Davis will have another chance, people in the industry will make sure of it. When I said the times they are achanging I wasn’t referring to the freakin Kodak theater like someone else pointed out. Wherever they decide to host the Oscars in the upcoming years, Davis will be there sooner or later.
Shit man, after all this noise dies down people will look back at Streep’s performance in The Iron Lady and go “ohhh ok, yeah, OBVIOUSLY”. Mark my words.
I’m not saying that Meryl wasn’t great.
I didn’t catch this statement, appologies for the comment I made regarding her performance in my earlier post.
All I know is I am in the picture where George Clooney is shaking hands with some of the crowd…!!!