The Hollywood Reporter has an exclusive on how the New York Film Critics’ votes went down – and it’s, well let’s just say it flies in the face of how we all assume critics vote. We don’t, for instance, picture them deliberately blocking a contender from getting any votes at all. Mainly, this is about the massive support for The Kids Are All Right:
But remarkably, NYFCC gave Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg best screenplay for Kids. How did that upset happen? The Second Ballot Gambit, says THR’s source. “There are three ballots. On the second ballot, you list your top three choices. You can diss your rival by leaving them entirely off the list.”
This tactic was used by at least one voter specifically to help screw Christian Bale out of a supporting actor nom. But the pro-Kids contingent was so passionate that they wangled not only the best screenplay and less-controversial best actress award for Annette Bening, but an almost completely unexpected best supporting actor win for Mark Ruffalo.
“Why a nomination for Mark Ruffalo?,” marvels THR’s source. “I don’t think he’ll ever be a mainstream movie star. But there’s a mellow indie vibe to him that critics like.”
“Social Network probably had broader, slightly shallower support,” says the source. The kids who liked Kids, especially the screenplay, were more like an intellectual SWAT team. “They were really, really into it.”
This is a great example of the new breed of critics as advocates. It is no longer, necessarily, about tastemaking. It appears that critics, especially the bigger groups that have just been announced, are trying to use their pull to push contenders through. The BFCA pushed Black Swan and the NYFCC pushed The Kids Are All Right. It would be interesting if their reviews backed up their support; they do not.
The Kids Are All Right has an 86 score from Metacritic. Not bad. If you look closer, you’ll see that the New York critics went nuts for it, though certainly not all. Twelve scores of 100. By contrast, the Social Network has around 24 scores of 100. We know much of this is due to Aaron Sorkin’s writing. However, I’m not going to argue with the NYFCC about their choice. I do see it as advocacy, however.
I am not saying one is better than the other; we are all in the business of advocating now. It makes a difference if a movie like Kids wins stuff. It makes a difference for women writer/directors, and a difference for lesbian parents – it’s a great move all the way around.
So I’m not complaining. Oh sure, I was pissed when I first heard the news. One can’t complain when The Social Network is winning everything right and left. But once I recognized that it was a political decision to advocate – I understood it better. It’s as much about the fight for gay marriage as it is about a movie they just really liked. It’s important to acknowledge this driving force with this film. It isn’t just your ordinary movie about a family; it is part of a progressive movement to help mainstream America understand that gay parents are as valid as straight ones. No one can complain about that. I certainly won’t.
The Christian Bale block, though, was a little more disturbing.  It is really hard to imagine Ruffalo beating Geoffrey Rush, Christian Bale and the many other supporting actors this year for a part that was okay, but nothing particularly exceptional. Even die hard anti-Social Network, pro-Kids people have to admit that much. So, they advocated for Kids and they fought hard for it.