Women honored as Oscars reflect #MeToo moment
The national reckoning taking place over gender inequality and sexual harassment has indeed taken hold in Hollywood, signaled by Tuesday’s Oscars nomination announcements.
The slate of #MeToo-positive nominees included “Lady Bird’s” Greta Gerwig, who became just the fifth woman in the awards’ 90-year history to be nominated for best director, and Rachel Morrison, who became the first woman nominated for best cinematography, for “Mudbound.”
“While it’s hard to believe that this ceiling has taken so long to break, I am absolutely humbled and thrilled to re-
ceive this great honor,” Morrison said in a statement to Entertainment Tonight. Morrison also was director of photography for Ryan Coogler’s 2013 Oaklandbased feature “Fruitvale Station,” and worked with the director on the upcoming “Black Panther.” “I hope this nomination serves to encourage more women to throw a camera over their shoulder or to follow their dream, no matter how distant it might appear.”
The Academy also honored actresses in leading and supporting categories for embodying a variety of strong, unique and multifaceted female characters.
They include Frances McDormand’s vengeful, grieving mother in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Saoirse Ronan’s
teen rebel in “Lady Bird” and Meryl Streep as the courageous Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham in “The Post.” Streep’s nomination, by the way, is her 21st.
“I am honored beyond measure by this nomination for a film I love, a film that stands in defense of
press freedom, and inclusion of women’s voices in the movement of history,” Streep said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. She is one of the leading figures in the Time’s Up antisexual harassment initiative launched in the wake of a sexual misconduct scandals that have toppled several
powerful male figures in Hollywood.
The Oscars also avoided an #OscarsSoWhite controversy in the women’s categories by giving nods to Mary J. Blige for her dignified matriarch in “Mudbound” and Octavia Spencer for her compassionate friend in “The Shape of Water.” Blige also received a nomination for best original song, making her the first artist ever to be nominated for a performance and original song on the same film.
Notably left out of the nominations for best actor was James Franco for “The Disaster Artist.” Up until two weeks ago, the Palo Alto-born actor, director and writer was a strong contender for a best actor nomination, and he won Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice awards for best actor earlier this month. But he became mired in a sexual misconduct scandal, with
multiple women telling the Los Angeles Times that he had engaged in sexually inappropriate or exploitative behavior, mainly at two Los Angeles film schools where he taught.
In relation to sexual misconduct scandals, the Academy also chose to give a nomination for best supporting actor to Christopher Plummer, who replaced Kevin Spacey in Ridley Scott’s “All the Money in the World” after Spacey was accused of multiple allegations of sexual harassment and assault.
In the director’s race, the Sacramento-reared Gerwig will face off against Christopher Nolan for “Dunkirk,” Jordan Peele for “Get Out,” Paul Thomas Anderson for “Phantom Thread” and Guillermo del Toro for “The Shape of Water.” She beat out heavyweights Steven Spielberg for “The Post” and Martin McDonagh for “Three Billboards.”
Previous women nominated for directing include Jane Campion for “The Piano” and Sofia Coppola for “Lost in Translation. The only woman to win was Kathryn Bigelow for “The Hurt Locker,” back in 2010.
An emotional Gerwig told the Los Angeles Times Tuesday: “It means so much because it’s something that — I remember when Kathryn Bigelow won for best director, and I remember I was at my Oscar-watching party and I remember crying and feeling so excited and feeling like she did it … and so much more feels possible.”
Gerwig also received a nomination for best original screenplay. Two other women who had been mentioned in best director race were Patty Jenkins for “Wonder Woman” and Rees for “Mudbound.”