The Latest Hollywood Shit Show Is Now Aimed at the Actresses
But there’s still hope for women supporting women… - via thecherrypicks.com
Personally, I am over the moon that Andrea Riseborough received an Academy Award nomination for her brilliant performance in the itty bitty film To Leslie. Since I, too, make itty bitty movies (The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Swiss Army Man, God’s Country), it gives me real hope that, someday, one of my little films will get that kind of attention without having to blow through a gazillion-dollar publicity campaign that benefits the studios and not the film or its profit participants. The nomination for Best Actress for the indie To Leslie actually gave me hope.
I am less thrilled with the “investigation” and outrage about Riseborough’s nomination. An investigation implies something unethical, immoral, or illegal transpired, the idea of which makes my eyes literally roll to the back of my head. I might as well just quit making movies. I mean, isn’t it the Hollywood dream to be discovered? Isn’t the dream that we all, one day, win or get nominated for some award that could boost our career opportunities or at least close the pay gap?
Take note of all your dreams...
Yep, that’s the dream. The nightmare is being investigated by the Academy because a film had the audacity to make a measly $27,000 at the box office yet still get an Oscar nod. But as the ratings have proven, audiences outside of “The Biz” just aren’t as interested anymore. The show has lost the humor it once had, and the glamour feels excessive for today's world. The televised award show drags like a motherfucker regardless of who attends or what film is nominated. I used to love the Oscars telecast so much that I’d throw Thanksgiving dinners for my friends to give thanks that we got to even be in the business. Now I know better. With 25+ years of experience, now I know its way harder to get noticed if you make a movie, and it’s basically impossible to get any sort of Oscar or Golden Globe love unless your distributor has massive piles of cash they can throw at advertising to the Academy (because apparently advertising is not lobbying). It costs boatloads of money for “lobbyists,” otherwise known as studio communications departments, independent public relations, and marketing teams to attract attention. If your film doesn’t perform, it’s not worth the money.
So how did Riseborough get nominated when her movie effectively tanked? BECAUSE SHE WAS FREAKING BRILLIANT! Her peers—other performers, critics, and creatives—publicly acknowledged that she shined in this film. (Critics commended her performance, and you can read what CherryPickers had to say here.) I was proud to be a woman hearing the praise and support the other actresses demonstrated for their peers. That gave me hope. A hope that had eluded me for a long time, as I’m also an unknown actress and semi-known producer who makes independent films. God’s Country, my most recent film, showcased a stunning performance by Thandiwe Newton. Cate Blanchett even shouted out her name along with Riseborough’s as being among the best performances of the year by an actress (besides herself). This obviously thrilled me.
We love to see women supporting women...
READ MORE: ”Here Before”: An Interview with Andrea Riseborough
God’s Country didn’t rake in the dough at the box office either, though it definitely outperformed To Leslie. But God’s Country is a thriller, not a drama about a drunk mom who screws her kid up. The fact is, it can be hard to get people to go to the theaters to see sad stories, and especially ones about women and shitty moms. Films with good moms and powerful women—The Woman King and Till come to mind—feature characters we strive to be like. Viola Davis and Danielle Deadwyler also deserved a nomination. So did Thandiwe Newton. And it pisses me off that director Gina Prince-Bythewood and screenwriter Dana Stevens didn’t get nominations, nor did a single female director!
Haven’t watched them yet? Click to rent or buy The Woman King and Till.
READ MORE: Dana Stevens on Writing “The Woman King”
Regardless, the reality is that no one was “robbed” of a nomination and certainly not as a result of Riseborough’s inclusion, because that would be like saying we know she received the least number of votes. Who’s to say it wasn't Michelle Williams or Ana de Armas who eked out the nod? It’s a silly conversation until the Academy ever decides to reveal the actual vote count for nominations and victories. But they won’t, as that would be to admit the obvious, which is that, despite the Academy’s best efforts, we are still very far behind in equity and representation across the board. Watching the news and reading every article I could find about said “foul play” at the Oscars, it was evident that a big part of this controversy was exactly that: a lack of representation within The Academy. Some even stated that Andrea Reisbrough having more “powerful” friends than actresses not nominated gave her a privilege which got her in. And while that might be true, I am hard pressed to believe that one of the greatest actresses of all time, who somehow didn’t get nominated, does not also have powerful friends who would publicly support her.
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So then my question heads to WHY. Why didn’t the distributors or publisists of The Woman King do more? The whispers about the best actress performance for To Leslie started long before she got the nomination. So why didn’t the team around Till or The Woman King see this as a potential threat? You know why? Money. They could have gone that extra step; instead, they relied on the mass amounts of money they used to do the work for them. They assumed they had enough attention with advertising and sponsored emails though The Academy, swag etc. to secure their much-deserved nominations. They were wrong. They underestimated social media. Worse, they underestimated the inherent lack of representation in the Academy and the whole of the business of Hollywood.
I do hope this “actress shit show” is the start of more awareness for representation of sex, race, religion, and tiny indie films to become more incorporated into the consideration mix. But I can’t help but feel that, in order to have that be successful, we must stay the course supporting each other’s work and refuse to be divided. It’s hard enough competing with a business that’s over 70% male.
Throughout history, women have carried the false narrative as society has labled us as caddy, jealous, or constantly in competition with each other. Personally, I’ve never been one of those women and I hate the thought that this controversy might take away progress of the many movements that have propelled us forward as allies. Every step we take as actresses, producers, directors, and writers will help elevate more female stories, which is better for everyone.
I want to live in a world where we cheer for each other instead of interpreting one woman’s victory as another's loss. I choose to support my fellow filmmakers and actresses. How? Besides this article, founding CherryPicks, or making female-facing films when I can, I purchased the films The Woman King and Till despite having free screeners. There is an audience for women-led movies of every size. I hope you’ll watch Thandiwe Newton’s brilliant performance in God’s Country, too. And if you haven’t yet watched To Leslie, please do, because it’s not just a superb performance, it’s a film that instills hope within its STORY.
The message I took away from To Leslie is to NEVER GIVE UP because, despite all odds, we can still right our wrongs and fix what has been broken.
Read the full article on CherryPicks here.
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