Bigelow accepts the top Directors Guild of America award, the first woman so honored.
By Melissa Silverstein
Women & Hollywood’s blogger here assesses the implications of a historic win for Kathryn Bigelow.
In less than one week, March 7 to be exact, the Hollywood awards season will be over, and chances are very good that for the first time a woman—Kathryn Bigelow—will have won the best director Oscar for The Hurt Locker. Three other women (Lina Wertmuller, Jane Campion and Sofia Coppola) have been nominated in the 82 years that the Academy has held its awards, but with due respect to them and their films, none of them had a shot.
This year is different. Based on earlier awards by critics and more recently by the Directors Guild (a first for a woman director) and the British academy (BAFTA)—as well as conversations with several Oscar watchers—the consensus is that Bigelow is at the front of the pack to win the award. Last week, Time magazine got into the act titling its story “The Front Runner.” Forgive me for not sounding the trumpets in advance but we all have seen female front runners fade. While there are many reasons to believe that Bigelow will win, there is something in the back of my head that screams caution remembering the Gloria Steinem piece from the 2008 election season “Women are Never Front-Runners.”
While Hollywood’s gender politics are small potatoes compared to our national struggle with gender, they are a microcosm—albeit a better dressed one—for many different issues we struggle with on a daily basis. Yes, Hollywood has a chance to make history, and long time Oscar watcher Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood believes that Academy members will take this as an “opportunity to right this wrong, to do the right thing and be high minded as they like to be.” But the reality is even if Bigelow wins, women directors still have a long, long way to go.
Already 2009 is perceived by some as Hollywood’s “year of the woman” because a) two films with female leads—New Moon and The Proposal—made it into the top ten grossing films, and b) many high profile female directors released films, including Nora Ephron, Nancy Meyers, Mira Nair, Jane Campion, Anne Fletcher, Lone Scherfig (whose film An Education is nominated for best picture) and of course, Kathryn Bigelow. But just like 1992 was no watershed “year of the woman” in politics—as Anne Kornblut points out in her new book Notes from the Cracked Ceiling—statistically speaking, in 2009, the proportion of women directing top-grossing films actually regressed two points to 7 percent, the same level as 1987.
Kathryn Bigelow, her career, her film, and yes her gender have come together this year to form the perfect storm that could conceivably vault her to the top. The facts of her ascension are as bizarre as a movie script. Where else but in Hollywood could a woman-directed war movie made on a shoestring budget conceivably beat out a film (Avatar) that pushed Hollywood’s technological barrier and broke all box office records? On top of that, the competition happens to be directed by someone Bigelow was married to for a couple of years a couple of decades ago.
Gender is one of the issues that undid Hillary Clinton, but it could be, as Thompson suggests, one of the main reasons why Bigelow wins. “They (Academy voters) will in fact vote for Kathryn Bigelow for best director because she is a woman. There is no other way to look at it. I know this is true,” says Thompson, adding, “It is not a bad thing.” Her win will not be devoid of controversy. Kathryn Bigelow has charted an atypical career for a female director. She doesn’t direct “chick flicks,” never has, and most probably never will. She works outside the gender box that so many women get stuck in.
In spite of the deep and abiding desire to see a woman break through this particular glass ceiling, the real possibility that the first Oscar award winning woman director will win for making a war film is almost a kick in the gut to many who make the types of films that most interest female ticket buyers. Bigelow works in a male paradigm and is being rewarded for that. Sasha Stone of Awards Daily said: “…the Academy and the industry are the ones to fault here for paying attention to a film directed by a woman because it is about men. The only thing that’s new about it is that a woman was able to make a film every bit as good as a man would have.” The honest truth is that women’s experiences and lives don’t rate at the same level with men’s, and Bigelow is just another reminder of that fact.
One of the big reasons why The Hurt Locker has vaulted to the top is precisely because men love this film. In an email, awards watcher Pete Hammond wrote: “No matter how crass this sounds, (the film) actually looks like it was directed by a man. We don’t often see gritty war movies with female directors.” There is almost a sense of awe mixed with condescension that a woman could have directed such a movie. Blogger Scott Feinberg, of And The Winner Is, said: “She took on a genre—the war film—that is considered a guy’s genre and made a better film for less money than virtually anyone else.” Even though The Hurt Locker is about male experiences and war, it is not your typical war movie. It explores the minds of the characters as intensely as the multitude of bomb explosions. And maybe, just maybe, the reason why this movie has gained critical success is precisely because it is directed by a woman.
Not surprisingly, the men seem to love Bigelow the person. It’s not that women don’t love her too. Anne Thompson reported that when she won the BAFTA award the women at a luncheon watching the ceremony were whooping with excitement. It’s just that the men like her—a lot. They like the way she looks, the way she talks, and of course that she made a movie that blows things up. Daily Beast writer Nicole LaPorte, who wrote “Oscar’s Sexist Plot Against Kathryn Bigelow,” said: “There is huge good will towards Kathryn not only because it will be a huge milestone but because she so perfect. She’s been working so hard, doing this for 20 plus years, she’s beautiful, she’s articulate, smart and however superficial some of those things are, they do matter.” Thompson adds: “She is very feminine, shy, ingratiating and well liked. All of these factors, whether we want to admit it or not, come into play here.”
Gender has come into relief in a very public way this Oscar season because of inclusion rather than exclusion. The visual of seeing Bigelow on the Oscar circuit and on TV and having a woman’s name and picture up on the screen when the five directing nominees are announced matters greatly. Young girls (and boys) across the country and the world will see that yes, a woman can be recognized as one of the best in a field that has for 82 years been so male dominated. One working director told Scott Feinberg that he hasn’t been to the ceremony in years but he is going this year and is bringing his daughter because they both want to be a part of history. The gender implications of this nomination are complicated, but that will not take away from the excitement and joy if another glass ceiling comes crashing down around us.
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16 Comments
Yes, we might call Katherine Bieglow the “Margaret Thatcher” of the film world — Thatcher could be respected by American conservatives because she was tougher and smarter than Reagan, and just as conservative. It appears that in male-dominated fields that women first have to excel at being like men to get men’s respect. We’ll know the revolution is here when men can respect excellence that is not obviously “macho.”
I am inspired by Kathryn Bigelow for her vision, her creativity, her passion about subject matter, the complexity of her story-telling and the fact that (in her own words) she sees herself as a director, not a female director! Of course, her winning will be introduced as ‘the first woman to …’ and it will forever change the landscape. I for one will greet this milesone with a sense of acceptance and celebration!
Excellent piece! I thought THE HURT LOCKER was a fine film and for all sorts of reasons, including breaking a glass ceiling, I certainly hope Kathryn Bigelow gets her well-deserved Oscar. But if she does, we will surely see 10,000 ridiculous articles proclaiming that this is the end of sexism in Hollywood. And that will be a lie, just as the alleged “Year of the Woman” in 1992 didn’t come within a mile of ending sexism in politics and government.
Melissa Silverstein’s analysis of the complicated gender implications of this particular Oscar nomination seems to me right on the mark. And I believe the same is true for Lucy Knight’s comment above. I hope an Oscar for Kathryn Bigelow will bring us closer to the day when a female director can win an Oscar for a film that has nothing to do with wars, bombs, or violence.
Excellent article, Melissa. And excellent comments too. Bigelow gave the perfect summation on 60 MINUTES last night: the WORK for all directors is the same, but the PATH is different for women. But please, let’s not forget that Bigelow’s first major film BLUE STEEL had a very strong female protagonist battling her way up in a male-dominated profession, and her most recent film THE WEIGHT OF WATER also had two female leads. So it’s even more significant that the film she’s rewarded for has virtually no female speaking parts (and these two films are rarely even mentioned).
Guys will have to ponder the implications of all this AFTER they’ve applauded her win. Meanwhile, keep in mind that Sofia Coppola got her Oscar nomination for a film that starred Bill Murray. When she released MARIE ANTOINETTE a few years later, she got trounced…
As usual, Melissa Silverstein has communicated the information with great clarity. Thanks for keeping us in touch with a world away that is unfortunately our literal backyard.
Excuse me? How awful, she made a war film! Excuse me?
Women are in the military. The country has two wars going on that have been going on for years. Kathryn Bigelow didn’t do you Melissa’s Jane Campion film and Jane didn’t get nominated even though Melissa was trashing — in the feminist sense of the term — Kathryn Bigelow and plugging Campion on Women’s Media Center’s WBAI radio program. You know what feminism is? Allowing each woman to pursue her own interests without labeling it “female” or “male.” The sexism Melissa has expressed is really getting tired.
I am so excited about this. I wlll incredibly disappointed if she doesn’t win. Yes, it’s a “guys movie” but if that’s what breaks through, fine. More women directors will follow. I went to NYU and so many of my women friend sat Tisch wouldn’t even consider being directors, they dated the directors. A woman winning will help to change that and eventually get more women’s stories made into movies.
Kathryn Bigelow’s potential win is HUGE news for women filmmakers. Bravo to making noise about it. WOO HOO!!!!
I think Melissa’s pieces are awesome. I also saw Bigelow on “60 minutes” and just now I realized why her film is unique and really might win. She is probably(as far as I know) the first director of a gritty war film to really expose the (male) addiction to violence which is such a factor in re-enlistment. I don’t know if a guy could have seen that. Thanks for the op to blog.
As C.I. said in today’s snapshot, Women’s Media Center decides to ‘celebrate’ Women’s History Month with feminity lessons. This article is insulting to any feminist. Who is this Silverstein woman to decide what is and isn’t feminine? And isn’t that really just a White girl concern anyway? Those of us who strong Black women never had the luxury of being ‘dainty.’ Silverstein’s column is objectionable and offensive and if a man wrote it we’d call it out.
Secondly, I don’t like when writers publish a story and then change something without noting they did a change. If Silverstein wants to change her article (and she has changed it) she needs to note that she’s changed it even if it’s just to say, “I mispelled so and so’s name . . .”
Although Melissa Silverstein’s correction should actually read, “After Ruth’s Report caught my error . . .”
http://ruthsreport.blogspot.com/2010/03/aclu-celebrates-womens-history-wmc.html
I want WMC to weigh in on when it became feminism to write what Silverstein written?
So by your logic, Frank Capra, Victor Fleming, William Wyler, Joe Mankeiwicz, George Stevens, Vincent Minelli, George Cukor, Bob Fosse, Warren Beatty, James Brooks and Jonathan Demme should all give back their Best Director Oscars for making movies about women when they weren’t women. This is exactly why feminism is so fractured and why most women of color actively avoid it — because feminists just can’t celebrate anything about a woman than men also admire. What a stupid, stupid article. I care about the war and I’m a girl. I don’t care who’s story is being told, it’s OUR story and Kathryn Bigelow got itright. She’s smart, classy and beautiful and last night she finally got the recognition she so justly earned. Deal with it.
This sexism in this column is appalling. And who is Melissa Silverstein to assign gender to films. She has every right to dislike a movie, she has every right to express her opinion that it’s a bad film or a good film. What she doesn’t have a right to do is to popularize gender stereotypes and do so at a feminist resource. This article is appalling.
From Jennifer Merin of WeNews
http://www.womensenews.org/story/arts/100401/wed-be-fools-not-reminisce-about-oscar-night
:
From the start, Bigelow’s nomination was surrounded by disparaging gender bias. Women and men in the industry and media suggested she is “one of the guys” because she makes action thrillers rather than romcoms.
Some took shots at Bigelow for not including female soldiers in “The Hurt Locker.” Why? This is a movie about a male bomb tech in an all-male bomb squad. Yes, women could function brilliantly on a bomb squad too. But “The Hurt Locker” doesn’t happen to be about a female-male dynamic. It’s about the addictive aspects of war; the danger, do-or-die commitment, adrenalin rush and interpersonal intensity.
Great information thanks for all!
Well, we all know what happened. It was an exciting time watching the award ceremony this year.
My prediction next year will be that there are at least two women nominated, just because I think she has inspired so many people.
-D
Julianna Margulies in The Good Wife Should stay a front runner. She has had many rolls and it seems has matured as an actor.