Issue 05: Another Year, Another Oscars
We did it, everyone! We survived another awards season chock-full of craziness and controversy! Don't look now, but people are already spitballing their 2017 Academy Awards predictions—please don't give them the time of day. Yes, I myself anticipate Silence and The Birth of a Nation will make big waves, but you will recall that at this time last year Mad Max: Fury Road would never have been mentioned in the same breath as Oscar; it now has six.
The Mad Max semi-sweep of the technical categories was one of last night's biggest satisfactions. The others were mostly expected. Leonardo DiCaprio finally has an Oscar, so we can put all those memes to bed; Ex Machina surprised with a win for visual effects, becoming one of the lowest-budget winners in that category ever; legendary composer Ennio Morricone has the competitive Oscar that was rightfully his for The Mission nearly thirty years ago.
And in the bottom of the ninth, when all signs were pointing to a Revenant win—a coup that would have made Alejandro G. Iñárritu the first-ever director of back-to-back Best Picture winners—Spotlight surprised from behind (its only other win last night was for Best Original Screenplay, the first award handed out at the ceremony). Pundits and critics everywhere heaved a huge sigh of relief. While Spotlight may have been second or third to Mad Max or Carol in the critical consensus for the year, many found it a worthier winner than The Revenant in all of its bombast and vapid machismo. But to each their own.
It's hard to talk about the Oscars without fashion coming into the conversation. Historically I've never cared much for this side of the Oscar night chatter, but I'm increasingly fascinated by the contours of red carpet politics. Chris Rock made the point most worth making with regard to the double standard for male and female attendees—men never have to field the “Who are you wearing?” inquiry because they're all dressed almost identically. As for the women, there were no swan dresses this year to make for a good water cooler laugh (although some in the media mistook Carol costume designer Sandy Powell for Tilda Swinton?!), but tastefulness speaks volumes all the same.
By this point in the awards circuit, Brie Larson and Alicia Vikander arrived basically already knowing they would be walking home with statuettes; their tasteful pop-of-color dresses reflect a smart power mentality. It was neither woman's night to usurp the A-list throne from Jennifer Lawrence (who crashed the red carpet characteristically late), but both could stand to use the night as an investment in their career future. (Larson immediately skedaddled back to Vietnam this morning to continue shooting King Kong; Vikander will likely be working the awards circuit again in a year's time for The Light Between Oceans, the trailer for which just dropped last week). In an industry where youth is a hot commodity and talent is no guarantee on future projects, fashion becomes one of the means by which actresses can assert a modicum over their career. Just ask Margot Robbie and Naomi Watts, who have been topping the best-dressed chatter despite their not being nominated this year; both have star-remaking projects in the works for this year and beyond and clearly stand to benefit from the increased paparazzi attention.
(Granted, it is not entirely up to the actresses to dictate the message their fashion choices send. As Alexandra Jacobs points out for the New York Times, the #OscarsSoWhite phenomenon extended to the red carpet, where the European hegemons of the luxury industry squeezed designers of color [Jason Wu, Vera Wang, Duro Olowu] out of the spotlight.)
But now I'm running away from my area of expertise. Every year the Oscars are a fun and frustrating diversion, and this year's show was loaded with more conversation starters than usual. But you don't need me to tell you that—in roughly…5…4…3…2…NOW, your publication of choice will start churning out the Oscar thinkpieces.
And then…with the Cannes film festival lineup announcement a little over a month away…the awards conversation will begin anew! Everybody gather your bearings, take a deep breath, and enjoy the annual reprieve from the Oscar prediction navel-gazing while it lasts.