The rough-and-tumble Oscar race imprints a half dozen indelible lessons in Hollywood awards marketing. Going forward, expect rigorous scrubbing for social media accounts of heavily promoted talent and also pushing self-serving boundaries in defining supporting actor/actress.
A Variety article by Clayton Davis notes that old but incendiary social media posts by actress Karla Sofía Gascón (picture above) derailed front-runner status for her “Emilia Pérez” film. “Netflix poured millions into promoting ‘Emilia Pérez,’ and briefly seemed poised to secure its first best picture win,” observed the Variety article. Further, Gascón is the first openly transgender person nominated for an Oscar in acting, which gave it another lift as history-making.
But after the Gascón scandal erupted, momentum shifted to drama “Anora” from distributor Neon. It went on to sweep the Academy Awards with five Oscars, including Best Picture. Netflix’s “Emilia Pérez” collected just two.
On acting category chicanery (Variety used the phrase “category fraud”), Variety notes that the two winners of supporting actors really seemed to be leading actors. “For perhaps the first time in history, four ‘leading’ acting nominees won Oscars — despite two of those victories coming for ‘supporting’ roles. This was a direct result of some of the most blatant category fraud in recent memory.”
Best Supporting actor Kieran Culkin appeared in “A Real Pain” only four minutes less than that of ostensible star; and Zoe Saldaña had the more screen time in “Emilia Pérez” than the movie’s star Gascón. So, those roles seem hardly “supporting.”
Another lesson is independent films ride high because “Anora,” which was made for just $6 million, won with its very-low budget. “Gritty, dreamer-driven filmmaking continues to have a place in Hollywood,” observes Davis.
Other takeaways from Variety are worker diversity continues, and promising independent films that took big time-gaps between film festival runs to awards season were snubbed. “A Dominican actress, a Brazilian auteur, Palestinian and Iranian filmmakers and a Black costume designer all won awards,” notes Variety.
Another takeaway is emerging theatrical distributor Neon continues to ride high with “Anora,” which is the relationship drama about a sex worker who improbably marries a rich customer. Neon won Best Picture Oscar with 2019’s South Korean import “Parasite,” which is the first non-English-language to take Oscar Best Picture.
“By choosing ‘Anora,’” write Davis, “the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, once dismissed as old and out of touch, has demonstrated that it is open to movies that push the envelope, in terms of both language (there are more than 400 uses of the F-word in the film) and sexuality.”
Related content:
Leave a Reply