{"id":831,"date":"2023-12-14T13:04:11","date_gmt":"2023-12-14T18:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/wrt118st-fa23\/?p=831"},"modified":"2024-08-28T15:59:28","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T19:59:28","slug":"ive-got-some-things-to-say-women-and-the-oscars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/wrt118st-fa23\/ive-got-some-things-to-say-women-and-the-oscars\/","title":{"rendered":"“I’ve Got Some Things to Say”: Women and The Oscar’s"},"content":{"rendered":"

Link to the video on Vimeo!<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When I read the prompt for this assignment- to remix a piece of media that lacks
\nadequate representation of some aspect of my identity- my mind immediately traveled to The
\nOscars. Undeniably, the awards show is the largest stage in the film industry where all the talent
\non screen, employers behind the camera and investors from production companies convene to
\ncelebrate the year\u2019s work and search for new projects to support creatively and financially. It\u2019s
\nalso an immensely culturally significant event, drawing in millions of live viewers globally and
\neven more online. Considering the importance of the event and the intensity with which the
\npublic examines it, one would think that The Oscars would present an accurate representation of
\nthe film industry. Disappointingly, it truly is not, and women have been dramatically excluded
\nfrom non-gendered awards categories every year since The Oscars began. When women aren\u2019t
\nshown the same respect as their male counterparts on a stage as far-reaching as this, it allows for
\na societal reinforcement of the false belief that women are not as good as men and therefore can\u2019t
\nbe trusted with something as financially burdensome as a film. There exists a cycle in the film
\nindustry where women are restricted from working important jobs on set such as director,
\ncinematographer, editor, composer, etc. because male producers haven\u2019t seen much female
\nfilmmaking nor have they seen widespread critical acclaim of female films, and therefore they
\ndon\u2019t value women\u2019s skills and creativity nearly as much as male filmmakers who have been the
\nface of Hollywood since its inception. That\u2019s why I tried my best to include many different
\nwomen of different backgrounds and different roles in my project- because I wanted to remix
\nhow women are currently included in the industry. The Oscars, being the focal point of
\nHollywood, absolutely have the power and the responsibility to break the cycle by nominating
\nwomen proportionately to men, but traditional patriarchal hierarchy has prevented them from
\ndoing so, and the film industry remains male-dominated as I enter it.<\/p>\n

This issue deeply resonates with my identity as a woman planning on working in the film
\nindustry as a filmmaker, so I wanted to use this project to critique the awards show and advocate
\nfor a wider respect for the ideas and art of women. In my remix, I aim to give women the time
\nand space to share genuine insights into their work, something they are robbed of in place of
\nquestions about their husbands and their dresses. I also aimed to celebrate the work of a woman
\nin filmmaking by scoring my video with two songs written and performed by a female film
\ncomposer, Mica Levi, originally for the movie Jackie. Looking back at my other works for this
\ncourse, I made sure to include in my montage of women sharing their ideas, some powerful
\nwords from Mary Harron who I wrote about in my \u201ccritical updates\u201d paper on American Psycho.
\nAdditionally and importantly, although I am white, as an activist and ally, I wanted to highlight
\nwomen of color since they have been statistically excluded much more severely than white
\nwomen in terms of Oscars nominations and wins.<\/p>\n

My project employs Judith Butler\u2019s definition of critique in a few different ways. First,
\nmy critique is dependent on and defined by the cultural object I\u2019m analyzing. In this case, my
\ncultural objects are several interviews on Oscars red carpets throughout the years, a video of the
\nmoment the first female director, Kathryn Bigelow, won the category for Best Director, and a
\nseries of female filmmakers speaking on their work in various interviews. The format of my
\nremix is a compilation or a video collage of these clips, so my critique is dependent on my
\ncultural objects. I add my own words briefly to clarify the message of my remix, but even then,
\nsome of my words contain statistics researched by a USC Inclusion project research team. More
\ncentral to my remix, however, is an examination of the systematic hierarchies present in the film
\nindustry that elevate white men and marginalize women. By comparing side by side red carpet
\ninterviews of men and women, I aim to show that while men are given deep, hard-hitting
\nquestions on the intentions and meanings of their films, women are flattered on their dresses, the
\nreal questions are deferred to their husbands, and when women rarely are presented with the
\nopportunity to share real insight- they are interrupted and taken less seriously than men. This
\nmakes my work a critique because I am responding to a culturally influential media by calling
\ninto question its traditional prejudices, therefore emphasizing a central contradiction in society\u2019s
\nframework where women make up fifty percent of our nation\u2019s population but are only
\nrepresented in seventeen percent of Oscars nominations.<\/p>\n

In a world consumed by a constant flow of new media, pure originality is extremely rare
\nto come by. Remixing is a much more accessible, common and creative way to pursue originality
\nin our current social landscape. If executed correctly, remixes are original content because they
\nshould be an infusion of the remixer\u2019s identity with source materials in an attempt to celebrate it
\nand\/or critique it. A successful remix will recontextualize source works into a new context that is
\ninfluenced by identity and personal experience. If a critique is a resistance to dominant thought
\nsystems by responding to a work that contains problematic hierarchies, then a remix can function
\nas a critique by relating those hierarchies to an identity you possess and challenging them by
\nremoving them from their original contexts and showing them in a new light. In the case of my
\nproject, I took a source work- The Oscars- whose initial intentions were to entertain the public
\nand to celebrate an exclusive selection of filmmaking, and I recontextualized it as a critique of
\nthe sexist framework of the awards show, effectively repositioning The Oscars into a new context
\nthat relates to my identity as a woman in film.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/p>\n

\u201cArrivals at the Academy Awards in 1994.\u201d Youtube, Oscars, 4 Feb. 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cBradley Cooper Feeling \u2018Pretty Grateful\u2019 at 2019 Oscars | E! Red Carpet & Award Shows.\u201d Youtube, E! Insider, 24 Feb. 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cCate Blanchett Calls Out E!\u2019s Glam Cam E! Online.\u201d Youtube, Our JoyLAND, 22 Jan. 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrances McDormand Wins Best Actress.\u201d Youtube, Oscars, 17 Apr. 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreta Gerwig on \u2018Lady Bird.\u2019\u201d Youtube, CBS Sunday Morning, 7 Jan. 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cHalle Berry & Gina Prince-Bythewood Discuss Filmmaking and Storytelling | Vanity Fair.\u201d Youtube, Vanity Fair, 1 Dec. 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs Scarlett Johansson an Adrenaline Junkie? | E! Red Carpet & Award Shows.\u201d Youtube, E! Insider, 27 Feb. 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cKathryn Bigelow Wins Best Directing | 82nd Oscars (2010).\u201d Youtube, Oscars, 10 Mar. 2010.<\/p>\n

Levi, Mica. The End. 2 December 2016. Youtube, Milan Records USA.<\/p>\n

Levi, Mica. Vanity. 2 December 2016. Youtube, Milan Records USA.<\/p>\n

\u201cLive from the Oscars 2018: Red Carpet Interviews with Hollywood Stars and Filmmakers.\u201d Youtube, Washington Post, 4 Mar. 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cMira Nair Interview on \u2018Monsoon Wedding\u2019 (2002).\u201d Youtube, Manufacturing Intellect, 20 Feb. 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cOscars 2013 Red Carpet Arrival Live Full Version.\u201d Youtube, ABC, MrSagitarius13, 25 Feb. 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cOscars 2023: MUST-SEE Red Carpet Moments | E! News.\u201d Youtube, E! News, 13 Mar. 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cOscars Red Carpet 2014.\u201d Youtube, ABC, Ajay Pulivarthi, 4 Mar. 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cRaw: Jennifer Lawrence Backstage after 2013 Oscar Win.\u201d Youtube, CNN, 25 Feb. 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cRed Carpet Arrivals: 1993 Oscars.\u201d Youtube, Oscars, 4 Feb. 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cVariety\u2019s Directors Roundtable – TV 2018.\u201d Youtube, Variety, 15 June 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen nominees and winners across 95 years at the Academy Awards.\u201d Inclusion List, USC Annenberg, 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Mudbound\u2019s\u2019 Rachel Morrison on Shooting Her \u2018Dream Period\u2019 Piece | Close Up With THR.\u201d Youtube, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Jan. 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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