In 1970, The Temptations reminded the world it was a "Ball of Confusion" and in 1982, Tina Turner reminded everyone again. Maybe we don't need a reminder in song currently because the message is clear on TV, in print and online currently?
Take the attack on BARBIE for example.
Or rather the attack on BARBIE's fans.
At THE ROOT, for example, Dustin J. Siebert screeches "The Salty White Woman Tears Shed Over the ‘Barbie’ Oscar Snubs Taste So Good." Poor pathetic Dusty. At the very least, based on the article, it should be "women." Didn't you learn pronoun and subject agreement in school? No wonder you've been fired from one outlet after another.
Or maybe it was your ignorance on the topics you cover -- such as the ignorance behind saying Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig didn't deserve to be nominated for Best Actress or Best Director. On director nominations, the early indicator is the Directors Guild of America's nominations for Best Director of a Feature Film -- and, by the way, Greta got nominated by the DGA.
Dustbin tries to hide his dusty sexism by bringing up Lily Gladstone and hailing her as a first in the Best Actress category.
She is something and that is: A big mistake.
She doesn't belong in the category. There is no lead female role in KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON. That's per the way the role is (under)written and it's per the running time of the film. Gladstone appears in less than half the movie. She plays a supporting role and does not belong in the lead category.
Then there's the fact that Hattie McDaniel won an Academy Award. For Best Supporting Actress, yes. But she won for playing a slave in GONE WITH THE WIND. And that is a controversial decision to this day. No one questions that Hattie could act. Many question the role she won for. Many question her for taking it. That questioning started when the film was made. It has only grown more intense as the years have passed. A similar fate awaits KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON which uses a Native American narrative to prop up two Anglo White men and offers an embarrassing role for Lily Gladstone. She's not bad in the role. But like Hattie, the role and the film are far beneath her.
Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon has been promoted on the strength of the filmmaker’s dedication to honouring the First Nations people. But the film itself fails that mission.
In his signature style of seemingly effortless meticulousness, and creating all-consuming worlds out of the power dynamics in micro-cosmic communities — Killers of the Flower Moon sees Scorsese lend his craft to the horrific Osage Murders of the early 1900s. During the ‘Reign of Terror’, as it would come to be known, the Osage Native community lost over 60 wealthy tribal members who were murdered for their land claims.
This is the story of Killers of the Flower Moon. It’s a story of how colonial capitalism and white American greed motivated the murder of dozens of First Nations people. Since its debut, the film has been promoted on the strength of its inclusiveness, activism, and by extension how Killers of the Flower Moon, supposedly, advocates for the condemnation of the colonial settlers responsible for the Osage Murders. Even the film’s co-lead, Lily Gladstone, told Vulture the film is not a white saviour story. And it’s true. Far from being a story about white people nobly “saving” First Nations people, the film is more akin to a slow-burn horror about the infinite cruelty of colonial settlers.
Unfortunately, despite the efforts of Scorsese and his team to involve the Osage in telling their story, the film adopts a self-flagellating white gaze. At every turn, Killers of the Flower Moon refuses to decentre whiteness. Instead, the film uses the gruesome murder of First Nations people, not to advocate for Indigenous humanity, but to showcase the lack of it in white people.
NATIVE MEDIA THEORY's Elias Gold offers this critique.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY READER explains, "I am tired of seeing stories about Black, Brown, and Indigenous people
that center white feelings. I don't care if those feelings are guilt. I
don't need any more nuanced portrayals of the villainy of evil white
people of history. I need nuanced portrayals of the people they tried to
destroy."
We can't blame Dustbin too much, he may not have seen the movie. Most people skipped it.
You know what they didn't skip? BARBIE.
The reason so many are complaining about what they see as snubs is because so many people saw BARBIE.
Many people may not be aware of that. A sexist industry press tried to make it BARBIHEIMER last summer and sell them as the two biggest films. They were not.
Do people get that? The number one film of 2023, in terms of ticket sales, was BARBIE.
'B-b-b-but OPPENHEIMER was number two!'
Kids, it wasn't even number three.
Top five box office hits for 2023:
5) OPPENHEIMER
4) GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3
3) SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE
2) THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE
1) BARBIE
And it wasn't even close. BARBIE, with $656,239,421 in ticket sales made nearly double at the box office than OPPENHEIMER with $328, 159,000.
That the number one film of the year didn't get a Best Actress or a Best Director nomination is going to be something people comment on. A lot of people are going to comment -- mainly the many fans who paid to see the movie.
This happens every year with the nominations. People often complained, in more recent years, that Robert Downey Jr. didn't get nominated for any of his Iron Man performances and we happen to agree that was a huge oversight and snub.
Dustbin, working out his frustrations over being a failed writer, wants to reduce those complaining to White women (in the headline to "White woman"). Really? The first we heard of a complaint was from Michelle Yeoh who told us she hoped we'd write about it. We've known Michelle for years and she is an amazing actress but apparently more so than we ever knew because, until Dustbin typed his bad article, we never knew she was a White woman.
Dustbin also doesn't know anything about acting as he downgrades Margot's performance insisting that it's easy to play a doll. No, it's not. It's one of those roles -- like Peter Sellers plays in BEING THERE -- where one false note destroys everything. Ask Tom Hanks how difficult it was to play Forest. Margot excelled as Barbie.
Dustbin is a sexist pig. And they started oinking the moment the film came out. They were all over the left web eager to start attacking until, after COUNTERPUNCH's second or third article attacking the film, they got called on the sexism involved. Barbie doesn't throw grenades. Meaning? These same left outlets have never once felt the need to call out, for example, the live action GI JOE films.
But let a film star a woman -- let alone be directed by one -- and everyone's rushing to attack.
Take racist Bill Maher who pretended he wanted to ponder whether or not sexism was involved in Margo and Greta being shut out in the Best Actress and Best Director categories. Pretended?
We know he's an idiot but even he's not so much of an idiot that he believes he can address sexism with two guests -- two male guests: US House Rep Adam Schiff and Seth MacFarlane -- Seth who infamously hosted the Academy Awards with one sexist moment after another.
Bill didn't want to get real about sexism. What shocked us was how many others didn't want to.
Whoopi Goldberg wanted people watching THE VIEW to know that some times you just don't get nominated. That is correct. And sometimes there are reasons for that.
But that was too much for Whoopi to grasp.
Maybe next time he doesn't want to address sexism, Bill can have Whoopi on and bring producer Lynda Obst with her.
THE ATLANTIC's Elaine Godfrey posted at HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE and included a Tweet from Lynda (which appears to have been deleted) in which Lynda dismissed the alleged snub for numerous reasons including "For one thing, name another comedy where the lead got nominated for an Oscar (always supporting) and that goes for straight comedy for directors too."
For starters?
This year, Emma Stone for POOR THINGS -- Best Actress nominee.
Need other examples? Margot Robbie for I, TONYA, Olivia Colman for THE FAVOURITE, Meryl Streep for FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS, Meryl Streep for AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, Amy Adams for AMERICAN HUSTLE, Jennifer Lawrence for SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, Annette Bening for THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT. Meryl Streep for JULIE & JULIA, Meryl Streep for THE DEVIL WORE PRADA, Annette Bening for BEING JULIA, Diane Keaton for SOMETHINGS GOTTA GIVE, Renee Zellweger in BRIDGET JONE'S DIARY, Gwyneth Paltrow for SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, Helen Hunt for AS GOOD AS IT GETS . . .
We could go on and on.
For those listed, we used women who were also nominated for Golden Globes for the same film and nominated in the comedy category (GG nominates best comedy or musical performance and best drama performance) and we did so because Lynda dismissed "dramadies" as an exception. So, for example, Cate Blanchet is not noted for comedy-drama BLUE JASMINE despite her AA nomination since the Globes put her in the drama category. The same with others -- including Felicity Huffman for TRANSAMERICA.
Were you drunk, Lynda, when you Tweeted that nonsense? It only got worse in her Tweet, "I put the first female lead in a blockbuster (Jodie in CONTACT) but didn't expect applause."
Good. Good that you didn't expect applause for that because you didn't do that.
Of living actresses, probably Julie Andrews holds the claim to being the first female lead in a blockbuster with THE SOUND OF MUSIC. Then there's Barbra Streisand in FUNNY GIRL. PRIVATE BENJAMIN starring Goldie Hawn was a blockbuster (and Goldie produced it) as was 9 TO FIVE with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton (and Jane produced it). In fact, there are many blockbusters starring a female lead. Now, in the 90s, a blockbuster became a film that made $100 million or more in ticket sales. Even with that measurement, Lynda's lying. CONTACT came out in the summer of 1997 and made $100 million domestically. That same summer? Julia Roberts' MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING came out and made $126 million domestically. And before that? Julia's PELICAN BRIEF made $100 million domestically (1993), SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY made $101 million domestically (1991), PRETTY WOMAN made $178 million domestically (1990). And, by the way, before 1997's CONTACT, Jodie Foster was already the lead in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991) which made $130 million domestically.
So you're embarrassing claim that you pioneered something when you didn't? Let's hope it was a drunken boast.
Was it a snub or not? Failing to nominate Margot and Greta?
We've listed solid reasons why it could be seen as a snub. We haven't called it one. An argument can be made either way. And those rushing to insist it was no snub? They came in ready to attack the film, did you notice that? They were excessively eager to attack a film that pleased a lot of little girls and women. It's interesting how the pig class always runs forward to oink-oink-oink when, even just one movie -- even just one -- appears to cater to women.
