Dear Kathryn Bigelow,
CONGRATULATIONS! Youuuu aaare sooo beauuutiful….oh wait. No. Accomplished. Talented. High-achieving. Determined. Hard-working. Intelligent. Go ahead and pick. How would you like to be described?
(Besides, of course, as the first female to win an Oscar for Best Director.)
Who was surprised to hear a woman’s never won Best Director? How about this one– only 4 women have ever been nominated?
How about this— neither should surprise you. Of 2009′s 250 top releases, only 7% were directed by women. With those numbers, no wonder (from NJ. com. I don’t know what this website is but it has statistics so sold).
Now, who was shocked that a woman had to direct a war movie in order to win? (Not me.)
This is weird, but true: war is still a “men’s issue”, love is still a “women’s issue”. “History” is a men’s field (in literature and films=epics) and “family” is a woman’s expertise (in literature and films=indie, romantic comedies, dramas). Ok, so statistics don’t lie: more war movies and books are, in fact, written/directed by men, and more romantic comedies/family dramas by women. Fine. A general trend. But here’s the fun part! There’s a hierarchy here. No way, right?!? This is all part of how Publisher’s Weekly managed to select a “gender-blind” top ten list that consisted solely of men. Because writing is often gendered in subject and style and we (as a society, not you and me, but maybe even us) value “men’s” subjects and style more. Not because it is better. Value is determined by consumers. Value changes– or can change, which means it was once decided upon. It is not a law of nature (turns out there are very few of those).
So Kathryn: CONGRATULATIONS. I SALUTE YOUR ACHIEVEMENT.
Now, let’s get more women into that director’s chair and see if changing the number’s game changes the awards shows.
Cheers (literally, a toast!)
MM
Tags: female directors, feminism, first female director to win an oscar, gender, kathryn bigelow, oscars 2010, publisher's weekly top ten list 2009, romantic comedies, sexism, the hurt locker, war movies
Haha so true.
ha! I don’t know if “passa passa” is a rickroll or a spam or a real comment, but i like it! anything that’s a “party in the street” “with dancehall music” has my vote.