Dear Academy: Consider the Women Directors

One thing we know about the industry now is that they prefer their women naked and on their backs. One they don’t like – women behind the camera. I would add to this consider filmmakers of color. Consider other narratives than those that serve middled aged white males.   Unstick from the romanticized nostalgia of the past: Argo, The Artist, The King’s Speech…in a year where the first black president was re-elected due in large part to the changing tide of women and gay rights, the rise of immigrants the industry has decided to do what it does best: worship the white dudes.  Moreover, to choose a film, Argo, that does nothing to define what’s happening in our world right now but only massages the need to remember when white men ran Hollywood and the CIA. I am happy that (supposedly) Jimmy Carter will be vindicated. But less happy that it’s such a safe choice and evidence of the devolution of the Oscars.

Will a change ever come? I’ve been at this 14 years and I’ve only seen it go backwards. I’m still waiting.  I advocated for Halle Berry to become the first black actress to win. Ever.  She won.  No other black actress has won since. I advocated for Kathryn Bigelow in 2009. She won. But good luck getting close to that ever again.  Why does it matter? Look around you.

Thanks to Women and Hollywood’s Melissa Silverstein.