The Spirit Awards Satisfy Activists by Moving to “Gender Neutral” Categories

The Spirit Awards have decided to move to “gender neutral” categories, thus stripping the last tiny bit of fun the awards race had left. the Gotham awards have already done this, and my guess is that BAFTA, with their committee-driven nominees, will soon follow suit. So now they’ll need committees to choose not just an equitable collection of performances, but nominees that must represent every single spectrum of every marginalized group. People of color, non-binary people, people with disabilities, perhaps plus-sized people – I mean, all we seem to do now on the left is argue about which words we’re all supposed to use to not offend a single person, or get called out as a problematic witch on Twitter.

I guess by now we have to ask what is the point of any of this. We’re all keeping it alive by bumping the chest and blowing air into the lungs. But activists are imposing their ideology on nearly every corner of the industry making film awards – and films in general — something other than what their original purpose has always been. And honestly, what are these awards going to be but a ceremony inside of a devout religion?

Maybe clinging to the past, or pretending film awards are meant to do anything but serve their newfound religious ideology seems a bit pointless by now. People aren’t really all that thrilled with “gender neutral” anything, except perhaps bathrooms. All you need to remind you of this is the success of Top Gun and Elvis. Why do you think the Kardashians are a multi-billion empire. You don’t think sexy females are a hot selling point? That is why there is much excitement around the Best Actress category. It is the All About Eve of it all. But no one is going to listen to me. This train has left the station and there is no bringing it back.

I think when SNL made this ad they were kind of kidding. Who knew it would become an actual reality?

Anyway, here is your depressing press release:

Film Independent announced today a move to gender-neutral acting categories for the 2023 Spirit Awards. The acting categories encompass both film and television. In response to the rising cost of production, the organization also announced that the budget cap for eligible films has increased to $30 million, with the budget cap for the beloved John Cassavetes Award now $1 million. The Spirit Awards will be held on March 4, 2023. Submissions are now open.

“We’re thrilled to join the other festivals and award shows that are already moving to celebrate great acting without reference to gender. We’re also happy to welcome non-binary performers into the Spirit Awards without forcing them to choose to identify as male or female,” said Film Independent President Josh Welsh. “Additionally, it has been a long time since we substantially increased the budget limit for eligibility. This new cap allows us to continue to celebrate the same breadth of work that we have in the past.”

Honoring a long-standing commitment to inclusivity and representation, Film Independent is the most recent organization to implement non-gendered awards. Other awards to embrace non-gendered categories include The Grammys, The Gotham Awards, The British Independent Film Awards, and the MTV Movie & TV Awards. No longer defined by gender, awards in the lead and supporting film acting categories will instead be known as Best Lead Performance and Best Supporting Performance. Awards in the television acting categories will similarly be known as Best Lead Performance and Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series.

Other category updates include new awards for Best Breakthrough Performance (film) and Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series (television). All performance categories, excluding Breakthrough Performance, will feature up to ten nominees. The modified performance categories are as follows:

SPIRIT AWARDS PERFORMANCE CATEGORIES – FILM

Best Lead Performance (10 nominees)

Best Supporting Performance (10 nominees)

Best Breakthrough Performance (5 nominees) *new award

SPIRIT AWARDS PERFORMANCE CATEGORIES – TELEVISION

Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series (10 nominees)

Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series (10 nominees) *new award

Film Independent has also increased the budget cap for eligible films to $30 million to account for the rising cost of production. Over the years, the budget cap has increased incrementally from $20 million in 2006 to $22.5 million in 2019.The budget cap for The John Cassavetes Award, presented to a film’s writer, director and producer, also increased from $500K to $1 million.