Did Kathryn Bigelow Win Best Director Because She's a Woman? | 34 comments (34 topical, 0 hidden)
You're Killing Me With This Cenk (none / 2)
As a devoted film buff and Young Turk fan I have to tell you - You're killing me with this.

First off, this idea that Bigelow won because she was a woman is beneath you. It is as indefensable as saying Obama won because he was black. Bigelow won because she directed the living hell out of The Hurt Locker. Period. 

You're argument that Cameron lost  votes for being disliked personally is, I'm afraid to say, completely unsupportable. Hell, they gave it to Polanski a few years back. Do they love him? Hollywood loves success. Avatar should have been a shoe-in, but the truth is that it didn't win because it simply was not that good.

Your comparison of Cameron to Kobe is equally weak sauce. Cameron has never been the Oscar's favorite director. He made one, count em one, movie that was any kind of hit at the Oscars. He has always been a director of fun but shallow action films and that is exactly what Avatar is. The reason Titanic won while Avatar didn't is that for all its clunkiness audiences cared about Jack and Rose and cried buckets. Nobody gave a rat's ass about Jake Whats-his-face and his alien girlfriend. Nobody cares = no Oscar.

But the biggest flaw in your argument is that Cameron somehow deserved points for "redefining movies" or something. Let's be clear: Cameron didn't redefine anything. What your talking about is money. Cameron took a lot of stuff that already existed and a made a very popular movie with it. The acting capture technology was already used to better effect in Lord of the Rings, and although he did a great job with 3D the idea that movies will never be the same again is laughable. You've bought into the marketing campaign. Movies are still good or bad whether they're in 3D or not.

So what you're talking about is money. Cameron got a lot of people to go see his movie. If Avatar had flopped at the box office nobody would be talking about how it was snubbed at the Oscars. They would be talking about how the expensive movie tanked because of its lousy script. Best picture is for the film with the best filmmaking, and that means story, character, and depth not just craftsmanship. Areas where you admit Avatar is totally lacking.They already have a prize for good box office. It's called getting good box office. 

And I should add that it is somewhat obtuse of you to suggest that spending a lot of money and time on his movie somehow means he had more "vision" than anybody else. Come on, Cenk. Bigelow took a small fraction of Cameron's budget, went to Jordan, and with little time and limited resources made a war movie for the ages. That's what you call vision. You know who could not have done that with anything approaching Bigelow's subtlety and depth? James frickin' Cameron, that's who.

And, hey, if we're going to honor films for reaching a big audience do you know what film finished behind Avatar at the box office for 2009? Transformers 2. Where's there Oscar, Cenk?

As for your contention that Hurt Locker is going to be remembered as the film that beat Avatar - I love you, Cenk, I do, but damned if that's not the dumbest thing I've ever heard you say. You know what stands the test of time? Characters we care about and stories that move us. In fifty years when people ask, "What was the Iraq war like for the soldiers?" it's going to be Hurt Locker they turn to. You know what doesn't stand the test of time? Cutting edge special effects. Today's hot new thing is tomorrow's Captain Eo. Avatar is already becoming a joke for it's totally derivative storyline. That's only going to increase as time goes on. After the dazzle of the effects have worn off people are going to check out Avatar in fifty years, with its forgettable characters and clunky dialogue, and say, "THIS was nominated for Best Picture?"

I've been studying movies seriously for over a decade now. Young Turks even inspired me to start my own blog, Serious Film a film commentary site where I've posted a review of Avatar and my take on the politics of Hurt Locker, as well as posting blogs here on the subject. So Cenk, while I often defer to your expertise in matters of politics, you're going to have to trust me on this one: You're dead wrong.

(You'll notice I didn't mention Basterds. I loved it too, but thought Locker the better film. An honest disagreement, but please lets stop this "Bigelow won for being a woman" talk)

by govan1980 on 03/09/2010 02:49:10 PM EST

Well put! (none / 0)
If all previous Oscars for best director would have gone the way Cenk thought this year's Oscars should have obviously gone, this would be the history of the Oscars:

Kubrik would have won best Director for 2001: A Space Odyssey instead of Carol Reed for Oliver!

Either The Director of Star Wars or the director of Close Encounters of the Third Kind would have totally beaten Woody Allen for Annie Hall in 1977.  

The Director of Star Trek; The Motion Picture would have beaten Benton for Kramer VS Kramer in 1979

The Director of Flash Gordon would have beaten Redford for Ordinary People in 1980

Speilberg would have won for E.T. in 1982 instead of Attenborough for Gandhi.  

Luca would have won again in 1983 for the Return of the Jedi instead of Brooks for Terms of Endearment.

The Director of the Matrix would have beaten Sam Mendez for American Beauty in 1999.

Seriously, one could argue that all the Sci-Fi movies above were huge hits, had state of the art special effects, were total game changers and were wildly popular.  Yet, if this had been the history of the Oscars, look at the directors who wouldn't have been recognized. You have to admit that even though it didn't have any "special effects", Ghandi was a pretty important film.  Even though Star Wars spawned millions of Happy Meal Toys, Annie Hall was considered to one of the best films of all time.  And even though those Ewoks were really special, Terms of Endearment was undeniably one of those unforgettable films...

I mean, come on Cenk.. have a little vision.... It's not a foregone conclusion that a movie about big blue smurfs riding dragons culminating in a magical tree bringing dead people back to life is a better film than the Hurt Locker.  Is it?

The Oscars clearly does not have a history of awarding "Best Director" to the directors of fairy tales, sci-fi hits or cartoons.  

by ilovecenk99 on 03/09/2010 11:55:36 PM EST

[ Parent ]
The original thrilogy (none / 0)
No set of movies had more impact than the original Star Wars thrilogy.

"The first thing Fascists usually try to do is silencing the opposition."

by opposition on 03/11/2010 02:59:10 AM EST

[ Parent ]

Did Kathryn Bigelow Win Best Director Because She's a Woman? | 34 comments (34 topical, 0 hidden)